I don’t really like all these concepts like ‘International whisky day’, ‘International Silly Walk Day’, ‘World UFO day’ or whatever, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I missed a great opportunity to publish a tribute to a famous woman of the whisky industry yesterday, on International Women’s Day.

Eiling Lim just bottled Bessie’s Dram , a new release in her ‘100% Premium Quality NAS’ series. Look it up if you don’t have a clue about the distillery. It’s on Islay .

In the same series there’s also a new undisclosed Tennessee whisky (mind the spelling).

Bessie’s Dram...

In 2014 the Kilbeggan Distilling Company (we still refer to them as  Cooley ) released their oldest expression to date, the Connemara 22 Year Old .

Cooley distillery, a former potato alcohol plant converted by John Teeling, started producing whiskey in 1987 but the peated runs didn’t start until 1991 so it must be composed from those very early stocks.

Connemara 22 yo (46%, OB 2014, first-fill bourbon barrels, 3996 btl.)

Nose: a gentle nose, not a peat monster but a very deep, smooth ashy start. Some toffee sweetness and vanilla ice cream underneath, and brighter hints of orange...

Fight of the day: Glentauchers 1996 .

In the right corner, we have a semi-official bottling of Glentauchers 1996 bottled in 2016. Although the description mentions first-fill sherry casks, the colour doesn’t really show it.

Gordon & MacPhail is well known for this concept of whiskies that are bottled ‘officially’ by them, under license from the distillery. Usually these relationships go back a long time. Other distilleries that are licensed by G&M include Ardmore, Balblair, Glen Grant, Glenburgie, Imperial, Linkwood, Longmorn and Strathisla.

In the left corner, we have a slightly younger single cask Glentauchers 1996 bottled by Whisky-Fässle ....

There has been a list of Blair Athol 1988 releases in the past three years or so (mostly from Signatory stocks) but nearly all of them were wine treated butts of refill sherry butts. This brand-new release from Maltbarn comes from an ex-bourbon cask.

Blair Athol 28 yo 1988 (49,6%, Maltbarn 2016, bourbon cask, 111 btl.)

Nose: starts on freshly cut green apple, oranges, later also apricots. Nice fruitiness, including a bright sour note. Sweet barley underneath, light vanilla and a blossomy note too. There’s also a nice herbal hint which reminds me of my daughter’s thyme-based cough...

Two recent Glenrothes 1980s bottlings that have something to do with The Whisky Exchange .

The first is bottled in the Single Malts of Scotland series, a sister cask of the Glenrothes 1989 they had in the same series last year. Strangely enough this cask is #8172 and last year they mentioned #18173, a small mistake there?

The other one comes from Gordon & MacPhail and was one of the show bottlings at the Whisky Show Old & Rare in Glasgow (see Balblair 1986 ).

Glenrothes 26 yo 1989 (53,8%, The Single Malts of Scotland 2016, refill...

Antique Lions of Whisky ‘The Birds’

Italian whisky traders Lion’s Whisky and Whisky Antique teamed up with Jens Drewitz of Sansibar to create a new label called Antique Lions of Whisky . The name is a bit silly but the bottles are drop-dead gorgeous and clearly a reference to the legendary 1980s-1990s Moon Import series, which featured animals, birds, sea creatures, etc.

They presented six expressions in this first series The Birds :

• Speyside Region 1975 (46,9%, 230 btl.) – € 495
• Glen Moray 1988 (45,1%, 216 btl.) – € 265
• Fettercairn 1988 (50,6%, 292 btl.) – € 265
• Tormore...

Knappogue Castle is not a distillery, it is an Irish castle near Limerick, acquired and restored by Mark Edwin Andrews and his wife in 1966. He was a whisky collector and started buying casks of fine pot still whiskey from top distilleries in the country. The casks were further aged and privately bottled under what is now the Knappogue Castle label.

All of his bottles stayed in the private collection until Mark’s son launched Great Spirits LLC and sold them off. The last bottling, a Knappogue Castle 1951 is particularly famous. It is often described as the rarest...

Whisky-Fässle has this new Lowlands Single Grain 1964 , bottled at the age of 52. There are plenty of grain distilleries in the Lowlands, so we could only make some wild guesses. However, when thinking specifically of 1964 expressions, I would say Carsebridge or Girvan are perhaps a bit more plausible than the others?

Fine Single Lowlands Grain 52 yo 1964 (47,7%, Whisky-Fässle 2016, barrel)

Nose: nicely vannilled and syrupy, with pear juice and warm oak. Hints of both American bourbon and exotic rum. Coconut and bananas flambéed. Hints of pencil shavings. Creamy mocha candy. A little toasted...

A Glenfarclas 1986 of around 30 years of age, bottled as part of the Winter 2015 batch of Family Casks .

Glenfarclas 1986 (54,8%, OB ‘Family Casks’ 2015, refill sherry butt #4334, 536 btl.)

Nose: very typical and very elegant. Some fruity notes (oranges, Mirabelles) but the spices are bigger. Clove and cinnamon. Leather, walnut cake, hints of tobacco leaves. Beautiful waxy notes after a while. Mild sherry, and all the elements find a harmonious balance. Mouth: same feeling really, which is excellent. First a combination of pepper and orange, then apricots and tangerines, a little Earl Grey....

The Whisky Exchange has just released an exclusive single cask from the Taiwanese Kavalan distillery, an Oloroso sherry butt filled 25th of januari 2010 and bottled at their standard strength of 57,8%.

By the way, this is a good opportunity to mention the fact that TWE recently started offering 3cl samples. The service is called The Perfect Measure . You can get a pre-made selection (e.g. five 30 Year Old whiskies) or make a random selection. They have vodka, tequila, rum, whisky and much more, each in a nice bottle with an attractive label. There’s even a sample of a...

For some reason I never seem to have reviewed the Highland Park 12 Year Old . First introduced in 1979 and matured in a combination of refill and first-fill sherry casks.

Highland Park 12 yo (40%, OB 2016)

Nose: rather typical HP. Honeyed, a lot of orange cubes, cinnamon. Just a hint of heathery smoke and charcoal. Golden raisins. Fairly rounded, with light floral hints. A hint of sea air. Mouth: quite all-round, with a bit of different profiles. Some candied fruits, oranges, a little dried apricot. Some grassy notes, hay, mingling nicely with the soft smoky touches....

Midleton – Method and Madness

Method and Madness is a new range of experimental Irish whiskeys that originated at the Midleton distillery as an interaction between the distillery masters and some of their young apprentices. The range launches with four expressions, each with its own twist:

• a Single Grain Irish Whiskey from ex-bourbon barrels and finished in Virgin Spanish Oak (€ 49)
• a Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey from Oloroso sherry and bourbon barrels, finished in French Chestnut (€ 69)
• a Single Malt Irish Whiskey from bourbon barrels, enhanced with French Limousin Oak (€ 79)
• a 31 Year Old Single...

Some of us have been lucky enough to try the famous older Port Ellen expressions, the annual special releases and such. But it’s even rarer to try some of the 1970s distillates at a very young age – releases that came long before the wider popularity of Port Ellen.

A big part of these were bottled by Gordon & MacPhail in the 1980s and 1990s, mainly for Italian distributors like Intertrade, Meregali and Sestante.

Today’s Port Ellen 1974 was bottled at 15 years of age for Sestante . There’s also a 14 year-old version bottled in 1988. It’s one of...

We’ve seen a series of ‘Extra Old’ blended malts lately but it’s new in Irish bottlings as far as I know.

not sure why this Irish Single Malt Extra Old from Whisky-Fässle doesn’t have an age statement, for some reason it would be a mix of older and younger spirits. In any case pricing would lead us to a decent average age.

Irish single malt ‘Extra Old’ (50,6%, Whisky-Fässle 2016, barrel)

Nose: fresh, bright and very fruity. Banana, lemon, pineapple, whitecurrant. Rather great. Sweet barley. Hints of lime blossom, buttercups and light honey. Mouth: same fruitiness. Melons, pears,...

This Glenfarclas 2008 is a single cask release for Corman Collins , one of the pioneers in Belgium when it comes to selling single Maltwhisky. For some time they acted as the Belgian partner of La Maison du Whisky and they released some joint bottlings with Mario Grooteklaes (“M&H Cask Selection”) who later started The Nectar.

They celebrated the 50th anniversary of the company in 2015 but recently also the decease of the founder Hubert Corman. I believe this Glenfarclas 2008 ‘Cuvée du Fondateur Corman Collins 2016’ was bottled in his honour.

Glenfarclas 2008 (58%, OB ‘Cuvée...

In 2016 Tullibardine distillery created a Marquess Collection which honours Lord William Murray, the Marquess of Tullibardine.

first release is Tullibardine The Murray , matured in first-fill bourbon barrels for around 12 years and bottled at cask strength.

Tullibardine ‘The Murray’ 2004 (56,1%, OB 2016, Marquess Collection, first-fill bourbon, 6000 btl.)

Nose: curious. First there’s a dusty side to it, but it opens up nicely on soft fruits (nectarine, apple, lemon, a little mango eventually) and oak spices. Vanilla custard. A bright, rather blossomy nose. Mouth: quite hot and spicy, sweet, with plenty of barley. Lemons and...

This is the third edition in the Teeling Revival series, a 14 year-old single malt distilled in 2002, matured in ex-bourbon casks and then finished in 350 litre Pineau des Charentes casks, a first for Irish whiskey.

Pineau des Charentes is a sweet French aperitif, made mainly in the southwestern regions of Charente and Charente-Maritime. It is the cognac region , and indeed cognac eau-de-vie is used to fortify grape must or partially fermented fresh Charentais, which is then left to mature in oak casks.

Be sure to compare with the first Teeling Revival launched last year.

Teeling...

Teeling presented the third volume of its Teeling Revival series. This 14 years old Irish whiskey was matured in ex-bourbon casks and then finished in 350 litre Pineau de Charentes casks. It is bottled at 46% and 10.000 bottles are available for around € 120.

In case you’re curious, it’s very tasty. My review of the new Teeling Revival will be published on Monday.

From Compass Box comes the news of a new Breakthru blend . It is a bespoke blend for their distributor Breakthru Beverage Group. The label says it is extremely limited, so I assume this will...

The first edition of the TWE Whisky Show Old & Rare (organized by The Whisky Exchange, guided by whisky experts Angus MacRaild and Jonny McMillan) will be held this weekend in Glasgow. It’s going to be a mind-boggling display of fine, rare and antique single malts and spirits. Lots of auctions houses and collectors (Dornoch Castle, Fiddler’s, LMdW, The Auld Alliance, Michiel Wigman, Jens Drewitz, Geert Bero…) will let you try some of their most precious bottles.

Tickets for Saturday are sold out, but you could still go on Sunday. Entry is around € 120, half of which can be...

I always thought Mannochmore distillery was mothballed between 1985 and 1989 (many sources mention this) but apparently they did produce in 1988. Around this time, production was rather irregular anyway, with the personnel often being moved between Mannochmore and sister distillery Glenlossie.

This Mannochmore 1988 is a brand-new bottling from Whisky-Fässle . Even though the alcohol strength seems perfectly standard, it was actually bottled at cask strength.

Mannochmore 28 yo 1988 (46%, Whisky-Fässle 2016, hogshead)

Nose: an elegant, rather oily but also quite fruity profile. Apricots, pineapple, a little kiwi. Yellow apples. Some malty notes. Custard cream. Hints...