Master of Malt recently had an exclusive Redbreast 16 Year Old single cask bottled from a first-fill Oloroso butt. Official Redbreast single casks are quite rare so we’re still discovering what they can be like. Older expressions ( Dream Cask and LMdW ) are often excellent.

When this came out, the 582 available bottles went fast…

Redbreast 16 yo 2001 (60,2%, OB for Master of Malt 2017, first-fill Oloroso butt #18829, 582 btl.)

Nose: aromatic spices up front. Dried ginger, cinnamon. Then moves to cocoa, blackberries, figs and cassis. Baked apples with (dry) raisins. Black Forest gateau. Also...

Glenrothes Oldest Reserve used to be the oldest expression in the core range of this distillery and one of their most interesting expressions of the past few years in my opinion.

To create it, they combined casks from five vintages : 1967, 1972, 1977, 1979 and 1980. It was launched in the summer of 2012 so all components were aged for 30 to 45 years . Originally a travel retail expression (in the old wooden enclosure), it was also made available from other retailers (in a new cardboard version).

Glenrothes Oldest Reserve (43%, OB 2012)

Nose: ah, classic...

The Gauldrons is the last member of the Remarkable Regional Malts series, which includes other blended malts like Big Peat , Scallywag , The Epicurean … The only region missing was Campbeltown and given the limited amount of active distilleries in the region, this expression should be based around Springbank and Glen Scotia whisky.

The Gauldrons name comes from the sandy coves on Campbeltown’s west shores and literally means bay of storms . It refers to the local legend of King Robert the Bruce, who was defeated by his enemies but was inspired to carry on fighting by a spider...

Buying whisky without having a sip beforehand is so dangerous. Today’s example is a Linkwood 1987 from Cadenhead .

Linkwood 28 yo 1987 (58,4%, Cadenhead ‘Small Batch’ 2015, two sherry butts, 1062 btl.)

Nose: very shy sherry influence, majbe Fino casks. Leafy notes, raw barley, hints of chalk. Some citrus and garden fruits underneath (apples, peaches). Hints of bread with salty butter. Green walnuts. Rather austere, few notes that get me excited. Mouth: sharp and rather hot. Common peaches and pears again, before the oak comes rolling in. Slightly tannic, dry and chalky. White pepper and ginger. Grapefruit...

Highland Park single casks

There are mixed feelings about the recent avalanche of Highland Park single casks . So many airports have already had their own single cask, now two labels popped up for a San Diego region exclusive and an Arizona cask , with probably more regions to follow. Great times for Highland Park collectors, or perhaps the exact opposite.

Dalmore 45 Year Old

After some (excellent) Dalmore 30, Dalmore 40 and Dalmore 50, the distillery is now filling some gaps with an upcoming Dalmore 45 Year Old . Still bottled at 40%, which is a shame...

Merry Christmas everyone.

We’ll celebrate with a deeply sherried Strathisla 1960 , from an era when sherry casks were still fairly simple, I guess.

Strathisla 1960 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail ‘Rare Vintage’ 2012, sherry butt)

Nose: I love this rich, slightly heady sherried character. Lots of prunes, figs and raspberry jam. Ginjinha. Then hints of shoe polish, menthol and waxed oak furniture. Very juicy, with a rich brown sugar note but also an elegant sour note. Herbal notes. Whiffs of cigar boxes. Mouth: a similar sweet and sour effect (prunes, cassis, sour cherries). Hints of smoke, even tar...

Three more undisclosed Speyside 1973 . More Farclas majbe. Or majbe not.

Speyside Region 44 yo 1973 (48,8%, Maltbarn for Shinanoya 2017, sherry cask, 249 btl.)

Nose: the biggest, sexiest fruitiness. Tangerines, apricots, papaya and gooseberries. Muscat grape. A little paraffin. Plenty of honey on the side, pollen, fruit syrups. Meadow flowers. Tiny hints of dried herbs. Mouth: same level of fruitiness. Orange liqueur, pears, honey, with just a little more grapefruits and unripe pineapple. Now also mixed with green tea, mint, eucalyptus. Hints of green spices. Waxy notes. Just a hint of marzipan and caraway seeds. Finish:...

So many Littlemill bottlings around 2012-2014 and just two that I could try this year (see the Littlemill 1990 Archives ). Douglas Laing bottled this refill hogshead last summer in the Xtra Old Particular range.

Littlemill 25 yo 1991 (50,9%, Douglas Laing ‘Xtra Old Particular’ 2017, refill hogshead #11789, 300 btl.)

Nose: a bit of an uncommon start on old wax candles and dusty cupboards. Engine oil. Then a bit of sweet plums, orange zest and honey. Green banana. Roasted malt. Hay. Cedar wood. Very interesting but perhaps not as fruity as I expected. Mouth: again a weird...

This Glenesk 1980 was bottled in 2014 in the Rare Old series by independent bottler Gordon & MacPhail.

Glenesk was one of the distilleries founded in the whisky boom of the late 19th century. During its history it switched from whisky production to malting and grain production. It’s only in 1964 (when it was called Hillside ) that it became a proper Maltwhisky distillery. The name Glenesk was adopted in 1980, so we’re trying one of the earliest Glenesks. The plant was mothballed in 1985 so bottlings are very hard to come by.

Glenesk 1980 (46%, Gordon...

There used to be a time when visiting whisky shops at airports was a joy. They had some special releases or specific batches that were better or more interesting than what you found in main street shops.

Somehow my impression is quite different nowadays: the selection tends to be bland and while there are still special editions for travel retail, more often than not I am suspicious that distilleries use them to get rid of unwanted stocks. Just a personal feeling.

Auchentoshan Cooper’s Reserve is part of their (successful) travel retail range, which was launched in 2012 and also includes...

Johnnie Walker Blue Label – Brora & Rare

Johnnie Walker doesn’t come by often on this blog, but the new Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost & Rare line is pretty interesting. Each edition will be composed around whisky from a lost distillery and the first batch is a Brora edition .

At its heart is some Brora single malt, but two other lost distilleries are also included: Pittyvaich and Cambus grain, as well as Clynelish, Lochnagar and others. The first review I saw calls it a masterpiece. It is bottled at 46% ABV and arrived in stores this week ....

This VT 46  is one of the new products from cognac house Vallein-Tercinier . Their master blender married two batches of old cognac from the Bons Bois and Fins Bois zones (one 15 years old, the other 25 years). It’s natural colour and non-chillfiltered.

Vallein-Tercinier VT 46 (46%, OB 2017)

Nose: a fruit basket of peaches, unripe banana, bright lime. Orange lemonade even. Not all fruits though, there is also a hint of chamomile, musty cellar and light Mediterranean herbs (aniseed). Mint and verbena. Even a subtle top note of floral honey and blossomy hand cream. Mouth: very...

This new release is part of diptych that celebrates the seasons on the Isle of Orkney, home of the Highland Park distillery. The Dark focuses on autumn and winter, while The Light will symbolise spring and summer. We can expect the other one early 2018.

Highland Park The Dark 17 Years is matured in European oak sherry-seasoned casks.

Highland Park The Dark 17 yo (52,9%, OB 2017, 28.000 btl.)

Nose: a slightly subdued nose. There are sweet blackberries and fig pastry but mainly spices. Cinnamon sticks and roasted (chest)nuts. Soft hints of metal polish. Mouth: again a fairly...

The Clans label is a new Sansibar series which honours the legendary Scottish clans from the region the whisky was made in. For the Isle of Mull this is the MacLean clan, one of the oldest in the Highlands.

Tobermory 1994 , matured in a PX sherry cask. A combination we haven’t tried before.

Tobermory 23 yo 1994 (57,9%, Sansibar ‘Clans Label’ 2017, PX sherry cask, 242 btl.)

Nose: no sulphur or weird notes, good start. Rather on cranberry biscuits, banana bread and cinnamon rolls. Then red plums. Caramelized apples. Light coastal notes. Hints of pipe tobacco and...

This is the peatiest whisky ever from Compass Box .

As often the recipe of the blend is easy to find: around 75% Ardbeg from re-charred barrels, around 11% Caol Ila from refill barrels, 13% Clynelish (re-charred hogsheads) and a very small portion of their typical Highland malt blend which usually involves Dailuaine and Teaninich finished in Compass Box’s special French oak ‘hybrid’ casks. A lot of information actually, it turns out the only thing missing is a name.

Compass Box No Name (48,9%, OB 2017, 15.000 btl.)

Nose: lovely elegant Islay style. Lots of ashes and hints...

The Ultimate series by Van Wees in Holland is known for having affordable whiskies, often middle-aged whisky from sherry casks and mostly sourced from Signatory Vintage stocks. Today we try their latest bottlings, a Clynelish 1996 and Macduff 2008, both from sherry casks.

Clynelish and sherry casks often cause a clash in my opinion, taking away some of its unique character, so it needs to be subtle. We’ve had some excellent (darker)  young Macduff from sherry casks though.

Clynelish 21 yo 1996 (46%, van Wees The Ultimate 2017, sherry butt #8793, 623 btl.)

Nose: juicy, tart fruits, like...

Knockdhu distillery has been working hard to develop a real peated range in the last couple of years. They have now launched anCnoc Peatheart , their peatiest expression so far, which contains about 40 ppm phenols (roughly in between Highland Park and Ardbeg, to give you an idea).

Note that for this expression they measured the phenol content of the malted barley (to be in line with the rest of the industry) while for previous peated anCnoc expressions they mentioned the phenols in the mature whisky.

It was matured in ex-bourbon barrels for more than a decade. anCnoc Peatheart will...

Giovinetti & Figli was Macallan ’s importer for Italy (Milan) in the 1980s. They had all kinds of bottlings, for instance a 7 year-old and this standard 10 year-old at 40% which are both “relatively affordable” if you fancy buying one now.

There was also a 10 Years Full Proof (better and much, much more expensive nowadays) and of course the rather legendary series of 18 year-old vintage releases.

Macallan 10 yo (40%, OB for Giovinetti & Figli, +/- 1985)

Nose: the classic Macallan profile, with lots of chocolate, toffee as well as some liquorice and coffee. Rum...

Teeling Whiskey unveiled the fourth bottling of The Revival , the series of bi-annual commemorative expressions to mark the opening of its distillery in juni 2015. The fifth and final Revival will be released next year ahead of Teeling Whiskey’s own Single Pot Still distilled in Dublin coming of age.

This release was matured in ex-bourbon barrels for 14 years and then finished for 12 months in casks that held Moscatel (Muscat wine) from the Douro valley.

Teeling Revival volume IV won the award for 2017 Irish Whiskey of the Year at the recent Irish Whiskey Awards.

Teeling...

Whiskybase released a few of its whiskies at the recent Whiskybase Gathering , their yearly festival if you like.

Officially undisclosed, but this shouldn’t be Scapa, you see.

Undisclosed Orkney 15 yo 2002 (58,7%, Archives ‘Fishes of Samoa’ for The Gathering 2017, refill hogshead, 270 btl.)

Nose: fairly punchy start (alcohol kick with a slightly acetic edge). Gets sweeter and creamier after some time. Candy sugar, hints of red berries. A little kirsch. Some vanilla and candied ginger. Light flinty notes. Mouth: sweet fruity notes, as well as firm spices (pepper, ginger, a little salt). Berries, sweet apples,...