It’s this time of the year where we recovers from the new year celebrations and looking forward new releases and festivals in 2018. So here’s the forthcoming Laphroaig Cairdeas 2018 edition – Fino cask finish....

David Zibell of Golan Heights Distillery is bottling today the second single malt release, another three years old whisky, but unlike the first cask which was an ex-red wine cask, this time it’s an ex-Golani Black cask, a charred American Oak cask that previously held the distillery Golani Black whisky (two grain whisky) for a couple of months (so it’s almost an ex-bourbon cask).

Just like with the first release, there will be 40 bottles at natural cask strength of 62.1%, and 295 bottles bottled at 46%.

Golan Heights Distillery Cask #10 (Ex Golani-Black) (62.1%, 480NIS )

Nose : Velvety butterscotch,...

Whisky provokes many feelings, and, for some whisky lovers, the creative impulse. Linh Do was a social worker when she first fell in love with the flavors and culture of scotch and began expressing her emotions and ideas through fabric. “I was always intrigued by the concept of taking random subjects and fusing them together,” she says.

Do creates bespoke dresses inspired by distilleries, whiskies, and even people, like Compass Box founder John Glaser. Her detailed, handmade creations take weeks to complete, and for her, the process is as important as the final product. “My current motto in my design...

Looking for a great place to drink a whisky or two? We’ve got you covered....

Not everyone has the pairing (or shucking) skills to go it alone in the world of whisky and oysters. Fortunately, more restaurants in the U.S. are exploring the pairing with resounding success. To enjoy whisky and oysters at these destinations, you simply need to open your mind—and leave the shell popping to the pros.

“People sometimes get freaked out when they see them together because they normally think of oysters and, say, Champagne,” says Adam Petronzio, wine director at Oceana in New York City, who pairs east and west coast oyster varieties with hand-picked whiskies. “But once they try it,...

To drink whisky in Tokyo is to partake in centuries of culture—not just of whisky culture, but also of dedication to craft and service. Japanese hospitality and artisanship have few equals in the world, and it shows in the countless whisky outposts throughout the sprawling megalopolis. Drinkers at fine whisky establishments are greeted with a warm towel, small portions of curated snacks to accompany their drams, and white-coated bartenders ready to guide them through thoughtfully selected collections of scotch, bourbon, and Japanese whisky.

Visitors should note that while there’s plenty of Japanese whisky at bars and shops (scroll down for...

Old Overholt rye has had a steady presence on the bottom shelf of your local liquor store for decades, its founder’s face glaring at you from the label of every bottle—but it wasn’t always that way. In fact, Old Overholt was, at one time, one of the most respected and highly regarded whiskeys in the United States, said to have once been the preferred tipple of notables like Ulysses S. Grant and John Henry “Doc” Holliday. It is the only American whiskey brand that retains undeniable ties to the “Old Monongahela” (muh-non-guh-HAY-luh) style of rye.

So how did this once-lauded...

A new year has begun, and with it come new whiskies. This week brings news of an age-statement blended malt from Douglas Laing & Company , as well as the first two whiskeys in a new series from South Carolina’s Dark Corner Distillery .

Timorous Beastie 10 year old is a limited-edition blended malt with a similar flavor profile to Douglas Laing’s standard Timorous Beastie. The silvery-gray packaging is meant to mimic aluminum, the traditional gift for 10-year anniversaries .

Dark Corner’s Lewis Redmond series of whiskeys commemorate a notorious local moonshiner and outlaw from the 1800s. The first two...

The Monongahela River winds its way slowly from West Virginia to Pittsburgh, where it merges with the Allegheny to become the Ohio River. Centuries ago, farmer-distillers worked the Monongahela Valley, growing rye and distilling it into a distinct style of whiskey that took the region’s name. Monongahela rye was the first American whiskey style to gain widespread recognition, both here and abroad. It became notorious due to an uprising among its distillers on the western frontier. The Whiskey Rebellion pushed back against taxation, and was quelled at the command of President George Washington.

Originally an unaged product, the regional whiskey...

You spot a great value bottle of your favorite single malt on the shelf. The price seems right, but the label is strangely unfamiliar. Chances are it’s from an “independent bottler” rather than the distillery itself—a third-party operator in the business of buying casks, either singly or in parcels, and bottling them under their name, even though for the most part the original distillery is clearly identified.

But operations such as Cadenhead’s , Gordon & MacPhail , Signatory , Berry Bros. & Rudd , Adelphi , and others do much more than just bottle whisky. At their best, they are...

It’s long been an open secret that a lot of “craft” distilleries buy and bottle whiskey from an Indiana factory called Midwest Grain Products (MGP). You only need flip over a bottle and see “Distilled in Lawrenceburg, IN” to know who is doing it. Often it’s because the distillery’s own whiskey is still aging, and the company needs something to sell during the years of maturation. Dozens of brands offer hundreds of bourbons and ryes that start—in theory—as the same, exact thing. And yet, why do so many of these MGP whiskeys taste so different?

Age matters, of course. So...

It was a busy year, 2017. Lots of new things to drink, lots of tastings to attend and lots of new posts on the blog. So, before we properly commit to 2018 (it’s only a day old, and we’re not sure of it yet) here’s what happened last year:

Jim Murray…in januari?

It’s no secret that our annual posting of Jim Murray’s picks for the whiskies of the year is one of our most popular posts. But last year we got a triple dose of Jim, with an exclusive two-part interview popping up in januari. It gave us an insight...

The Whisky Exchange’s head buyer, Dawn Davies MW, spends more time than most seeking out new and exciting drinks. Here are her picks for the top trends of 2018…

2018 is a year for change. Whether it’s spent discovering a new drink or going back to an old favourite, this is a year where we re-evaluate our drinking habits.

Miniature madness

They say the best things come in small packages – this seems to be true for drinks as well, because miniature sales have never been so strong. People want to experiment and try new things and the miniature is...

Blending whisky is hard. It takes master blenders years to hone their skills, working up slowly through the ranks to take on the creation of new whiskies. However, that shouldn’t stop you having a go yourself at home. One of the easiest ways of examining this facet of the world of whisky creation is to make yourself a never-emptying infinity bottle – whenever it gets low, top it up with some more whisky.

I’ve currently got four different blends on the go: Speyside, Highlands and Islands, Islay and ‘Misc’. The final one is my longest running and I have a notebook...

I must admit my experience with the Scotch Maltwhisky Society is limited – perhaps unsurprising for a private membership organisation.

The SMWS was started by Philip Hills (author of the excellent book Appreciating Whisky ). After trying a Glenfarclas directly from the cask in 1978, he was persuaded to buy the cask with a group of friends. This expanded and became a public society in 1983.

I’ve never been a member (representation in Belgium has been a bit problematic in recent years – it’s now run by someone with a background in bartending) but on the other hand I’ve...

Limited Whisky Investment is a whisky shop in Ulm (Germany) which aims to guide people in their whisky shopping (or investment). It was founded only in 2016, so releasing one of these undisclosed Irish single malt 1989 as a first bottling in its Monkey series is a nice move!

Irish single malt 28 yo 1989 (56,2%, Limited Whisky Investment & Sansibar ‘Monkey series’ 2017, bourbon cask, 164 btl.)

Nose: a slight alcohol tingle at first, as well as some malty notes and subdued fruits compared to other malts from this parcel. Gooseberries, coconut macaroons, some citrus green tea....

This Caol Ila Cl8 in the Elements of Islay series is a marriage of five bourbon barrels from the mid-2000s.

Caol Ila Cl8 (55,2%, Elements of Islay 2017, bourbon barrels, 50cl)

Nose: a very fresh, bright expression. Lots of lemon sweets, lime peel and truckloads of Granny Smith apples. Medium smoke, hints of bacon and soot. Hints of popcorn and just echoes of tequila – youthful spirit after all. Classic brine as well. Mouth: fairly oily and rounded. Lemons, lime cordial, a bit of honey and custard. Light earthy notes, more mineral towards the end. Citrus zest. Quite...

The Dutch WhiskyNerds announced this Springbank 1996 not long ago, rather soon after their Inchmurrin vatting . They are a highly ‘irregular’ bottler, something we can only applaud. Instead of working on a steady flow of whisky, they are only bottling the really great ones, not hesitating to patiently wait for months if nothing happens to cross their path.

If I’m not mistaken this is their most expensive release so far, I’m sure they thought about this one twice before deciding to bottle it.

Springbank 21 yo 1996 (58,1%, WhiskyNerds 2017, hogshead #471, 180 btl.)

Nose: starts on...