As you maj have seen from my social media a few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the launch of Kingsbarns’ first public release, ‘Dream to Dram’. The short history of this distillery goes back to 2009 when founder Doug Clement dreamt up the idea of building a distillery on the [...]...

Following on from a very solid batch of releases last year, James Eadie have released another set of small batch and single cask whiskies, and several more expressions which fall into their new ‘Cask Finishes’ range. Seven drams in total, ranging from lesser know distilleries to household names, and covering everything from bourbon matured Speysiders [...]...

As promised last year when I reviewed the first three expressions in Bruichladdich’s Octomore Dialogos series, here’s the fourth and final instalment of the range; a 10 year old whisky with a fairly complex make up: 88% has been matured for the full 10 years either 1st fill port pipes (37%), 1st fill cognac casks [...]...

The whisky-expression-releasing-machine that is Glendronach has just launched a limited edition 25 year old whisky, comprising of Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks filled exclusively in 1993.The press release for the Master Vintage 1993 proclaims this year to have “long been acknowledged as an excellent vintage from The Glendronach”. Not sure about that one, as [...]...

Do you remember when Glenmorangie Sonnalta was released? Somehow that was 10 years ago and the number of Private Edition expressions has now moved into double digits. Over the years we’ve seen the use of ancient recipes, Super Tuscan wine barrels, Clos de Tarte casks, floor malted Maris Otter barley, Portuguese Red Wine casks, Malmsey Madeira [...]...

If you’ve followed my musings on Edinburgh Whisky Blog for the last few years, you’ll probably remember one of the last articles I wrote on Mortlach, where I aired my thoughts on the distillery’s last range, which consisted of a ‘Rare Old’ NAS expression, an 18 year old and a 25 year old. Safe to [...]...

In the middle of last year, well established Jura expressions such as Origin, Prophecy, and Superstition began disappearing from shelves and a brand new range was ushered in. This revamp was followed towards the end of the year with the release of two rather old, and limited edition whiskies, one of which is only a [...]...

After an absence of 50 years, Red Spot has returned to the Irish whiskey scene. The brand, along with the other ‘Spot’ whiskeys, was introduced in the early 1900s by the Mitchell family, a wine and confectionary merchants in Dublin. After emptying the wine casks, they would have them filled with new make at the [...]...

Tullibardine have continued apace with adding another expression to their Marquess Collection with the release of the marsala Cask Finish. Just a few months ago they released a Châteauneuf-du-Pape cask finish, which wasn’t quite to my taste (wine finishes aren’t quite my thing) but having sampled a number of marsala-influenced whiskies in the last 12-18 [...]...

I suppose before we get into the crux of this article, we should define what a blog actually is. Let’s consider the definition of a blog from the Oxford English Dictionary: Noun: A regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or [...]...

If you read this pokey wee whisky blog then there’s every chance you’ll also read Greg Dillon’s hugely comprehensive GreatDrams website. Greg and I first met electronically when he commented on an article I posted nearly six years ago, when I toured Glenfiddich as part of a stag do; he was on the lookout for [...]...

If you’ve passed through Duty Free recently you maj have noticed two new, and rather exciting, additions to the Aberfeldy shelves. Aberfeldy have released a 16 year old and a 21 year old which have both been finished for up to 12 months in two types of Madeira casks; Malmsey and Bual. Commenting on the [...]...

It seems like there isn’t a month goes by without a new release from Brown Forman: Glenglassaugh Octaves Batch 2, Glendronach 10yo Forgue, 15yo Revival and Cask Strength Batch 7, and Benriach 10yo Triple Distilled, 12yo Sherry Wood and Single Cask Batch 15 have all been released in the past few months. This month, Glendronach Grandeur [...]...

Octomore. No other word strikes as much fear into the heart of a peat-o-phobe as much as this one. Bruichladdich’s super heavy-peated spirit has been run through the stills since 2002, and we’re now on to the ninth series of the range. As with previous batches, Bruichladdich are all about transparency and detail to the [...]...

We’re all familiar with the Diageo Special Releases, yes? This annual, limited edition, ten-expression-strong line up is one of the most anticipated events of the year, as whisky lovers all over the world wait to see what goodies will be bottled from Diageo’s vast inventory. Distell look to have done something similar themselves, with the [...]...

There’s been a bit of a shake up at The Glenrothes recently – gone are the vintages and in come regular age statements. I quite like the whole ‘vintage’ notion; to me it subconsciously emphasises the passage of time and reinforces the painstaking nature of waiting for whisky to mature and reach its peak. Picking [...]...

Following on from my review of AD Rattray’s ‘The Octave Project’, we have another of these ‘before and after’ experiments to get our teeth into today. Although, I shouldn’t really call it an experiment. The guys at Duncan Taylor have been finishing whisky in octaves for over forty five years, and have arguably been doing [...]...

Do you know your chukkas from your mallets? Or your divot stomping from your ride offs? Then read on my friend, for this article is going to be right up your tailshot… I’m talking about polo, of course, and in particular the long standing relationship between this centuries old, horseback, royalty-attracting sport and the Royal [...]...

That’s a lot of words for the title of whisky, but in reality it’s actually quite straight forward. The folks at Benromach have expanded their Wood Finish portfolio by releasing a new expression, the Château Cissac Bordeaux Wood Finish 2010. This whisky will sit alongside the Hermitage and Sassicaia wood finishes, with a previous version [...]...

Glenfiddich have released the fourth instalment of their Experimental Series, Fire & Cane. This whisky follows on from IPA, Project XX and Winter Storm, each of which showcased a bold and unique side to the distillery. Fire & Cane combines peated and unpeated whisky which has initially been matured in ex-bourbon casks, before being finished [...]...