Released this week, Port Askaig 14 Year Old Bourbon Cask is a new bottling from a distillery in the north-east corner of Islay, better known for its unpeated whisky. Sounds like Bunnahabhain to me.

It is peated, distilled in 2004 and as always it is a limited release, composed from 11 first-fill bourbon casks (Port Askaig batches are never bigger than 40 casks).

Port Askaig 14 yo ‘Bourbon Cask’ 2004 (45,8%, Elixir Distillers 2018, first-fill bourbon casks)

Nose: quite bright and orchardy, think juicy lemons, stewed pears and apples. Hints of lager and coastal notes (sea spray, shells...

This Glen Elgin 1997 is part of the recently rebranded Connoisseurs Choice range from Gordon & MacPhail . Bottlers are often making a special effort when (re-)launching a series so we have high expectations…

For me Glen Elgin is synonymous to fruity spirit (long fermentation times), sometimes slightly tropical. We’ve had great examples from independent bottlers – the owner (Diageo) isn’t really promoting it as a single malt.

Glen Elgin 20 yo 1997 (55,7%, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseur’s Choice 2018, first-fill sherry butt #18/003, 602 btl.)

Nose: very jammy and perfectly clean. Juicy raspberries, cassis juice, cherry...

Cragganmore 12 Years is the Speyside component of the Classic Malts selection. I tried it on several occasions but never in the quiet environment of my writing desk. So here goes…

Cragganmore 12 yo (40%, OB +/- 2017)

Nose: a winey profile, like a white wine. Rich honeyed fruits, apples, peaches, white grape juice. Quite a lot of meadow flowers, buttercups, a little hay. Light heather and sweet herbs. Vanilla. Pleasant. Mouth: mild, malty and sweet, with the same hints of apricots and honey. Pear, a little banana, dried fruits. Almonds, gradually fading towards slightly sharper walnuts and...

The Whisky Agency 10th Anniversary

The Whisky Agency is ten years old this year (who remembers this early series with the sharks?) and this is celebrated with an impressive list of bottlings, with some very beautiful labels!

Most of these are highly limited and some maj not even reach the shelves of retailers, but I believe these releases are out there somewhere…

• Speyside Region 41yo 1976 (46,1%)
• Speyside Region 40yo 1977 (43,0%)
• Speyside Region 38yo 1979 (43,4%)
• Irish single malt 28yo 1989 (49,9%, Perfect Dram)
• Irish single malt 28yo 1989 (45,1%)
• Irish single malt 28yo 1990 (42,4%, heavy sherry)
• Irish...

Bruichladdich 13 Year Old from the latest batch of That Boutique-y Whisky Company releases. Would it be possible to give a bit more information about the wood guys?

Bruichladdich 13 yo (47,6%, That Boutique-y Whisky Co 2018, Batch #11, 478 btl.)

Nose: very nice, a rather unique profile that reminds me of Benromach’s excellent 10. A mix of mineral notes, dried grasses, overripe banana, hints of melons, as well as a faint farmy note. Pineapple slices and dried orange, a touch of ozone. Really good. Mouth: similar mix of mineral notes, a little kirsch, and fruity notes. Lemons,...

More peat! One of the latest (whisky) releases from Asta Morris : single cask Ardmore 2008 .

Ardmore 8 yo 2008 (53%, Asta Morris 2017, bourbon cask, 268 btl.)

Nose: spot on. A dry layer with charcoal dust and bonfire smoke, as well as wet leaves, hints of paint, but also plenty of apple sweetness and lemon candy. Just a little vanilla and some floral touches. Mouth: oily texture, quite a bit more powerful and sharper, with intense, almost ‘industrial’ peat, smoked oranges, lemon peel and light resinous notes. There’s a raw mezcal-like edge to it which works...

Here’s an old sample I dug up the other day: GlenDronach 1992 , an Oloroso sherry butt released in november 2012 (batch 7).

GlenDronach 19 yo 1992 (57,8%, OB 2012, Oloroso butt #1123, 524 btl.)

Nose: very aromatic, in-your-face sherry, overloaded with prunes and dates, dark roast coffee beans, a mix of dark chocolate and raspberry / red berries. Faint notes of fresh paint. Demerara sugar. Big sherry, the juicy kind. Mouth: as expected from the nose, very herbal, dry sherry. Tobacco leafs, leathery notes and wood. Dark chocolate, cloves. However there is a nice sweet-and-sour fruitiness underneath...

The Ar10 , Oc5 and Lg8 releases in the recent batch of Elements of Islay releases was sold out in the blink of an eye, I didn’t even realized they were online until I saw the ‘sold out’ sign…

The last one available is this Caol Ila Cl10 , a marriage of three hogsheads distilled in 2008 and 2009 .

Caol Ila Cl10 (58,2%, Elements of Islay 2018, three hogsheads)

Nose: a lot of barley and yeast, with fresh kelp and hints of sweet oranges and lime. Smoked lemons. Light metallic and medicinal touches. Warm butter. Ashes and...

Wemyss Malts just released this blended Maltwhisky called Nectar Grove . Selected Highlands single malts were brought together and further matured in Madeira -seasoned casks for a while. A “finished” blended malt, quite a novel idea.

The ornate packaging is inspired by Portuguese ceramics: Madeira is a Portuguese island.

Nectar Grove (46%, Wemyss Malts 2018, 9000 btl.)

Nose: nice fruity notes up front, bright and juicy. Nectarines, kiwi and hints of orange oils. A modern vanilla / fresh wood character as well. Plenty of bread crust. A hint of tobacco. Well done. Mouth: same fresh fruits, but...

After a series of Inchmurrin single casks for different bottlers and shops, there’s now an official single cask Croftengea 2008 exclusive to The Whisky Exchange .

A heavily peated malt from Loch Lomond distillery, distilled using the same straight-neck pot stills as Inchmurrin, but peated to around 40 ppm.

Croftengea 9 yo 2008 (54,8%, OB for The Whisky Exchange 2018, refill hogshead #272, 289 btl.)

Nose: nicely elegant, there’s plenty of stewed fruits (apples, peaches, pears) and lemon frosted cake as well as ashy notes and mossy peat. Candied fruits and smoke, equally strong. Smoky hay. Hints of...

Port Charlotte 10 Years / Islay Barley 2011 / MRC:01

Bruichladdich announced the relaunch of Port Charlotte , their heavily-peated single malt. It comes in a distinctive new packaging this summer. The distillery will release four new products in 2018, malting as before to 40 ppm.

The first of these is the new Port Charlotte 10 Years , now available in steady amounts, bottled at 50% ABV. There will also be a 2011 vintage version of Port Charlotte Islay Barley . The third is a limited Port Charlotte MRC: 01 , distillery in 2010 and matured in Bordeaux Left Bank...

Tomintoul has quite an extensive range, starting with the NAS Tomintoul Tlàth and then a 10 Years, 12 Years, 14 Years, 16 Years , 21 Years, 25 Years and 40 Years, plus a few extras like a Port finish and Five Decades.

For World Whisky Day is was able to try two mid-range expressions, plus a secret upcoming release.

Tomintoul 16 Years is the flagship bottling of the distillery. It is bottled from bourbon casks at 40%.

Tomintoul 16 yo (40%, OB +/- 2018)

Nose: fairly neutral, with lots of malty notes, dried grasses and ripe apples. Juicy...

The Benromach 1977 followed the release of three other vintage single casks: Benromach 1973, Benromach 1974 and Benromach 1975 earlier in 2017. I was born in 1978 so I’d better start saving, it could be next?

The 1977 was bottled from a refill American oak hogshead after 39 years of maturation.

Benromach 39 yo 1977 (56%, OB 2017, refill bourbon hogshead #1268, 225 btl.)

Nose: well yes! I like this waxy spirit, mixed with mirabelles, whitecurrants, green banana and a touch of aniseed. Vanilla custard. Honey. Lighter hints of passion fruits and orange zest. Always some eucalyptus, menthol...

Valinch & Mallet is a fairly young independent bottler headquartered in London but run by two Italians Davide Romano and Fabio Ermoli.

In the past couple of years they’ve released a nice series of whiskies and rums, all un-chill filtered and natural colour, most of them at cask strength.

There are four Valinch & Mallet collections: Hidden Casks (under 20 years, silver plaque), Lost Drams (over 20 years, bronze plaque), XO (over 30 years, gold plaque) and the Young series (with a lower ABV).

We’ll start with an older release and look at some upcoming releases later. South Shore Islay...

The fifth and final release of the Teeling Revival series has just been announced. We’re now very close to the launch of the first new Dublin distilled whiskey for over 40 years – in november 2018.

Teeling Revival V consist of 12 year-old single malt initially aged in bourbon barrels and then finished in a combination of Cognac and Brandy barrels . See my reviews of the other releases: Revival I , Revival III and  Revivial IV .

Teeling Revival 12 yo  (46%, OB 2018, cognac & brandy finish, 15.000 btl.)

Nose: nice fruitiness, with lots of lime,...

This should be more of a confirmation: every Islay fan already has its eyes on this Ardbeg Ar10 . It’s part of the Elements of Islay series, from the latest batch that hasn’t been released yet.

Ardbeg Ar10 2001 (52,4%, Elements of Islay 2018, two bourbon barrels)

Nose: great. Creosote, iodine, wood embers and herbal peat, as well as a mezcal sharpness but also plenty of rounder vanilla pastry and custard. Creamy white chocolate and almond paste. Hints of lime and pink grapefruit (not quite the typical Bowmore fruitiness, but in the same vein). Deep tarry notes in...

Ardbeg Twenty Something 22 Years

Ardbeg Twenty Something is turning into a series. After the 23 Year Old there’s now evidence of an upcoming Ardbeg Twenty Something 22 Years . It will be bottled in juli from a handful of bourbon casks at 46.4% ABV. The launch can be expected in september – oktober and the price will supposedly be around € 500 again.

Tamdhu Dalbeallie Dram

Tamdhu Dalbeallie Dram is a limited edition for this year’s Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival (3-7 maj). Matured in Oloroso casks and bottled at cask strength, it honours Dalbeallie train station,...

A limited edition smoky (!) Macallan in the 1824 Masters Series. Macallan Rare Cask Black is a marriage of around 100 casks: first-fill Sherry European oak sherry-seasoned casks and American oak casks.

It could be made with peated spirit (rare but the experiments seem to exist) or perhaps casks that had a particularly smoky character. I couldn’t find decisive information on this.

It was originally a travel retail expression but it’s now available in traditional whisky shops as well.

The Macallan Rare Cask Black (48%, OB +/- 2016)

Nose: very little peat in any case. Dried...

On Monday I received an Elements of Islay tasting kit which contains four new bottlings that sparked my interest:

• Elements of Islay Cl10  (Caol Ila)
• Elements of Islay Ar10 (Ardbeg)
• Elements of Islay Lg8 (Lagavulin)
• Elements of Islay Oc5 (Octomore)

We’ll start with the Lagavulin Lg8 , a 2006 vintage bottled from two bourbon barrels.

Lagavulin ‘Lg8’ 2006 (59,5%, Elements of Islay 2018, two bourbon barrels)

Nose: rather superb. There’s sweet peat and rich sooty notes, as well as an underlying fruitiness of peaches and mango. Linseed oil. Light vanilla custard. Iodine and camphor. Mouth: a nice fruitiness...

This is a 1 year-old bourbon from Rock Town distillery in Arkansas. I was intrigued by the fact that That Boutique-y Whisky Co would bottle something this young, so I bought a sample.

Rock Town 1 yo (51,7%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company 2018, Batch #2, 190 btl.)

Nose: a lot of pencil shavings and charred barrels mixed with buttered popcorn. Then both darker notes (sweet pumpernickel) and brighter notes (red apples and citrus). Hints of pepper and maple syrup, or rather thyme syrup. Minty notes and red berries as top notes. Mouth: very oaky, with bags of peppermint,...