Norton Christopher, bar chef at New Orleans’s...

If you really want to wow someone, there’s nothing like starting a fire. And when it comes to smoked cocktails, the effect is about much more than presentation—although it’s certainly Instagram-worthy too.

“The aromatic qualities of smoke add a dryness that’s more of a perception, rather than a reduction of sugar. You also get more tannic qualities of the wood,” explains Ben Potts, bar manager and owner of Miami’s Beaker & Gray .

And of course there’s the smell of whatever you smoke, which contributes another layer to your drink. “The aroma excites the palate and adds depth to the...

Perfect for fall, the Solstice Sazerac uses high-rye bourbon rather than rye whiskey, which dampens the spice flavors of the traditional Sazerac. “The cinnamon syrup adds back a baking spice element, and the cinnamon smoke mixed with orange zest adds an interesting dimension to a well-known cocktail,” explains Ben Potts, bar manager of Miami’s...

When it comes to revivals, Glenglassaugh has had one of the more impressive crawls back from the dead in recent years. A decade of stuttering resurrection has been rewarded with the dawning of a new era for the distillery, with a future that’s still to be decided.

The distillery is a few miles to the east of the Highland/Speyside border, on the coast at Sandend. Rather than the more maritime spirits that many coastal distilleries produce, Glenglassaugh focuses on old-school fruity flavours. While that fruitiness is reminiscent of sister distillery Benriach ‘s famous character, Glenglassaugh has a more modern feel...

In 2007 the release of Ardmore Traditional Cask (46% ABV) was the first official single malt from the Ardmore distillery. A fairly young whisky (one of the early NAS expressions), but it was finished in 125-litre quarter casks which offers a speedy maturation and masks part of its youth. Good value for money made it quite popular in the lightly peated category.

Fast forward to 2014: I reviewed Ardmore Legacy and wrote that it was going to replace Traditional Cask, but they brought it back in 2015 as Ardmore Tradition , still at 46% but only available in travel retail....

From the latest batch of Antique Lions of Spirits bottlings : Bladnoch 1990 from a bourbon cask.

Bladnoch 27 yo 1990 (49,4%, Antique Lions of Spirits ‘Butterflies’ 2017, bourbon cask, 276 btl.)

Nose: warm fruity notes (mirabelles, apricots, clementines, papaya) with hints of vanilla and polished oak. Honey, buttercups, subtle linseed oil. Sweet lemons. A very warm, almost tropical version. Mouth: the lusicous fruits are still there (apricots, grapefruits, limes) but it gets a little grassier now, more typically Bladnoch if you like. Fresh minty notes, as well as some star anise. Peppercorns. Green tea. Lightly bitter herbs....

Green Spot Château Montelena is a new limited edition of the Irish Green Spot brand (pot still whiskey crafted at Midleton distillery, also see Yellow Spot ). It has been matured in bourbon and sherry casks and finished for 12 months in French oak casks previously filled with Zinfandel wine from Chateau Montelena located in Nappa Valley.

It is the second release in the Wine Geese series , following the Château Léoville Barton finish in 2015. When Chateau Montelena was introduced in oktober 2017, it had been postponed a little because of the devastating fires in California. So far very...

The winter months can be quiet on the new whisky front. After the rush of holiday releases, many distillers pause for a breath and to look ahead to the rest of the year. But even in januari lull, there are new bottles to keep things interesting.

First up, Johnnie Walker ‘s newest Blenders’ Batch is launching at travel retail stores around the world. The blend is finished in sherry casks, which results in sweet fruity flavors. The Blenders’ Batch releases have varied widely and show off the diversity of flavor profiles blending can achieve. Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch Triple Grain...

The Glenlivet Code

It looks like The Glenlivet will try to repeat the Glenlivet Cipher story with a new whisky called The Glenlivet Code . The label is similar so they’ll probably recycle the matte black bottle as well. It comes at 48% ABV.

Darkness first-fill sherry bombs

Sherry bomb alert! Every bottling in the Darkness range has been finished for at least three months in tiny first-fill 50-litre sherry casks. There are now five new releases available from Master of Malt:

• Tobermory 22 Years – Moscatel finish
• Invergordon 25 Years – PX finish
• Bladnoch 27 Years –...

So I bought samples of both grain whiskies in the recent batch of Darkness bottlings: an Invergordon 25 Year Old (PX cask) and Invergordon 43 Year Old (Oloroso cask).

Grain whisky matured / finished in sherry casks (especially first-fill) is rare, but I’ve had some great experiences  before.

Invergordon 25 yo (46,1%, Darkness 2017, Pedro Ximénez cask, 100 btl., 50 cl)

Nose: nice and rich. The expected plums and raisins, moving towards very jammy blackcurrants and cassis. Plenty of cinnamon pastry. Muscovado. Light hints of coconut, but this is not the usual Batida de Coco profile of common...

I can still count the number of Glenury Royal reviews on one hand and it isn’t likely to change of course. The distillery fell silent in 1983 and was closed for good in 1985. Now there are apartments on the site.

This Glenury Royal 1984 was bottled in 2012 by Gordon & MacPhail (who else). It must have been one of the last casks being filled – and one of the last to be bottled…?

Glenury Royal 28 yo 1984 (46%, Gordon & MacPhail ‘Rare Old’ 2012, refill sherry butt R0/12/05, 430 btl.)

Nose: old-style and rather understated....

Today we have a guest post from a Shai, a friend who gets to travel around way more than me or the average person (or a dozen of them). If you have ever been looking for a decent whisky in an airport lounge, you know it’s hard to get by, but a whole whisky club in a lounge? That’s unique. Shai has visited the club is happy to report back to you all:

As part of their recent overhaul of the Terminal E lounges, Swiss Airlines recently opened a whisky bar called Whisky Club 28/10 in their Senator lounge at...

It seems that Glenlivet Distillery is planning to release a sequel to the controversial and enigmatic 2016 release Glenlivet Cipher....