We go back to the early years of Malts of Scotland with this Macduff 1980 .

Macduff 30 yo 1980 (54,1%, Malts of Scotland 2011, bourbon hogshead #6107, 175 btl.)

Nose: a rather classic ex-bourbon profile, with hints of stewed fruits, pears, bananas, apricots and majbe pineapple. Mint and soft herbs bring lots of freshness to the table. Honey. Hints of freshly sawn oak and earth. Mouth: same profile, very creamy fruity notes, think apricots, pineapples, pink grapefruits, melons, a hint of tangerine and oranges. Rather tropical, with nice waxy notes and mint. Reminds me of Caperdonich 1972,...

Talisker 40 Year Old

A new Talisker Bodega series will launch at the end of juni. The first expression is an Amontillado finished (!) Talisker 40 Years , a 1978 vintage.

The sherry casks were sourced from Bodegas Delgado Zuleta , the oldest active producer of sherry in Sanlúcar. Apparently the Diageo archives indicate that Delgado Zuleta was already a key supplier of casks to Talisker in the early 1900s.

Talisker 40 Year Old is a limited release of 2000 bottles. It is bottled at 45.8%. The Bodega series will be expanded with sherry casks from different bodegas.

 ...

Bavarian Slyrs whiskies are matured in 225 litre new oak casks (Limousin oak, if I’m not mistaken) and this one is finished for up to nine months in Oloroso sherry casks .

What makes it special is that these are ‘genuine’ solera casks rather than the tailor-made sherry-seasoned casks that are standard these days (see my article about the sherry casks in the whisky industry ). This held sherry for up to sixty years, rather than two years. One of the few (explicitly mentioned) examples of this type of casks on the market these days.

Slyrs worked with Bodegas Tradición...

Yet another undisclosed Speyside 1973 bottled by Maltbarn. I believe the label also mentions 1972 but it should be 1973 according to my information.

I saw some references to a certain distillery for this whisky, but they turned out to be false…

Speyside Region 45 yo 1973 (53,2%, Maltbarn 2018, sherry cask, 299 btl.)

Nose: excellent. Lots of sappy notes, precious wood polish, beehives and pollen, light herbal notes, Fino minerals, some mint, bergamots and melons, dried bananas, floral hints, hay… Mellow, old-style with lots of details. So, so good. Mouth: one of the more punchy expressions of...

This is the result of a Twitter tasting courtesy of That Boutique-y Whisky Company to showcase their Whisky Advent Calendar 2017 back in december.

I waited a bit to publish my notes, as most of the bottles had not been released at the time. Now they’re all available.

Glen Ord 20 yo (51,9%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company 2017, 293 btl.)

Nose: as natural as it gets. No sherry influence, but not 20 years worth of bourbon influence either. Barley juice. Apples and limes. majbe tinned peaches and a light waxiness. Light vanilla. Water brings out some blossomy, grassy...