Lagavulin distillery concludes its 200 ^th anniversary year with a special single cask bottling of a 24 year old whisky distilled in 1991 .

All proceeds of this Lagavulin 1991, exceeding £0.5 million, will be divided between seven charities on the island.

The Lagavulin 1991 sherry butt of just 522 bottles was carefully selected by the distillery team and Ivan Menezes, CEO of Diageo. Bottles can only be purchased via a special ballot on The Whisky Exchange that launches today, 31st december, with bottle No. 1 being auctioned separately to raise even more charitable funds, and one bottle being donated...

Back to basics. Johnnie Walker Red Rye Finish is the first expression in a new Blender’s Batch series. It is not usually the kind of whisky I write about, but in this festive season it is all over the place, here in Belgium you don’t have to wait long for a Red Rye commercial when you turn on the TV.

The Blender’s Batch range is all about variation and experimentation. For this first release they used whiskies matured in first-fill American oak which were blended and finished for six months in casks that previously held rye whiskey . It is...

The year 2016 will be remembered for the list of deceased artists… and for the list of undisclosed Speyside whiskies. Today a single malt  Old Speyside 1973 bottled by Eiling Lim .

On her website she says: I bought his from a whisky broker and no matter what I did or how I begged, no information was spared . Then we shouldn’t guess, right?

Old Speyside 43 yo 1973 (47,8%, Eiling Lim 2016, 12th release, Fino cask, 118 btl.)

Nose: full of beehive notes, beeswax, pollen, with some old and rather fragrant, minty oak, or sandalwood. Quite some...

We’re having three young Caol Ila bottlings from independent bottlers today. We’ve been talking about the stunning accuracy of this distillery, yet these casks turn out to be quite different. The price as well, by the way.

Caol Ila 9 yo 2006 (51,3%, Sansibar ‘Samurai label’ 2015, bourbon hogshead, 340 btl.)

Nose: nice combo of bright fruits and mentholated and iodine notes.  Eucalyptus, Tiger balm. Wet wool. Unripe pineapple, perhaps a little rhubarb. Lemon peel and pretty clean peat smoke. The freshness of the mint / menthol is great. Mouth: same thoughts, very mentholy, minty and herbal. Definitely...

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye took centre stage last year after being named best whisky of 2015 by Jim Murray. While it’s old news, we don’t get to try many Canadian whiskies in Europe so I thought I had to grab the opportunity.

According to his website, Murray tried batch L5085N3 (at last he discloses this kind of information). I’m trying a batch which was bottled one and a half months later, reasonably close!

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye (45%, OB 2015, L5132R7)

Nose: pleasant, with vanilla, apple pie and ripe banana, as well as prominent hint of...

Montilla-Moriles is a neighbouring region to the sherry region in the South of Spain, and they produce wines in a similar style. Although they use similar names like Fino and Oloroso, they almost exclusively use Pedro Ximénez grapes (also for dry wines) whereas the sherry denomination requires Palomino grapes for most wines.

All this just to say Oban uses Montilla Fino casks for the ‘double maturation’ of their Distillers Edition . We’re trying the latest 2016 release.

Oban 2001 ‘Distiller’s Edition’ (43%, OB 2016, Montilla Fino finish, ref. OB 165.FB)

Nose: orange peel and lots of malty notes....

This 36 years old Ardbeg 1973 is probably one of the rarest bottlings, with only 78 bottles. Douglas Laing has bottled quite a few Ardbegs from this era, in the Old Malt Cask series (early 2000s) and later in this Old & Rare Platinum series. It is said to be one of their best Ardbegs, with the younger sibling 30yo 1973 (98 bottles) roughly on the same level.

Ardbeg 36 yo 1973 (44,7%, Douglas Laing Old & Rare Platinum 2009, 78 btl.)

Nose: starts on mellow peat that breaks up into soft leather, chalky Manzanilla Pasada, fresh lemons,...

H ouse of Sobel was a wine and spirits company in California. It existed from 1946 until 1988. Although I had never heard the name, it looks like they imported Glenfarclas releases into the US.

The back label of this Glenfarclas 21 Years Old talks about the distillery and also tells us the 1955 vintage was highly acclaimed at that time. Does it mean this was distilled in 1955? That would also mean it was bottled after 1976. The fact that there is no ‘Glenlivet’ after Glenfarclas seems to confirm the 1970s timing. On the other hand Grant Bonding Co (a Glenfarclas subsidiary)...

I can’t think of a whisky broker / bottler that is able to match Gordon & MacPhail when it comes to legendary old stocks. We’ve had some great examples in the past months: Strathisla 1967 , Glenlivet 1974 , Glen Grant 1954 …

Recently G&M launched the Speyside Collection , an exclusive series of six whiskies from Speyside’s finest distilleries (each of which has been available on its own in the past, if I’m not mistaken). They are distilled between 1947 and 1972 and bottled at 40 or 43%. Only 75 sets are available for an impressive € 12.500.

We’re trying...

The latest Malt Maniacs Awards 2016 caused a bit of a stir because Kavalan expressions seemed to have hijacked the whole competition (no less than 10 bottlings in the top–15). I agree on the impressive character of these whiskies and the general quality, but to get a more representative outcome they probably need to come up with a more efficient limitation across distilleries (as 1 of every 8 bottles in the competition was a Kavalan).

A lot of retailers and whisky clubs are currently looking at the Taiwanese Kavalan distillery for their bespoke expressions. Heavy sherry has a wide audience, Taiwanese...

The unpeated Caol Ila is one of the constant appearances in Diageo’s Special Releases. It has been roughly between 10 and 17 years old – this year brings a Caol Ila 15 Year Old , a mix of refill American oak casks and European oak sherry butts.

I’ve tried a few of these unpeated Caol Ila expressions before ( 2009 , 2013 ‘Stitchell Reserve’ and 2015 ).

Caol Ila 15 yo 2000 ‘unpeated style’ (61,5%, OB 2016, Special release)

Nose: fairly fruity (sweet lemon, grapefruit, apples) with lots of pine needles, grassy notes and an alcoholic kick. Light...

Even though it’s not a high-end distillery, the name Mannochmore always gets me interested. The few expressions I’ve had were really good and I though the Mannochmore 18 Years from the 2009 Special Releases was pretty great.

This year there is a Mannochmore 25 Year Old from the same distillation year 1990. The distillery was built to partner Glenlossie and only began production in the 1970s. Very few old casks remain. It is a mix of first-fill bourbon barrels, new American oak barrels and new and ex-bodega European oak sherry butts.

Mannochmore 25 yo 1990 (53,4%, OB 2016,...

Norlan Whisky Glass

I have been intrigued by the Norlan Whisky Glass since it was announced as a Kickstarter project. The glass was developed using 3D printers and continuous feedback from industry experts. Let’s look at a few different aspects and see how it compares to other glasses.

One of the aims was to combine the looks of a whisky tumbler with the performance of a tulip glass . I must say it is beautiful. This maj not be the most important thing about a glass, but it’s nice to hold, it feels solid and somehow less breakable than...

Among the many independent Irish single malts that I’ve tried the past few years, there have been a lot of 1988 and 1991 casks but only one 1989 so far. Now there are two more.

One is a brand-new bottling from The Whisky Agency , a joint bottling with Eiling Lim . The other one is from the outstanding Emerald Isle series from Speciality Drinks / The Whisky Exchange. Highly respected bottlers – this should be interesting!

Irish single malt 27 yo 1989 (45%, The Whisky Agency & Eiling Lim 2016, barrel, 177 btl.)

Nose: classic Limerick style....

Kavalan Concertmaster utilises Ruby Port, Tawny Port and Vintage Port casks from Portugal to finish whiskies that were initially matured in standard American oak barrels.

I tried this sample as part of my Whisky Advent Calendar .

Kavalan Concertmaster (40%, OB +/- 2016, Port Cask finish)

Nose: honeyed and fairly aromatic, with vanilla and some varnished notes. Plums, raspberries and a hint of red wine, but the Port influence is nicely balanced. Almonds. A faint smoky / roasted note and some pepper in the background. A pleasant surprise. Mouth: less impressive now. Youngish profile. There’s a vague agave...

This is one of the latest batches of Aberlour A’Bunadh , one I selected for my Tasting Collection set. It’s a classic cask strength, sherry matured dram, on the market since 1998. As always, around 60-80 casks are used for each batch, which are bottled with no chill filtering and no colour added. The whisky used is roughly between 5 and 25 years old.

By the way, there have been over 200 participations in my little Tasting Collection competition. I will notify the winners later this week. Sorry if you didn’t make it, but we have another competition coming up!...

The Tomatin 18 Year Old , here in its renewed 2016 design, is matured in traditional oak casks (ex-bourbon) and finished in first-fill Oloroso Sherry butts for 2 to 3 years.

Tomatin 18 yo (46%, OB 2016, Oloroso sherry butt finish)

Nose: opens on a mix of honeyed notes and a real sense of freshly opened Oloroso casks (including the hint of dusty oak). Apricots, hints of Moscatel wine and golden raisins. Cinnamon syrup and vanilla. Baked apples. Heathery touches. Nicely fruity with balanced sherry. Mouth: fairly sweet and fruity again, with a creamy texture. There’s barley sugar,...

This year I had a chance to try the  Lagavulin 12 Years , Brora 38 Years and Port Ellen 37 Years  first. Now I was able to try the other Special Releases as well. Which one would you have opened first?

I went for the Linkwood 37 Year Old , because you don’t see Linkwood all that often, and because quite a few other reviewers highlighted it as one of their favourites in this batch.

Linkwood 37 yo 1978 (50,3%, OB 2016, Special Release, 6114 btl.)

Nose: rather classic entry on golden apples and honey. Peaches. Something of...

No significant whisky news this week, as far as I know. Instead, here’s an extra review on Saturday: Teeling single malt , another sample that I found today in my Whisky Advent Calendar .

Teeling ‘single malt’ (46%, OB 2016)

Nose: very citrusy (lemon oil, graepfruit, lemon glazing) with fresh grassy notes and green apple peelings. Floral honey. Malt whiskey with the character of a bright white wine. Light and summery. Mouth: light and fruity again. Rhubarb, some pineapple, grapefruit and apple. Greengages. Hints of green banana too. This clean Irish fruitiness is topped with cinnamon and pepper....

Old Perth is a brand that goes back to the early 1990s when it was created by the Thomson family in Perth. It disappeared in the 1970s but was brought back to life as a blended malt in 2013 by independent bottlers Morrison & Mackay (of the Càrn Mòr brand among others).

The Old Perth Sherry Cask is a 2015 addition to the range, alongside a peaty expression. It is composed from sherry hogsheads, puncheons and butts . The internet tells me the whisky comes from Glentauchers and Speyside distillery, but I’ve seen other names as well, so take this...