Ardbeg Twenty Something is a new 23 year-old Ardbeg that will be released exclusively to Ardbeg’s loyal fan base, the Ardbeg Committee, in gratitude for their enduring support of the Distillery.

Mickey Heads, Distillery Manager and Chairman of the Ardbeg Committee says: “This magnificent whisky was created within the retired iconic still which stands proud outside our Distillery today. It’s a glimpse back into Ardbeg’s turbulent past and reaffirms just why the Distillery couldn’t be allowed to be disappear.”

It was matured in ex-bourbon and ex-Oloroso sherry casks. Ardbeg Twenty Something is priced at RRP £ 430 (around € 485)...

The Balvenie Peat Week 14 Years Old (2002 Vintage) is the result of trials undertaken in 2001 by Malt Master David Stewart, at a time when very few Speyside distilleries used peat in whisky production. Ever since then they’ve had one Peat Week per year, doing peated runs using 100% Highland peat to dry their malted barley (30 ppm phenols but the non-phenolic particles are more prominent).

This is the first wide-scale release of this style (following a peated Triple Cask for travel retail in juni 2017), matured in American oak casks. The distillery already hinted at the release of...

This is post n° 2500, I can’t believe we’ve gotten this far with just one liver! Today’s dram had to be something special…

Master Distiller Richard ‘The Nose’ Paterson celebrated his 50th year in the whisky industry last year, and at the beginning of 2017 the distillery presented the limited edition The Dalmore 50 Year Old .

Its journey started the 31st of december 1966 in American oak barrels. In 2003 it was transferred into Matusalem sherry casks from González Byass. In 2012 it went into Colheita 1938 Port pipes from Graham’s for four years until being finessed...

I love the Cask Ends concept of Cadenhead’s. You get some ‘leftover bottles’ (either 20 cl or 70 cl ) from casks that were released in an official form earlier. Especially the 20 cl bottle is an idea that more bottlers should adopt.

I got this Tamnavulin 1992 as a nice birthday gift the other day, hooray! The picture below is of the original bottling of course. It’s one of the least featured distilleries on this blog… It didn’t really exist as a single malt until the Tamnavulin Double Cask was launched last year (I’ll review that one soon).

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Ardbeg An Oa is named after the Mull of Oa on the Kildalton coast in the south west of Islay. In the summer of 2017 it was the first addition to Ardbeg’s core range in the last decade.

The recipe is based on a combination of seven different types of casks : Pedro Ximénez casks, heavily charred virgin oak and first-fill bourbon casks are the most important. These have been married in a large French oak vat housed in The Gathering Room at the distillery.

Ardbeg An Oa is designed to be the entry point in to the range, sitting...

Last week I reviewed the Clynelish 21 Years ‘Art of Whisky’  and Glenrothes 27 Years ‘Art of Whisky’ and said there would be a seventh undisclosed bottling in this series. This was revealed at The Whisky Show in London: a Springbank 24 Year Old .

Update: they’re now available from TWE .

Springbank 24 yo (51,7%, Elixir Distillers 2017, 160 btl.)

Nose: a bit special, not a wham-bam Springbank. Quite waxy (aromatic candles, wax paper) with some lemon oil, leather and sour dough. Autumn leaves, classy hints of verveine. Rhubarb and crisp Granny Smith. Wet chalk and gingerbread...

Oban 14 Year Old is one of the last Classic Malts we hadn’t reviewed. It has been around since the late 1980s, it has long been the only regular expression and not much has changed in the core range since then.

Oban 14 yo (43%, OB +/- 2017)

Nose: I like this. It’s rather delicate but shows nicely fresh, fruity aromas (apples, mirabelles, oranges), held back a little by some mineral notes and leather. The lightest hint of smoke. Seaweed. Hay. Something of lipstick as well – a fragrant waxiness I often get in Ben Nevis for instance....

Springbank Local Barley 10 Years (2017)

The upcoming 2017 edition of Springbank Local Barley is just 10 years old (so far they’re only getting younger). Made with Belgravia barley from West Backs farm, this 2007 distillation will be bottled at 57,3% ABV, and 9000 bottles will be available of this third release.

Benromach 1977 single cask #1268

Benromach continues to expand its impressive single cask collection, now with this Benromach 1977 single cask #1268 , an American refill hogshead matured for 39 years. A book about the distillery accompanies the whisky. It is bottled at 56% ABV and...

Following the 2007 and 2008 vintages, Kilchoman just released the Kilchoman 2009 Vintage which – strangely enough – contains whisky from 2009 ex-bourbon barrels but also three 2008 Oloroso butts. A two-year vintage?

Previous editions of the vintage release were always exclusively matured in bourbon casks.

Kilchoman 8 yo 2009 vintage (46%, OB 2017)

Nose: quite citrusy, with bright and zesty lemon. Then warmer hints of vanilla and harbour ropes. Medium peat smoke. Just a little oil paint and subtle notes of raisins and toffee in the background. Mouth: same feeling of medium strength and slightly acrid peat...

This is the Irish Malt 1989 from the recent Butterflies series , bottled by the Righi, Sandrin & Drewitz trio.

Irish Malt 28 yo 1989 (49,3%, Antique Lions of Spirits ‘Butterflies’ 2017, bourbon cask, 209 btl.)

Nose: warm fruit cake, alongside this tropical fruitiness (guave, maracuya, bananas, white grapefruit). A hint of green tea. Light vanilla. Subtle minerals in the background, a whiff of wet plaster. Mouth: more fruity notes, sweet and tropical at first (mango, passion fruits) but evolving more towards grapefruit, kiwi and lime. Slightly more zesty now, grapefruit skin which mingles nicely with the mineral...

Highland Park Magnus is the latest expression from Highland Park , exclusive to USA and Canada . It is a non-age statement offering, composed with a high proportion of sherry seasoned American oak casks, along with refill (ex-bourbon) casks.

I find it slightly confusing that they’ve named an entire series Magnus, with Saint Magnus and Earl Magnus expressions, and now another Magnus . Of course Magnus Eunson is the first distiller they can trace the distillery back to, but it will become hard to set them apart if they continue like this.

Highland Park Magnus (40%, OB 2017)...

The BenRiach 20 Years is the oldest expression in the flagship range (the 25 Years and 35 Years are seen as premium expressions). I’ve always had a sweet spot for this whisky, let’s try a recent batch.

Previous bottlings had a white label with blue illustrations . The new version (introduced this year?) is dark blue with gold lettering, but most shops are still selling the old one.

BenRiach 20 yo (43%, OB +/- 2017)

Nose: light and elegant. Full of aromatic fruits, pineapple, tangerines, apricot, as well as juicy apples and plums. It also has a nice...

I’ve rarely written about Edradour . It’s one of Scotland’s smallest ‘traditional’ distilleries (12 casks a week, they claim) and a charming place with old production methods, but I’ve never really understood their whisky. Keep in mind that I got into whisky around 2005-2006 and Edradour kept releasing weird finishes and inconsistent whisky to say the least.

I have to admit I didn’t follow the new production closely but recently I had been hearing positive things so I thought it was time for a new assessment.

Edradour 10 Years is aged in a combination of Oloroso Sherry and Bourbon casks...

This 27 year-old Glenrothes is part of the Art of Whisky series, the show bottlings of the recent Whisky Show in London.

Glenrothes 27 yo (51,1%, Elixir Distillers 2017, 204 btl.)

Nose: a very bright, sweet / sour fruitiness. Lots of pears, yellow plums and peaches, with whiffs of marzipan. Oranges and honey. Definitely lime and mint. Something floral / eucalyptus-like as well, which works well here. Mouth: still very fresh and fruity. Stewed apples, a hint of kirsch and pear eau-de-vie. Green spices, peppercorns and ginger. Faint waxy notes, as well as gentle char towards the end....

Kilchoman Red Wine Cask

In the first half of oktober, Kilchoman will release a Kilchoman Red Wine Cask Matured , made with wine casks from the Portuguese Douro valley. Expect some cooked red fruits on top of the Kilchoman smoke. It will be bottled at 50% ABV, relatively limited (6000 bottles) and priced around € 80. My tasting notes will follow soon.

Compass Box Gold Standard

Now that Compass Box No Name and Compass Box Phenomenology have been spotted at Whisky Live in Paris, it’s time to talk about the next expression: Compass Box Gold Standard . This is...

Happy birthday to Ronnie Cox!

Almost exactly ten years ago I bought part of an impressive Glenrothes collection from eBay, including this Glenrothes 1980 . It cost me € 250 back then, a crazy amount, but this was special for multiple reasons.

First, it was a single cask expression. Not many of these existed at the time (four 1966-1967 casks and three from 1979). It still is an exception for this distillery which sticks to the vintage concept they started for the most part.

It was also remarkable for being a first-fill sherry cask bottled at cask strength – the...

The Art of Whisky is a new series from Elixir Distillers (the bottling department of The Whisky Exchange), which will be presented at the upcoming Whisky Show in London (30/09 – 02/10).

There are seven show bottlings, including this Clynelish 21 Year Old . The rest can be found here , except for one that will be revealed at the show.

Clynelish 21 yo ‘Art of Whisky Distilling’ (56,1%, Elixir Distillers 2017, ex-bourbon hogshead, 251 btl.)

Nose: warm pears and golden apples, yellow flowers and hints of waxed fabrics. Some chalky notes, almonds and lemon zest. Subtle whiffs...

This is the new batch of Springbank 15 Year Old , the one with the reworked green label.

Springbank 15 yo (46%, OB 2017)

Nose: the dirtier side of Springbank, with hot engines, lots of soaked porridge, wet wool and one or two struck matchstick heads. Mineral hints, chalk, a little aspirin. Also hazelnuts and vague hints of raisin sweetness and toffee. Some leather and heady pepper. Mouth: oily, with a classic combination of lemon and salt. Zesty fruits, more creamy fruits in the background. Back to minerals, ink and more brine. Whiffs of exotic fruits too. Faint...

A 2001 single malt from an undisclosed Irish distillery, bottled in the single cask series from Master of Malt after 14 years of ageing. Matured in a bourbon barrel – at least, that’s what they say on the label…

Irish single malt 14 yo 2001 (56,4%, Master of Malt 2016, bourbon barrel #10785)

Nose: something of a charred hint at first, like matchstick heads, but it clearly says bourbon barrel. Some grassy notes. None of the expected bananas, pears and other fruits. Leathery and leafy, with some hints of tea. Mocha glaze. majbe a little melon at last....

The label of this undisclosed Speyside Region Malt 1973 doesn’t mention single malt explicitly, so perhaps we can assume it’s one of these very old ‘malt bases’ for the Edrington blends (pointing to Tamdhu, Glenrothes, majbe Macallan…) Even the bottlers have no clue in this case.

It is part of the Butterflies series from Antique Lions of Spirits .

Speyside Region Malt 44 yo 1973 (51,6%, Antique Lions of Spirits ‘Butterflies’ 2017, sherry cask, 372 btl.)

Nose: lusicous. On the warm side compared to similar bottlings. A little more guava and papaya. Some banana, almonds and beeswax. Hints...