At the time when this was bottled, most of the whisky that was used for the BenRiach 16 Years was significantly older, due to erratic production in some years. Around 80% was 18 years old BenRiach and the other 20% were second and third fill casks of 20 years old.

I’m not sure how this situation has evolved in the meantime, I haven’t tried more recent versions. In any case it also contains some peated BenRiach.

BenRiach 16 yo (43%, OB 2008)

Nose:  light, with the same elements as the younger versions. Rather grainy, with notes of dark...

GlenDronach bottled a 9 year-old for Professional Danish Whisky Retailers last year. It was matured in Pedro Ximénez casks, but I doubt it was a full maturation, rather a finished / re-racked whisky.

This bottling is often referred to as Darth Vader because of the uncommon black labeling.

GlenDronach 9 yo (48%, OB for Denmark 2014, Pedro Ximénez casks, 3000 btl.)

Nose: not the thick sherry I expected. It’s fairly mineral, with some wet limestone and a hint of gunpowder up front. Roasted nuts. Behind this you get more classic notes like dried apricots and creamy toffee. Orange peel...

Have you ever tried Compass Box Orangerie ? It is a refreshing infusion of blended whisky with the hand-zested peel of Navelina oranges, cassia bark and clove. Instead of going towards orange liqueurs with lots of sugar, it was staying on the dry side.

When I read about Amrut Naarangi , I expected it would be in the same style as Orangerie, but it follows a slightly different route. Amrut filled casks with Oloroso sherry and added orange peels to them. This mixture was left to season the wood for over two years. Afterwards, three years old Maltwhisky was...

Laphroaig distillery is celebrating its 200th Anniversary in 2015. All kinds of bicentennial events are planned throughout the year and we can expect no less than seven special editions (how about a 21 Year Old and a 32 Year Old?). First up is this Laphroaig 15 Year Old 200th Anniversary edition .

It’s a revival really, as Laphroaig 15yo (the favourite whisky of Prince Charles, apparently) was first launched in 1980. It was discontinued in 2009 and replaced by an 18 Year Old, but now we can enjoy it once again.

Laphroaig 15 yo ‘200th Anniversary’ (43%, OB...

I’m on antibiotics and I’ve run out of reviews for now… but normally we can resume services tomorrow or Wednesday. And it promises to be an interesting week!...

Bowmore Black Rock is part of the distillery’s travel retail range. It was matured predominantly in Spanish ex-sherry casks.

Actually it’s part of a trilogy, alongside Bowmore Gold Reef and Bowmore White Sands, both ex-bourbon wood.

Bowmore Black Rock (40%, OB 2014, travel retail)

Nose: not entirely fresh sherry, which luckily isn’t too loud. A bit of rubber, some organic notes as well. Toffee notes, pepper and cinnamon. Milk chocolate with hints of vanilla. Light smoke. Mouth: oily, with some salty peat, a bit of iodine and stewed fruits. Cocoa sweetness. Soft spices and an ever so light smoky...

Since 2009 The Glenturret distillery is regularly doing runs of peated whisky, mainly intended for use in the group’s Black Grouse blend.

The Whisky Shop managed to get three exclusive editions of The Glenturret in 2014: Glenturret Triple Wood , Glenturret Sherry Edition and Glenturret Peated Edition .

The Glenturret Peated Edition (40%, OB for The Whisky Shop 2014)

Nose: very creamy and lightly peated, I guess smoothness was a priority here. There’s a tarry note and corrugated cement board. Popcorn sweetness and apples. Sweet biscuity notes and a little chocolate. Mouth: again smooth and easy-going. Toffee, soft...

Recently  Liquid Treasures selected two bottlings for their importer S.Y.C. Vino & Cigar Company in Taiwan. A Tullibardine 1990 and this Strathmill 1990 . We had some really good Strathmill expressions in the past few years, especially those produced in 1974, but it’s still a rare and sometimes unreliable name.

Strathmill 23 yo 1990 (50,5%, Liquid Treasures for SYC Vino & Cigar Taiwan 2014, hogshead, 189 btl.)

Nose: an intensely… neutral whisky. I get some yellow apples and oranges, but mostly malt and grains. Bread, beer, these things. Faint vanilla. Also wet gravel and hay. Mouth: rounder at first,...

There you have it, I was elected Best Whisky Blogger of the Year 2015 , as part of this year’s International Whisky Competition which awards outstanding whiskies as well as bars, brand ambassadors and master distillers.

This was the first time there was a Best Whisky Blogger award. The organisation presented a shortlist of 20 candidates, from which the general public could pick their favourite by sending an e-mail. I came out in the top-5 – a sincere thank you to all of you who supported me.

We were then asked to send our best article of the past six...

I have a sweet spot for old Ben Nevis , so I was very curious about the Whiskybroker ’s latest offering. It’s a vatting of six underproof hogsheads, all filled at Ben Nevis on 15th mars 1966 and bottled 10th of april 2015, with just 29,5% of alcohol. Therefore it’s not whisky but a ‘Spirit of the Highlands’.

Ben Nevis 49 yo 1966 (29,5%, WhiskyBroker 2015, 524 btl.)

Nose: interesting. Very oaked, with some hints of paint thinner, glue and the characteristic waxiness, like lipstick. Some floral notes, hints of facial creams as well (vetiver). It reminds me of...

This Bruichladdich 1966 is an original bottling from the early 1980’s, selected by the Italian distributor Moon Import . The name Riserva Veronelli refers to Luigi Veronelli, a highly influential gastronomic writer (mostly for wines but also distilled spirits) and one of the Italian pioneers when it comes to single Maltwhisky.

A few years later there was also a Bruichladdich 1965 ‘Riserva Veronelli’ imported by Rinaldi. That one is easier to come by but it’s said to be less interesting.

Bruichladdich 1966 (53,5%, OB ‘Riserva Veronelli’ 1983, Moon Import, sherry wood, 2400 btl.)

Nose: old-style sherry although...

Tamdhu Batch Strength is the latest high-strength addition to the core range, which complements the existing Tamdhu 10 Year Old . It was matured in a combination of American and European oak sherry casks (a large proportion being first-fill) and bottled at a generous 58,8% alcohol.

Tamdhu Batch Strength (58,8%, OB 2015, Batch #001)

Nose: folds open nicely. Juicy fruits (red apples, sultanas and berries) and lots of nutty notes (hazelnuts and walnuts). Rose pepper. Malty sweetness and a whiff of vanilla. Finish: rich and sweet, but increasingly peppery and spiced. Cinnamon buns and vanilla cake. Oranges and...

Yamazaki 12 Year Old is a small step up from the 10yo which used to be the youngest expression in the core range of this pioneering Japanese distillery, until they launched a no-age Distiller’s Reserve last year.

Back in 1984, when this 12yo first hit the market, it was actually the first truly commercial Japanese whisky. Look where they are today…

Yamazaki 12 yo (43%, OB 2013)

Nose: starts oily, even quite dusty. Malty and grainy core that slowly grows fruitier. Peach and apple with light vanilla. Dried flowers and hay. A faint minty edge too. Mouth: relatively thick...

A Linkwood 1987 , bottled by The Whisky Agency in oktober 2014. Reviews are rare, so it’s still available in stores.

Linkwood 27 yo 1987 (47,3%, The Whisky Agency ‘Perfect Dram’ 2014, rum finish, 179 btl.)

Nose: holding the middle between mildly fruity notes (overripe apple and banana) and grassy notes (hay, wet leaves). Dried herbs and a slight mustiness. Eucalyptus tea. Light pepper. Mouth: again mildly fruity (melon, apple) with herbal honey and different kinds of tea. A bit of salted caramel. Eucalyptus again, a little ginger as well, bringing a gentle bitterness. Finish: long, even more...

The Whisky Experience in Edinburgh released this 21 years old blend commemorating the opening of the new visitor experience. It was quite expensive (£ 100) so it was still available until recently. They also had a 25 years old version (blue label).

I’ve read somewhere that it is made up of 60% grain whisky (mainly Girvan) and 40% malt whiskies from Mortlach, Balvenie, Aberfeldy and Bowmore. Not sure how reliable this information is though.

Blended Scotch Whisky 21 yo 1988 (48%, Scotch Whisky Experience 2009, 498 btl.)

Nose: a pleasant nose with no harsh notes whatsoever. Sweetish notes...

Benromach Organic is made from biological barley and matured in new American oak barrels from sustainable forests. It meets the rigorous UK Soil Association standards for growing the ingredients, distillation, maturation and bottling – hence Organic .

This concept was unique in 2006 when it was launched. Nowadays it’s still rare – few distilleries manage to certify entirely. We’re trying the latest Benromach Organic 2008 edition, matured in virgin American oak casks.

Benromach Organic 2008 (43%, OB 2014)

Nose: still clearly a member of the family, but less un-modern than the 10 yo. Malty sweetness, vanilla and citrus...

Whiskymanufaktur is a small chain of whisky shops in and around Berlin, Germany. It was started by Lars Wiebers , also the founder of the independent bottler  Jack Wiebers Whisky World (Jack is his nickname, thank you Herbert for confirming).

This Glendronach is a mixture of bourbon and sherry casks , which makes it kind of an independent version of the GlenDronach Octarine .

Glendronach 8 yo (43%, Whisky Manufaktur 2014, bourbon & sherry cask)

Nose: starts with light whiffs of sulphur, but it freshens up after a while. Lots of sticky toffee pudding and caramel notes, as well as (slightly...

Bruichladdich makes different profiles – let’s dive right in and find out what this 2004 cask is all about.

Bruichladdich 2004 (55,5%, Malts of Scotland 2015, bourbon barrel, MoS 15010, 312 btl.)

Nose: okay, so it’s peated. Very interesting actually, it’s no ‘in your face’ peat but instead a kind of farmy smell that I really like.  Not quite a Brora farminess, but still. Wet forest soils and moss. Plastics. Mashed potatoes as well. Chives? A sea breeze. Old-style in a way. Hmm… Mouth: oily and peaty, with a weird side that holds the middle between fragrant herbs and...

An independent Macallan , where do you find that nowadays? Especially from an ex-bourbon cask. It was bottled by The Whisky Agency in 2013 as a Formosa exclusive (that’s the name of Taiwan when it was in Dutch hands). Just 36 bottles…

Macallan 23 yo 1990 (47,3%, Whisky Agency 2013, Formosa exclusive, ex-bourbon hogshead, 36 btl.)

Nose: very much on apples and pears, fairly neutral. Hints of sweet beer and Calvados. Ginger biscuits and almonds. Develops some damp leafy notes after a while and hints of porridge. After a long wait also nice orange blossom water. Mouth: very...

Tomatin Cask Strength is a limited release, launched a couple of weeks ago alongside the Tomatin Cù Bòcan Virgin Oak.

It was matured in a combination of bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks.

Tomatin Cask Strength (57,5%, OB 2015, Batch #1, 15.000 btl.)

Nose: starts a bit closed, in the sense that it’s mostly malt, vanilla and vague stewed fruits. Yellow raisins and golden syrup. Quite some toffee as well. There’s a bit of an alcohol prickle, which doesn’t help. Not bad, but youngish and I’m missing some of the Tomatin sparkle. Mouth: good body, malty sweetness again, with some...