The third bottling from the Whisky Nerds is a 43 years old Invergordon 1972 (after the GlenDronach 1995 and the peaty Kavalan ), a bottling shared with Svensk Whiskyförmedling.

This is a sister cask of the Whiskybase bottling and a couple of Whiskybroker casks.

Invergordon 43 yo 1972 (49,8%, Whisky Nerds 2016, bourbon barrel #13-05, 102 btl.)

Nose: starts surprisingly bourbon-like., with a focus on the wood and wood glue, before it moves towards the more classic vanilla and creamy coconut. Very warm and rounded. Buttercups. marshmallows. Hints of mint and banana skin. Candied ginger before it returns...

Here’s some news about upcoming releases. We start with the blended malt Compass Box Enlightenment .

“By law, we’re not allowed to tell customers the age of the component whiskies used to create Enlightenment. We can tell you that Enlightenment is a blend of malt whiskies from the Clynelish , Glentauchers , Balblair and Mortlach distilleries. We can tell you that you will find a bright apple and pear quality on the nose, soft spice and light citrus fruit notes on the palate with a mouth-watering finish full of an alluring apple peel waxiness. We can tell you the...

I’ve reviewed quite a few Laphroaig expressions already but everyone kept telling me I should try Laphroaig 18 Year Old . In 2009 it was launched as the replacement for the  Laphroaig 15 Year Old, which returned in 2015 . Apparently this was a sign for Laphroaig to phase out the 18 Year Old.

The 18 has always been available in very limited quantities and this led to a lot of speculation about its termination. In some shops it is already listed as ‘discontinued’ so remaining stocks will probably be gone in the near future.

Laphroaig 18 yo...

This Caol Ila 1984 bottled by Cadenhead was selected by their Belgian importer The Nectar to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Simultaneously Cadenhead released a second Caol Ila 1984 that was 31 years old.

Although this bottling bears the black Small Batch label (normally used for bottlings from two or three casks), it seems to be a single cask release.

Caol Ila 32 yo 1984 (52,9%, Cadenhead Small Batch for The Nectar 2016, 10th Anniversary, bourbon hogshead, 234 btl.)

Nose: mineral and slightly dusty start, with lots of wet ashes, as well as subtle hints of antiseptics. Becomes fruitier, showing nectarines,...

It’s a mere coincidence that we’re trying a GlenDronach and now BenRiach , just as the distilleries (together with the third sister Glenglassaugh) have been sold to Brown-Forman , the American group which manages Jack Daniels, Woodford Reserve , Herredura and Jimador tequila, Chambord liqueur and other brands. In the past they have been involved in Glenmorangie as well, but all shares were sold in 2005.

I have the impression the sale causes worries among whisky enthusiasts: the independent consortium around Billy Walker did an incredible job putting their distilleries on the map over the past twelve years. It remains...

This is a rare official Glen Moray 1966 , a single cask bottled in the early 1990s.

Glen Moray 26 yo 1966 (43%, OB 1992, 255 btl.)

Nose: very juicy, fragrant sherry. Lots of peaches and melons, some vaguely tropical touches as well. Rose petals with paraffin and whiffs of Nivea cream. Bergamot and Neroli. Plenty of waxed floors and leather too. Fruity and aromatic, rather feminine actually. Mouth: classic sherried whisky, with a big fruity side again – berries, plums, dried apricots, lots of oranges. Light banana. Hints of vanilla and eucalyptus honey. A peppery note and...

This is the first release ever from the new Wolfburn distillery, a 3 year-old from bourbon barrels and some quarter casks that previously held peated Islay whisky.

The distillery was founded in 1821 in Caithness , the very north of Scotland’s mainland, closed down in the 1860s and recently rebuilt at 350m from the ruins of the original distillery. I remember people were talking about the construction works at Wolfburn when I visited the nearby Old Pulteney in 2012. The first spirit was distilled in januari 2013 , three years ago.

This single malt is produced with local ingredients, long...

This is a GlenDronach 2003 , a 12 years old Pedro Ximénez single cask bottled for Sansibar .

GlenDronach 12 yo 2003 (56,1%, OB for Sansibar 2015, Pedro Ximénez sherry puncheon #4630, 375 btl.)

Nose: really nice, with a big fruitiness of sweet plums, baked apples, juicy sultanas and a bit of orange peel. Nice hints of bananas flambéed with sprinkles of rum. Also a caramel sweetness that is not too prominent. Nicely candied, with hints of maraschino cherries. Mouth: sweet and fruity again, lots of dried apricots, cherry jam and a little maple syrup. Paired with punchy...

First introduced in 2005, Johnnie Walker Green Label was discontinued worldwide in 2012 (except in Taiwan) when they launched the Johnnie Walker Gold Label and Johnnie Walker Platinum Label . It was brought back in Australia and North America in 2015 and has now been relaunched on a broader scale, including Europe.

Like before, Johnnie Walker Green Label is a blended malt , composed with Talisker, Linkwood, Cragganmore and Caol Ila among other whiskies matured for at least 15 years in American and European oak.

I must admit I never tried the old version, but the relaunch was a good reason...

This Caol Ila 1984 is also part of the latest batch of Maltbarn bottlings that will be presented in Limburg.

Although the early 1980s were a difficult period for the whisky industry in general, with seemingly less stunning results than we’ve seen in the 1970s, I’ve had several wonderful 1980s Caol Ila expressions.

Caol Ila 31 yo 1984 (54%, Maltbarn 2015, bourbon cask, 68 btl.)

Nose: stunning really. Starts on putty and camphor, tobacco leaves, sea shells, lemons and wet wool. Then I get some light farmy notes. Hints of almond oil. Old wardrobes. And then a wonderful fruitiness...

Another Sansibar bottling that will certainly be available in Limburg, and one that will certainly be talked about: an undisclosed Speyside single malt distilled in 1975 . It was bottled 40 years later in the Samurai series (Batch #4) from Sansibar.

Speyside single malt 40 yo 1975 (51,3%, Sansibar 2015, Samurai label, Fino sherry butt, 425 btl.)

Nose: fruit bomb alert. Imagine a Littlemill kind of fruitiness, with a dash of Lochside and Caperdonich 1972. It’s got the apricots, guava, tangerines, banana jellybeans… A little maracuya sherbet. Both warm and sparkling fresh at the same time. Also wax...

This is a blended grain whisky , blended at birth and matured in a bourbon cask for over 50 years before being bottled by The Cooper’s Choice .

As one of their most interesting recent bottlings, it will be available to try in Limburg. They will also present a brand-new Glen Esk 1984 , bottled especially for the Limburg Festival at 49,5%.

‘Golden Grain’ 50 yo (50%, Cooper’s Choice 2016, blended grain, bourbon cask #0042, 250 btl.)

Nose: great start on caramelized nuts, lots of worn leather and (nice) hints of glue and turpentine. Some pencil shavings. Also quite a...

We’ve seen a batch of Glen Elgin 1975 around 2010-2011 but as often with these gems, their supply faded away and they disappeared from the indie market. Now Maltbarn releases another cask, which was acquired in the same period but held back to be bottled for a special occasion.

Glen Elgin 40 yo 1975 (48,5%, Maltbarn 2015, 73 btl.)

Nose: lots of waxy notes at first. Polished oak and leather, until it starts growing wider and fruitier. Mainly orchard fruits: apples, gooseberries, citrus too. A little honey. There’s also a chalky touch and some mint, which make it fresher and...

We ended last week with a couple of festival-related bottlings, and we’ll have a few more if you don’t mind, now focusing on the upcoming Limburg Whisky Fair 2016 . We’ll have a look at a couple of new releases from German bottlers which will be presented there.

The first is this Springbank 1993 with the classic Sansibar label.

Springbank 22 yo 1993 (51,8%, Sansibar 2015, 150 btl.)

Nose: very direct. It hits you in the face with the uniquely mineral, very chalky Springbank character. Clay and wet wool. Some metallic notes as well. It isn’t too austere...

In an era when many distilleries are moving towards no-age-statement ( NAS ) bottlings, That Boutique-y Whisky Company (which has, to date, offered only a NAS range of bottlings) is taking the unprecedented step of going ‘the other way’ – adding age statements – in order to give consumers more information about its whiskies.

At first their reasoning was that they wanted to let people appreciate the intrinsic quality of the whisky, regardless of the age. They are still doing that, but disclosing the age (and possibly more when EU / UK regulations would allow it) doesn’t interfere in any...

The fifth edition of the Whisky in Leiden festival is coming up this week-end. The festival bottling is a Dutch single malt: lightly peated Millstone matured in a Pedro Ximénez cask. It is just 3 years old.

Zuidam distillery is behind the Millstone brand name and it is currently run by Patrick and Gilbert Zuidam.

Millstone 3 yo 2013 (56,6%, OB for Whisky in Leiden 2016, peated P.X. cask, 332 btl.)

Nose: starts quite malty and a bit grassy, before picking up freshness. Some raisins and coffee. Apricot jam and a lightly acidic grapefruit note. Hints of coconut....

Here’s another bottling exclusive to Whiskysite.nl : an Arran 1996 single sherry cask. Although this was bottled and sold out early mars, some bottles have been kept aside for the Whisky in Leiden festival. You’ll be able to try it there and buy the remaining bottles.

Arran 19 yo 1996 ‘The Chosen One’ (54,7%, OB for Whiskysite.nl 2016, sherry hogshead #1390, 312 btl.)

Nose: oh yes, very nice fruity notes, halfway between apricot jam and strawberry candy. Hints of kirsch and lemon liqueur. A little mead and gooseberry pie with vanilla custard at the bottom. Honey and beehive...

The fifth bottling from Le Gus’t in France is a Ledaig 2008 . More of these early 2008 distillations have been bottled by Signatory in their Unchillfiltered series, as well as by others bottlers like Van Wees in Holland.

Ledaig 7 yo 2008 (60,3%, Signatory Vintage for Le Gus ‘t 2016, cask #751, 312 btl.)

Nose: medium peat and quite some toffee sweetness. Like butter toffee. Light cabbage in the background. Gets fresher after a while, with nice citrusy notes of oranges and lemons. Almonds and touches of vanilla latte. Surprisingly citrusy and even a little floral with...

The Balvenie’s Triple Cask series was launched early 2013 in the travel retail market but is now also available in regular stores.

The range comprises The Balvenie Triple Cask 12 year old , 16 year old and 25 year old variants. Each is matured in three types of wood: first-fill Oloroso, first-fill bourbon and traditional (refill) bourbon casks.

Mind that unlike the 12yo DoubleWood for instance, this is not a finished whisky: the whisky stays in its type of cask for the whole 12 years and is then combined in a large ‘marrying tun’ for the final six months.

It...

The Glenmorangie...