The undisclosed Islay malt Finlaggan released a limited edition vintage distillation for Feis Ile 2016 . It was only available at The Islay Whisky Shop in Bowmore during the festival.

Rumour has it that The Vintage Maltwhisky Co uses mainly Lagavulin , but also Caol Ila or Laphroaig casks to create their Finlaggan whiskies.

Finlaggan 2006 (50%, OB for Feis Ile 2016, single hogshead, 350 btl.)

Nose: quite pungent and incisive, with lots of iodine, seashells and saline peat. Nice camphor. It opens up nicely, with some citrusy hints. and a good dose of malty notes. A...

Launched towards the end of januari 2016, Glenmorangie The Tayne is not a brand-new expression but just like its predecessor in the travel retail Legends series , Glenmorangie Duthac , it seems to have received little exposure.

However they don’t seem to be temporary series but part of the permanent travel retail line-up of the distillery (which, like most travel retail offerings, is also available from many traditional shops). They replace Nectar D’Or, Lasanta and Quinta Ruban in airports.

Glenmorangie Tayne pays homage to a galleon of the Spanish Armada, that has sunk in Dornoch Firth, formerly known...

Ardbeg Ar6 in the Elements of Islay series has been aged full term in ex-bourbon wood. Some reviewers found this to be their favourite release of the recent batch.

Ardbeg Ar6 (55,7%, Elements of Islay 2016, 50cl)

Nose: really good, rich Ardbeg. Medicinal notes up front (iodine, camphor, eucalyptus) but with a nicely creamy side too. Nice hints of leather, oiled wood. Very subtle vanilla. Something of shellac. Very good, rather warm and elegant. Mouth: sweet lemons and vanilla custard at first, followed by a growing herbal side and deep tarry notes. Soot. Fish oils and oil paint....

The newest Ardbeg – ready to be released in 2017 – is named Ardbeg Kelpie . The label for a Committee Edition 2017 has popped up in the TTB Colas and this usually means the details are final.

Ardbeg Kelpie is matured in virgin casks , made from new oak grown in the Republic of Adygea (Russia, near the Crimea) by the Black Sea . The tasting notes are said to revolve around  oily peat, dark chocolate and smoked fish (like any Ardbeg, right?). On the back label we also read herbal notes, hickory wood and seaweed (kelp).

The name Kelpie...

Aberfeldy 18 Year Old is a relatively new expression, launched mid 2014 as part of the ‘Last Great Malts’ rebranding of the whole Bacardi portfolio. It sits in between the generally available Aberfeldy 12 Years and Aberfeldy 21 Years , but this is (theoretically) only available in travel retail.

Later in 2015 we also saw the launch of Aberfeldy 16 Years and normally a 30 year-old expression should have followed, but I’ve had confirmation that it is on hold.

Aberfeldy 18 yo (40%, OB 2016)

Nose: starts gentle, with shy citrus fruits, lots of yellow apples and...

Karuizawa Cask Strength

During the past week, La Maison du Whisky announced the sale of five new Karuizawa Cask Strength expressions, and some of them have gone on sale already.

They are part of the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series, which feature landscape prints by the famous Japanese artist Hokusai. They depict Mount Fuji from different locations in various weather conditions. The series was presented at Whisky Live Taipei in 2015 but I don’t recall any of them to be (officially) sold in Europe so far.

The liquid inside is drawn from casks of 1999 and 2000 vintages, bottled...

We try the latest batch of this classic Skye whisky. A couple of months ago, there were rumours that Talisker 10 Years would be discontinued (possibly replaced by Talisker Skye ) or at least available in very limited amounts, but so far I can’t say this is noticeable. All my regular shops seem to have sufficient stocks.

Talisker 10 Year Old (45,8%, OB 2016)

Nose: better than how I remembered it, less porridgy. This time I’m simply getting the soft smoke, classic oily notes and peppery edge. Lots of coastal notes, seashells and iodine. Lovely mentholated / eucalyptus...

We already reviewed quite a few of these Good Vibes bottlings from The Whisky Agency . Here’s the Ben Nevis 1996 .

Ben Nevis 19 yo 1996 (50,5%, The Whisky Agency ‘Good Vibes’ 2016, refill sherry butt, 360 btl.)

Nose: overripe melons, oranges with some yellow apples and peaches, in a rather fatty way, with wax and linseed oil behind it. Bright grapefruits. Wet gravel. Hay. Minty notes, even some slightly acetic notes. Slightly funny, kind of a dirty fruitiness if you like. Mouth: nicer now, more obvious fruits, slightly tropical and lots of them. Apricots, tangerines, whitecurrants....

This Longmorn 1965 was bottled in 1977 by Berry Bros. & Rudd , at a time when the distillery had merged with The Glenlivet, right before being acquired by Seagram. This is just 11-12 years old and heavily sherried.

This particular bottle was bought by Ardbeg collector Geert Bero in the legendary Mara cellars. He opened it right away but was largely unimpressed. I tapped a sample many years later and waited some more before actually trying it. Sometimes airing is a must with old bottles.

Longmorn 1965 (70 proof, Berry Bros & Rudd 1977, 26 2/3 fl.oz.)...

More Irish malt, and another Belgian exclusive (or so we’re told – the label doesn’t really mention it), bottled with the same strategy of different single casks for different countries, just like the Springbank 21 Year Old single casks .

A Teeling 24 Year Old single cask release. After all the glorious 1988 – 1991 expressions that were released by independent bottlers, Teeling is now doing the same with several 24 year-old single casks from 1991.

This is cask #10668 for Belgium. There’s also cask #8474 for The Netherlands, cask #8385 for Ireland, cask #6780 for Switzerland, cask #8390 for...

This Irish single malt is “richly matured” according to the Liquid Treasures website. Based on the price and the fact that it is from a bourbon barrel, it looks similar to the 1991 casks that we’ve seen lately. Just a guess though.

Very old Irish malt (49,6%, Liquid Treasures ‘Summer Dram selection’ 2016, bourbon barrel, 123 btl.)

Nose: almost entirely on green bananas. Light floral touches. Apples and gooseberries. Greengages. Not the tropical fruits of the 1991s though, more Western, so perhaps we’re wrong. Or majbe this is Cooley. Some fresh mint after a while. Lemon grass. Very...

Lagavulin Casks of Distinction

This week a new Lagavulin popped up. It’s a limited edition Lagavulin 23 Years 1992 single cask , exclusively selected by Boyao Zhao. Not sure who that is or whether this means it will only be available in Asia, in any case it is the first release in a new Casks of Dinstinction series.

This release was bottled at cask strength 55,7% from cask #5745, a bodega sherry European Oak butt that yielded 440 bottles. No information about the availability yet.

BenRiach & GlenDronach news

The BenRiach launched two wood finishes: BenRiach 17...

Another Ardbeg 1965 bottled by Cadenhead in their Authentic Collection , but as it turns out, totally different from the Ardbeg 24 Years for Sestante .

Ardbeg 28 yo 1965 (54,4%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection 1993)

Nose: impressive complexity, it keeps changing in the glass. In no particular order: dry smoke, worn leather (a lot), thick honey, herbal liqueur, dark cocoa, tangerines (nice, but they fade quickly), wet cellar walls, sappy oak, menthol and eucalyptus, hay, pepper, dried figs. Deeply peaty but with a nice blanket of sweet sherry notes. Not the most Ardbeggian nose, but I don’t mind....

The Pikesville brand goes back to 1895 and was part of the once-booming Maryland rye industry. The brand re-emerged after prohibition and became the last standing Maryland Rye , until the brand was ceased in 1982 (after the distillery had already been closed in 1972) and sold to Heaven Hill , which kept producing it from their Kentucky operations as a product with a local Maryland distribution.

Fast forward to 2015. Rye is booming and Heaven Hill decides to relaunch Pikesville as a more premium 6 year-old , 110 Proof straight rye. Maryland whiskey style used to provide a softer...

Benrinnes , one of the workhorse distilleries of Diageo, which produce the malts for a series of blended whiskies.

In 1974, Benrinnes started to use a system of partial triple distillation , where the feints and low wines of the second distillation are distilled again in a separate spirit still (not unlike the Springbank method). This still arrangement was changed around 2006-2007. Add to this the use of worm tubs (typically generating a more meaty, sulphury spirit) and you get a rather unique profile.

Benrinnes 24 yo 1991 (52,6%, Single Malts of Scotland 2016, hogshead #090508, 287 btl.)...

Asama is a vatting of 1999 and 2000 Karuizawa , bottled by Number One Drinks around 2012. In the same period, The Whisky Exchange bottled two Spirit of Asama expressions, all composed with some of the remaining sherry butts from the final vintages of Karuizawa. Apparently they didn’t believe in additional maturation, or simply wanted to release something affordable.

Karuizawa Asama was first available in Sweden en then also in the rest of Europe. They were priced quite reasonably back then, but of course they’re now reaching crazy prices.

Karuizawa Asama 1999 + 2000 (46%, OB 2012)

Nose:...

Margadale is a nickname for peated Bunnahabhain . Independently bottled Moine if you like. This Margadale Ma1 is the first of its kind in the Elements of Islay series and was aged in first-fill bourbon casks.

Margadale Ma1 (54,2%, Elements of Islay 2016, 50 cl)

Nose: briny, almost pickled jalapeño at first. A zesty lemon and salt combo. Then walnuts and sweet grasses. Plenty of charcoal and ashes, in a nicely aromatic way. Peppery hints and some vanilla in the back. Mouth: powerful and creamy, with a slight pear and almond sweetness, grassy notes and lots of peat...

Compass Box Spice Tree Extravanganza is a special edition which celebrates the tenth anniversary of the original blended malt The Spice Tree (which was banned by the SWA for using oak staves inside the cask). It is a reinterpretation, made with older components and a significant portion of sherry-cask aged Maltwhisky. Perhaps there’s some Sessile oak barrel ends trickery as well. Compass Box says it’s richer and more elegant. Bottled at 46%, not sure how limited it will be exactly.

Also planned for this autumn is Compass Box 3 Year Old Deluxe, a very funny and mischievous blended Maltwhisky that is...

Instead of the yearly general release, Springbank is currently releasing single cask versions of its Springbank 21 Year Old , bottled at cask strength. Different countries selected their own cask so you’ll need a worldwide network if you wish to acquire the whole series.

The UK has a large Oloroso butt at 49,6%. The Netherlands have a smaller Oloroso hogshead (48%). In Belgium the importer The Nectar also selected an Oloroso hogshead.

Springbank 21 yo (48,2%, OB for Belgium 2016, Oloroso hogshead, 342 btl.)

Nose: quite round, with some vanilla and subtle fruits (apricots, juicy pear, blueberries). Starts...

Hazelburn is the triple distilled, unpeated whisky from Springbank distillery that was first made in 1997. Presented in 2009, Hazelburn 12 Year Old is (at least partly) matured in sherry casks and currently the oldest expression (next to the Hazelburn 10 Years).

Hazelburn 12 yo (46%, OB +/- 2016)

Nose: quite pungent at first. Clean, with a slightly sharp edge. Lots of orange zest, lemons and some briney notes. Golden raisins in the background. Walnuts and leather. A little sunflower oil and a hint of cigar boxes. Mouth: starts spicy / grassy and rather coastal again. Malty notes,...