Many words were written and many pixels were darkened discussing and dissecting Diageo change of heart with Mortlach and rebooting the entire line up after the move towards premiumization of the distillery failed.

The new line up is back to basics with 700 ml bottles, age statements and using more sherry casks to restore some of the glory Mortlach achieved with their meaty and sherry whiskies.

The entry level in this new line up is the 12 Year Old which employ both ex-bourbon casks and ex-sherry casks. It’s named ‘ The Wee Witchie ‘ after the smallest Mortlach pot still (must...

Officially it’s Springtime but here we’re having some heat waves and already deeply descended into summer time when drinks are considered. One notable new release I was curious about, thinking it maj be a good summer drink is the recently released Compass Box Affinity spirit.

Yes, It’s not a whisky but a spirit because it’s a mix of whisky and Calvados. For those who didn’t encounter Calvados in the past, Calvados is a brandy made from apples (and pears) in Normandy region in France.

Here, look at the recipe:

That means we have 37.5% Calvados from Christian Drouin, a very...

Campbeltown Malts Festival 2019 has started yesterday (or at least the warm up did) and the tradition dictates Campbeltown whisky reviews during the festival, right?

So today we’ll have a 18 Year Old Glen Scotia distilled back in 1992, matured in Sherry hogshead cask #141 and was bottled in november 2010. Yeah, more than 8 years has passed since then but I got to taste this not long ago and let me tell you – it’s a good one!

Glen Scotia 1992 18 Year Old (Kintra Whisky) (52.6%)

Photo credit: whiskybase.com

Nose : Tobacco, sweet dried fruits, earthy greenery and...

Yesterday it was Glen Scotia open day at Campbeltown Malts Festival 2019 which we celebreated with a review of a lovely sherried 18 Year Old Glen Scotia from Kintra Spirits.

Today is Springbank Open day at the festival and of course we’ll have a celebratory twofer review: A Springbank whisky bottled by Cadenhead!

This 13 Year Old Hazelburn was distilled back in 2005 and was bottled last winter after 13 years in Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection series at 54.6% abv.

Hazelburn 2005 13 Year Old (Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection) (54.6%)

Photo Credit: whiskybase.com

Nose : Cidar and honey, grease, pears, green with...

Last month I reviewed the Port Askaig 10 Year Old that Elixir Distillers released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the brand but it wasn’t the only new Port Askaig release to celebrate the occasion. Along with the easily accessible and reasonably priced 10 Year Old whisky, came this 28 Year Old Port Askaig which carries a heftier price tag and a far more years on its belt.

Does this 28 Year Old also hails from Caol Ila? Let’s check it out.

Port Askaig 28 Year Old (45.8%, £295 / 318.90€ )

Nose : Peated with sweet smoke, lemon, gentle...

Earlier this year Glengyle distillery released their first batch of Heavily Peated whisky, following the road they took for the standard Kilkerran whisky with slightly semantic difference – Instead of “Work In Progress” it’s called “Peat in Progress”. And in a few years we’ll have the first standard heavily peated Kilkerran whisky (the cousin for Longrow).

You’re probably asks: “Heavily peated? Just how heavily peated is it?” and the answer is: very heavily peated with 84 PPM, which is almost twice (more or less) of the PPM levels for the south Islay distilleries and second only to Bruichladdich’s Octomore whiskies....

Rhum JM Hors d´Age 2001, 15 YO, 41.7 %

There’s a massive release of old and fine spirits in Norway this Friday. I have therefore tasted numerous cognacs and rums. Today I review one of the rums, the Rhum JM Hors d´Age 2001. This is a 15 year old rum from Martinique.

The Rhum JM Hors d´Age 2001 will be available at NOK 1553 ( 11059501 ).

Nose : Dark sweetness. Dried fruits, toasted oak and vanilla. Hints of tropical fruits.

Taste : Medium body. Toasted oak, toasted almonds, dried fruits, demerara sugar and vanilla.

Finish : Medium to long...

Kingsbarns Dream to Dram, 3 YO, 46 %

The Kingsbarns Dream to Dram is the first readily available product from the Wemyss Malts owned Kingsbarns Distillery in the Lowland region of Scotland. It was launched on januari 25, 2019. You can Läs mer about it on the official webpage here .

This whisky has been matured in a mix of 90 % 1st fill ex-bourbon casks and 10 % 1st fill STR barriques (wine casks). STR is an abbreviation for shaved, toasted and re-charred.

The Kingsbarns Dream to Dram will be available in Norway on Friday juni 21 at NOK...

Vallein Tercinier Cognac Small batch, 15 YO, 46 %

I still have a couple of cognacs to work through. Time now for the Vallein Tercinier Cognac Small batch. I will jump right to the official blurb on the product from Vallein Tercinier :

“This Double Single Cognac blend was especially created by the family Vallein Tercinier master blender to pleasantly surprise lovers of finest spirits.

Bottled at 46 % Vol. with a beautiful natural gold colour, non-chillfiltered to keep all the fine fruity aromas of this sweet marriage between selected old cask of exceptional 25 years old Cognac “Fins Bois”...

Pierre Vallet Single Cask 1988 #569, 30 YO, 48 %

This will be the final cognac review from me for a while. I need to get back to more whisky. But first this Pierre Vallet Single Cask 1988 #569. Again a cognac that is presented much as a single malt; it is a single cask, bottled at a higher ABV of 48 %, no colouring or chill-filtration. The cask (cask #569) was filled in december 1988 and the cognac was bottled in mars 2019, with a total outturn of 480 bottles.

This is a Petit Champagne cognac from Jarnac -...

Vallein Tercinier 1987 Single Cask TTG 3.0, 30 YO, 49.1 %

The Vallein Tercinier 1987 Single Cask TTG 3.0 is an exclusive bottling for La Maison du Whisky (LMDW) , and is released under their series Through the Grapevine (TTG).

This is the kind of relase that truly warms a whisky lovers heart. It is a single cask, cask strength release. No colouring, no chill-filtration. The way it should be, right?

There is a ton of history surrounding Vallein Tercinier, as with many cognac houses. The family bought the Domaine des Forges estate in 1791 and started selling their cognac...

Destillerie Tessendier Cognac Park Millesime Fins Bois 1974, 40 %

I continue my little cognac adventure. Please bear with me, I will get back to tons of lovely whisky very shortly!

The Destillerie Tessendier Cognac Park Millesime Fins Bois 1974 is an old cognac, although a specific age is not stated. The back label states that this is a release limited to 344 bottles, which I assume to mean it is a single cask. You can read up on the company Destillerie Tennsendier & Fils here .

The Destillerie Tessendier Cognac Park Millesime Fins Bois 1974 will be available in...

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) have now amended the Scotch Whisky Technical File (update not yet online though) to allow more types of casks for maturing or finishing Scotch whisky.

The amendment is as follows, as reported by scotchwhisky.com:

The spirit must be matured in new oak casks and/or in oak casks which have only been used to mature wine (still or fortified) and/or beer/ale and/or spirits with the exception of:

- wine, beer/ale or spirits produced from, or made with, stone fruits - beer/ale to which fruit, flavouring or sweetening has been added after fermentation - spirits to which...

Cognac Leyrat 1972 Vintage Single Cask, 40 YO, 42.8 %

Another old cognac under review today. The monopoly online store states that this Cognac Leyrat 1972 Vintage has been matured for 40 years, which I guess means it was bottled in 2012 or 2013. It is also stated that this is a single cask, but the back label tells a different story. It is a small batch - a small number of 250 litre French oak casks (wood from the Limousine forest).

As a whisky lover I find it a bit amusing to read that 350 liter casks are considered...

Jean Fillioux Grand Champagne Single cask no 86, 42 %

Here’s another cognac from Jean Fillioux and their estate La Pouyade in Grand Champagne. The Jean Fillioux Grand Champagne Single cask no 86 is, as the name suggests, a single cask release.

I love the fact that we now see more and more cognac released in the same manner as with whisky; single cask releases, sometimes even cask strength.

This cognac will become available to buy in Norway on Friday juni 21 at NOK 1070 ( 11061501 ).

Nose : Dried fruits and caramel. Hints of fine leather and tobacco....

Cognac Jean Fillioux Cask 75 TTG, 41.7 %

This is a cognac bottled exclusively for La Maison du Whisky (LMDW) in France. The Cognac Jean Fillioux Cask 75 TTG is a single cask release with a total outturn of mere 571 bottles. It is released under the LMDW brand Through the Grapevine (TTG).

Here is a a quote from LMDW:

Located in the golden triangle of Grande Champagne, the Pouyade vineyard has for five generations produced wonderfully full Cognacs from the Ugni Blanc varietal that beautifully illustrate the motto on the family coat of arms, “Climb higher to see further”....

Ledaig 19 YO batch 6, 47.5 % 

Here is the last of three whiskies bottled exclusively for Dr Jekyll's as "Mr Hyde" expressions. Dr Jekyll’s is a fantastic whisky pub in the heart of Oslo, Norway.

The bottler is That Boutique’y Whisky Company (TBWC). I have previously reviewed the other two whiskies in this series; Japanese Blended Whisky #1 21 YO batch 4 and Islay #2 25 YO .

The Ledaig 19 YO batch 6 has a total outturn of a mere 58 bottles. This leads me to think that we are looking at a partial cask. Ledaig, as most...

Braunstein E:10, NAS, 50.1 %

The latest cask strength Edition release from Danish distillery Braunstein is on the test bench today. The Braunstein E:10 is, as the name suggests, the tenth annual release in this series. No age is given, but the whisky is around 8-10 YO by my reckoning.

The Braunstein E:10 has been matured in Oloroso sherry casks, and in casks that have previously held an undisclosed Speyside whisky.

You can buy the Braunstein E:10 directly from the distillery at DKK 1850 .

Nose : Sun-warmed, toasted oak, drenched in a most delectable, rich sherry sauce and sprinkled...

Ha'Penny Irish Whiskey Original Blend, NAS, 40 %

Today I bring you an fairly new Irish blended whiskey. The Ha'Penny Irish Whiskey Original Blend is around 3 - 5 years old, and matured in a mix of bourbon and sherry casks.

This is a product from the Pearse Lyons Distillery in Dublin, Ireland. At least some of the spirit in this product is sourced from other distilleries.

You can buy the Ha'Penny Irish Whiskey Original Blend in Norway at NOK 410 ( 10892601 ). A variant was available in the UK recently. I expect we will see it appear in...

Bruichladdich Rare Cask Series 1986/30, 30 YO,

Here is another release from the recent Rare Cask Series from Islay distillery Bruichladdich. I have previously reviewed the Bruichladdich Rare Cask Series 1985/32 (see review ). This Bruichladdich Rare Cask Series 1986/30 is obviously 30 years old.

Here is the official blurb :

First filled into Oloroso butts in 1986, this spirit lay untouched in our loch-side warehouses until 2012 [already 26 years old], when our then master distiller Jim McEwan decided to supercharge this sublime single malt by filling it into our privileged parcel of Pedro Ximenez butts from winemaker Jan...