Another Cask End bottle from Cadenhead’s that I could try thanks to some nice friends: single grain Girvan 33 Years .

Girvan 33 yo 1979 (46%, Cadenhead 2013, bourbon barrel, 222 btl.)

Nose: typical solventy grain whisky, showing a little glue, coconuts and vanilla. Unripe banana, a little leather and white chocolate. Toffee apples. Whiffs of freshly sawn oak. Mouth: less sweet than expected. Creamy white chocolate and vanilla but also quite some spices (white pepper pepper, liquorice). Hints of oatmeal cookies. Sweet citrus. Tinned pineapples and butterscotch. Finish: not too long, but quite smooth. Hints of spicy...

We go back to the early years of Malts of Scotland with this Macduff 1980 .

Macduff 30 yo 1980 (54,1%, Malts of Scotland 2011, bourbon hogshead #6107, 175 btl.)

Nose: a rather classic ex-bourbon profile, with hints of stewed fruits, pears, bananas, apricots and majbe pineapple. Mint and soft herbs bring lots of freshness to the table. Honey. Hints of freshly sawn oak and earth. Mouth: same profile, very creamy fruity notes, think apricots, pineapples, pink grapefruits, melons, a hint of tangerine and oranges. Rather tropical, with nice waxy notes and mint. Reminds me of Caperdonich 1972,...

Talisker 40 Year Old

A new Talisker Bodega series will launch at the end of juni. The first expression is an Amontillado finished (!) Talisker 40 Years , a 1978 vintage.

The sherry casks were sourced from Bodegas Delgado Zuleta , the oldest active producer of sherry in Sanlúcar. Apparently the Diageo archives indicate that Delgado Zuleta was already a key supplier of casks to Talisker in the early 1900s.

Talisker 40 Year Old is a limited release of 2000 bottles. It is bottled at 45.8%. The Bodega series will be expanded with sherry casks from different bodegas.

 ...

Bavarian Slyrs whiskies are matured in 225 litre new oak casks (Limousin oak, if I’m not mistaken) and this one is finished for up to nine months in Oloroso sherry casks .

What makes it special is that these are ‘genuine’ solera casks rather than the tailor-made sherry-seasoned casks that are standard these days (see my article about the sherry casks in the whisky industry ). This held sherry for up to sixty years, rather than two years. One of the few (explicitly mentioned) examples of this type of casks on the market these days.

Slyrs worked with Bodegas Tradición...

Yet another undisclosed Speyside 1973 bottled by Maltbarn. I believe the label also mentions 1972 but it should be 1973 according to my information.

I saw some references to a certain distillery for this whisky, but they turned out to be false…

Speyside Region 45 yo 1973 (53,2%, Maltbarn 2018, sherry cask, 299 btl.)

Nose: excellent. Lots of sappy notes, precious wood polish, beehives and pollen, light herbal notes, Fino minerals, some mint, bergamots and melons, dried bananas, floral hints, hay… Mellow, old-style with lots of details. So, so good. Mouth: one of the more punchy expressions of...

This is the result of a Twitter tasting courtesy of That Boutique-y Whisky Company to showcase their Whisky Advent Calendar 2017 back in december.

I waited a bit to publish my notes, as most of the bottles had not been released at the time. Now they’re all available.

Glen Ord 20 yo (51,9%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company 2017, 293 btl.)

Nose: as natural as it gets. No sherry influence, but not 20 years worth of bourbon influence either. Barley juice. Apples and limes. majbe tinned peaches and a light waxiness. Light vanilla. Water brings out some blossomy, grassy...

One of the darker coloured whiskies in the Flora & Fauna series, and one that is still rather widely available: Dailuaine 16 Years . It is sherry matured.

Dailuaine 16 yo (43%, OB ‘Flora & Fauna’ +/- 2017)

Nose: a rather oily nose, with sweet malty notes, Demerara sugar and wax candles. Hints of cake and gentle fruits (yellow plums). A few nutty notes, candied ginger and whiffs of leathery. Something of Amontillado sherry. Fairly complex, I like it. Mouth: a bit too sweet and a bit too malty now, taking away some of the complexity. Plums and...

Benromach distillery celebrates a milestone today. In 1998 it was re-opened after being acquired and refurbished by the family behind Gordon & MacPhail . Happy birthday! This is celebrated with a Benromach 20th Anniversary bottling , a limited release of 3000 bottles, 400 of which will be sold at the visitor centre in Forres.

Although the packaging doesn’t stress it, this is actually a 1998 vintage (of course), matured in first-fill sherry and bourbon casks, both European oak and American oak. It comes in a slightly different Benromach bottle, nestling in an elegantly lined wooden box with a book.

While...

Antique Lions of Spirits: Savannah series

The new batch of ALOS bottlings will be presented at the Limburg Whisky Fair this week-end. All labels are in a savannah theme:

• Speyside Region 42 yo 1975 (49,2%, Fino sherry cask, 878 btl.)
• Ireland 28 yo 1989 (49,9%, bourbon cask, 211 btl.)
• Springbank 20 yo 1998 (48%, sherry cask, 248 btl.)
• Clynelish 20 yo 1997 (52,4%, bourbon cask, 258 btl.)
• Glen Keith 24 yo 1998 (47,3%, bourbon cask, 297 btl.)
• Bruichladdich 6 yo 2011 (51,9%, bourbon cask, heavily peated, 258 btl.)

The GlenAllachie core range

Here’s the line-up for the upcoming GlenAllachie...

This is the third release of the legendary Brora 30 Year Old . They’re all excellent but this 2004 edition is considered the best (together with the 2005 and 2007 edition). After that the profile started to change with more late 1970s casks involved, closer to Clynelish in a way with less of the farmy notes. No need for a longer introduction, I guess.

Brora 30 yo (56,6%, OB 2004, 3rd release, 3000 btl.)

Nose: goat stables and hay. This farminess is pretty unique to these first few Brora releases and so nice. Subtle peat and coastal notes....

First Lochan Sholum , now Wardhead … soon they will only be allowed to put ‘whisky’ on the label. Many well-known distilleries don’t allow independent bottlers to use their name on the label: Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Highland Park, Glenfarclas, Lagavulin…

More often than not though, we are pretty certain where the liquid comes from: Wardhead points to  teaspooned Glenfiddich , with a little Balvenie added. The opposite formula is called Burnside. In both cases technically a blended malt. Distilled in 1997 and bottled by Liquid Treasures .

Wardhead 21 yo 1997 (55,5%, Liquid Treasures ‘Entomology’ 2018, bourbon hogshead)

Nose:...

The Whisky Exchange has a new exclusive bottling: an Old Pulteney 2004 single cask, a first-fill sherry butt with a lovely deep colour and bottled at cask strength.

Old Pulteney 2004 (62,1%, OB for The Whisky Exchange 2018, first-fill sherry butt #128, 612 btl.)

Nose: slightly bulky sherry, with sticky toffee pudding, butterscotch and soaked raisins. Reminds me of GlenDronach Parliament, but coupled to a coastal side. Salted caramel. Also dark chocolate cake and hints of coffee. Liquorice and leather underneath. PX cask, I believe. Mouth: quite fierce, still this thick sherry coating with even more salty notes....

I’m not sure where the name Lochan Sholum comes from, but this should be middle-aged Lagavulin matured in a sherry cask. Bottled by Maltbarn and available to try at the upcoming Limburg Whisky festival, no doubt.

Lochan Sholum 14 yo 2003 (52,3%, Maltbarn 2017, sherry cask, 147 btl.)

Nose: clean, nicely leafy, with hints of wet wool and a little chalk. Dried kelp, soft Vicks and ginger in the background. Ink. There’s a cake-ish sweetness in the background, as well as a creamy almond note, but the sherry influence is not as big as, say, a Distiller’s Edition....

This Springbank 2000 was bottled by Whiskybroker for Port of Holmsund in Sweden. It is related to Kjell Öberg and his friends (remember his Port Charlotte 2002 ‘Double Wood’ ).

This was bottled from a Demerara rum cask at cask strength, really.

Springbank 17 yo 2000 (41,6%, Whiskybroker for Port of Holmsund, refill Demerara rum cask #630, 196 btl.)

Nose: clean, slightly austere, with a chalky base, lots of coastal saltiness and a hint of diesel. Candle wax, green apples, a little lemongrass. Old-school hints of fresh newspaper. Whiffs of smoke. Fairly mineral, but with some sweet touches....

So here they are, ten new bottlings that make up the Diageo Special Releases 2018 . They will be launched in limited quantities this autumn but like last year they are anticipating leaks by simply bringing the news early.

Nine out of ten special releases are now disclosed, one is kept back as a secret (last year this was Collectivum XVIII ).

Diageo Special Releases 2018

• Carsebridge 48 year old (43.2%, refill American oak, 1000 btl.)
• Caol Ila Unpeated 15 year old (59.1%, refill & rejuvenated hogsheads + ex-bodega European oak butts)
• Caol Ila 35 year old (58.1%,...

Here’s a relatively new Clynelish 1995 matured in a sherry cask and bottled by Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Exchange .

Clynelish 21 yo 1995 (54,7%, Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Exchange 2017, refill sherry butt #8676, 544 btl.)

Nose: gentle sherry, resulting in a nice mix of brown sugar, honey cake, tobacco and some old leathery notes. Subtle fruit jams (plums) and plenty of baked apples with cinnamon. Mint leaves. Some dusty, earthen floors. Mouth: dry and spicy at first, on red apples, tea and tobacco. Some chilli chocolate. Then a growing bitterness (Seville oranges) and leafy...

I’ve tried a handful of bottlings from The English Whisky Company but none of them really managed to impress. But let’s not be influenced by previous tastings, distilleries do evolve.

This 6 year-old expression was bottled from a rum cask by Claxton’s Spirits.

The English Whisky Company 6 yo 2011 (60,5%, Claxton’s 2018, rum cask #457, 258 btl.)

Nose: nice and sweet, with lots of confectionary notes, cotton candy and indeed a hint of white rum. Pineapple cubes and honey. A little mint as well. So far so good, really, except majbe for the potpourri note in the...

Batch 5 of the Blended Scotch Whisky release from That Boutique-y Whisky Company is 50 years of age , no less. It was part of their advent calendar, and the full bottles only arrived much later.

Blended Scotch Whisky #1 50 yo (46,6%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company 2017, Batch #5, 2000 btl.)

Nose: nice balance of old malt and old grains. First up is the coconut / leather combo of the grains, then sherried notes like chocolate and tobacco. Hints of marzipan and berries. Light tropical notes (pink grapefruit). Mouth: honey, plenty of blackcurrant, as well as rummy...

Batch 4 of the renowned Balvenie Tun 1509 . The first batch was released in 2014, replacing the distillery’s popular Tun 1401 expression – batch #5 should be out this summer.

This batch is a vatting of 13 first-fill American oak barrels and 10 sherry butts (the youngest being 21 years of age) that were left to marry in the exceptionally big marrying vessel Tun 1509 for several months.

Balvenie ‘Tun 1509’ (51,7%, OB 2017, batch 4, 8850 btl.)

Nose: malty notes up front, with bright orange peel as well as some white oak. Tobacco leaf and leather....

You won’t find the Glenfarclas 18 Year Old on the website: it is a tax-free expression (hence 1 litre bottle) that sites alongside the 17 Year Old which is part of the core range.

Glenfarclas 18 yo (43%, OB +/- 2017, 1 litre)

Nose: quite fresh and almost fragrant, a focus on American oak? Scented wax candles. Coconut flakes and overripe fruits, peaches mainly. Hints of cinnamon and sawdust. Marzipan. Heather honey. Mouth: oily, malty (muesli, bread) and spicy, with hints of fruit tea. Pears, oranges a little mango perhaps. Then on to dark chocolate, pepper, a little...