As someone who spends a lot of time writing tasting notes for whisky on his own, I sometimes forget that the true joy of a dram is sharing it with someone. Father’s Day is just around the corner and in the office, we’ve spent the past few weeks talking about which whiskies we’d share with our dads. Just the thing to give me a kick and remind me to share the whisky love, and not just with my dad.

When it comes to sharing a whisky or three, you have lots of options. While ‘sharing a dram’ almost always used...

A bunch of GDPR e-mails this week, majbe that’s why there was so little actual whisky news…

Gordon & MacPhail Discovery

After the relaunched Connoisseurs Choice series, Gordon & MacPhail have now announced an entirely new flavour-led Discovery range. This is more of an entry-level line with younger but as they say ‘utterly dependable’ whiskies. It serves as an introduction to their portfolio of single Maltwhisky.

There are three flavour profiles: Smoky , Sherry and Bourbon , each colour-coded. The labels include less information but luckily still an age statement.

Stay tuned for our first review early next...

Ardmore 20 Year Old is a 1996 vintage, lightly peated and double matured in first-fill bourbon casks and ex-Islay casks. An outsider in the NAS-oriented core range and particularly well priced if you look around.

Ardmore 20 yo 1996 (49,3%, OB 2017)

Nose: nice ashy peat, with a slight chalky note and also a hint of antiseptics. That must be the Islay cask, it’s not something you’d expect in Ardmore. Behind it there’s a ripe fruitiness of melons, sweet lemons, bergamots and honey. Vanilla and light pepper. Menthol cigarettes. Fresh leather (my first school bag). Mouth: quite oily...

Released this week, Port Askaig 14 Year Old Bourbon Cask is a new bottling from a distillery in the north-east corner of Islay, better known for its unpeated whisky. Sounds like Bunnahabhain to me.

It is peated, distilled in 2004 and as always it is a limited release, composed from 11 first-fill bourbon casks (Port Askaig batches are never bigger than 40 casks).

Port Askaig 14 yo ‘Bourbon Cask’ 2004 (45,8%, Elixir Distillers 2018, first-fill bourbon casks)

Nose: quite bright and orchardy, think juicy lemons, stewed pears and apples. Hints of lager and coastal notes (sea spray, shells...

This Glen Elgin 1997 is part of the recently rebranded Connoisseurs Choice range from Gordon & MacPhail . Bottlers are often making a special effort when (re-)launching a series so we have high expectations…

For me Glen Elgin is synonymous to fruity spirit (long fermentation times), sometimes slightly tropical. We’ve had great examples from independent bottlers – the owner (Diageo) isn’t really promoting it as a single malt.

Glen Elgin 20 yo 1997 (55,7%, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseur’s Choice 2018, first-fill sherry butt #18/003, 602 btl.)

Nose: very jammy and perfectly clean. Juicy raspberries, cassis juice, cherry...

Cragganmore 12 Years is the Speyside component of the Classic Malts selection. I tried it on several occasions but never in the quiet environment of my writing desk. So here goes…

Cragganmore 12 yo (40%, OB +/- 2017)

Nose: a winey profile, like a white wine. Rich honeyed fruits, apples, peaches, white grape juice. Quite a lot of meadow flowers, buttercups, a little hay. Light heather and sweet herbs. Vanilla. Pleasant. Mouth: mild, malty and sweet, with the same hints of apricots and honey. Pear, a little banana, dried fruits. Almonds, gradually fading towards slightly sharper walnuts and...

The Whisky Agency 10th Anniversary

The Whisky Agency is ten years old this year (who remembers this early series with the sharks?) and this is celebrated with an impressive list of bottlings, with some very beautiful labels!

Most of these are highly limited and some maj not even reach the shelves of retailers, but I believe these releases are out there somewhere…

• Speyside Region 41yo 1976 (46,1%)
• Speyside Region 40yo 1977 (43,0%)
• Speyside Region 38yo 1979 (43,4%)
• Irish single malt 28yo 1989 (49,9%, Perfect Dram)
• Irish single malt 28yo 1989 (45,1%)
• Irish single malt 28yo 1990 (42,4%, heavy sherry)
• Irish...

Bruichladdich 13 Year Old from the latest batch of That Boutique-y Whisky Company releases. Would it be possible to give a bit more information about the wood guys?

Bruichladdich 13 yo (47,6%, That Boutique-y Whisky Co 2018, Batch #11, 478 btl.)

Nose: very nice, a rather unique profile that reminds me of Benromach’s excellent 10. A mix of mineral notes, dried grasses, overripe banana, hints of melons, as well as a faint farmy note. Pineapple slices and dried orange, a touch of ozone. Really good. Mouth: similar mix of mineral notes, a little kirsch, and fruity notes. Lemons,...

More peat! One of the latest (whisky) releases from Asta Morris : single cask Ardmore 2008 .

Ardmore 8 yo 2008 (53%, Asta Morris 2017, bourbon cask, 268 btl.)

Nose: spot on. A dry layer with charcoal dust and bonfire smoke, as well as wet leaves, hints of paint, but also plenty of apple sweetness and lemon candy. Just a little vanilla and some floral touches. Mouth: oily texture, quite a bit more powerful and sharper, with intense, almost ‘industrial’ peat, smoked oranges, lemon peel and light resinous notes. There’s a raw mezcal-like edge to it which works...

Here’s an old sample I dug up the other day: GlenDronach 1992 , an Oloroso sherry butt released in november 2012 (batch 7).

GlenDronach 19 yo 1992 (57,8%, OB 2012, Oloroso butt #1123, 524 btl.)

Nose: very aromatic, in-your-face sherry, overloaded with prunes and dates, dark roast coffee beans, a mix of dark chocolate and raspberry / red berries. Faint notes of fresh paint. Demerara sugar. Big sherry, the juicy kind. Mouth: as expected from the nose, very herbal, dry sherry. Tobacco leafs, leathery notes and wood. Dark chocolate, cloves. However there is a nice sweet-and-sour fruitiness underneath...