Bunnahabhain American Craft Ale, NAS, 50.5 %

Bunnahabhain American Craft Ale

The  Bunnahabhain American Craft Ale is a distillery exclusive that you could hand-fill at Bunnahabhain earlier this year. It was possibly a one off experiment, or majbe not.. It sold out fairly quickly though.

Nose : Hmm..this is different. Different good.. but most certainly different. Vanilla, soft fruitiness and some oakiness. Fair enough, that's to be expected. But there's more here. Green notes of grass and herbs, mixed with notes of petroleum, honey and wax.

Taste : Downright fat-bodied. Very rich, with lots of sweet fruits; apples and pears in simple...

Jameson 18 YO Master Selection, 40 %

Jameson 18 YO Master Selection

This is one of the oldest whiskies from Jameson. The Jameson 18 YO Master Selection is a limited release. There are two 18 YOs in the core range as well; the Jameson 18 YO and the Jameson Bow Street 18 YO (cask strength).

The Jameson 18 YO Master Selection has been matured in Oloroso sherry casks. The regular version is matured in a mix of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks.

You can buy this whiskey in Norway at NOK 1005 ( 4611501 ). It did sell at around GBP 100 in the...

anCnoc Peatheart Batch 1, NAS, 46 %

anCnoc Peatheart Batch 1

Here is a peaty treat from the Knockdhu Distillery. The anCnoc Peatheart Batch 1 clocks in at a peat level of 40 ppm phenols. Please note that this is measured in the malt. Nothing unusual about that, it's just that Knockdhu have previously made a habit (and a very positive one at that) of measuring the peat level in the final liquid. I do hope they will continue doing that.

You can buy the anCnoc Peatheart Batch 1 in Norway at NOK 730 ( 10329501 ), in Sweden at SEK...

Kura The Whisky Rum Cask Finish, NAS, 40 %

Kura The Whisky Rum Cask Finish

This is the “First and Only Whisky Brand with Japanese Rum cask finish”. The Kura The Whisky Rum Cask Finish is a blended malt from Helios Distillery, Japan. I have previously reviewed one other product from Helios (see review ).

I haven't found a whole lot of information on this product. But it appears it is made from whisky imported from Scotland, and then finished in Helios' own ex-rum casks ( source ).

The name "Kura" is taken from the barrel-aged awamori produced at Helios Distillery....

Chivas Regal Mizunara, NAS, 40 %

Chivas Regal Mizunara

This was originally a special release for the Japanese market. A few bottles have found their way to the European market, and thus the Chivas Regal Mizunara is available to buy in our corner of the world.

What makes this such a special release is that part of the blend was matured in Mizunara oak casks.

You can buy the Chivas Regal Mizunara in the UK at around GBP 46 .

Nose : Fresh and fruity. This is a nose that is alive and vibrant. Ripe apples and soft maltiness. Hints of...

We were treated to great news at the Oslo whiskyfestival 2018 a couple of weeks back. That Boutique-y Whisky Company now has a Norwegian importer! That Boutique-y Whisky Company is a trading name of Atom Supplies Limited. Atom Supplies also own  That Boutique-y Gin Company and That Boutique-y Rum Company , and the online whisky shop Master of Malt. Other trading names under Atom Supplies include Atom Brands  and  Maverick Drinks . Just recently Maverick Drinks together with Asian spirits distributor Proof & Company launched Jerry , an online e-learning resource for bartenders.

The team behind it all include Nick Ravenhall,...

These days, you can spend all your free time reading, thinking about, and discussing whisky if that’s what you want to do. Between social media, websites and magazines like Whisky Advocate, and other outlets, there’s more whisky talk to consume than time in the day. It might be hard to believe there are any truly great whiskies that still remain under the radar—known and appreciated by only a few people.

Believe it or not, however, there are such whiskies! The reasons why are numerous. majbe the whisky is from a region of the world, like, for instance, India , often...

According to the latest figures, over 1.9 million people flocked to visit over 40 Scotch whisky distilleries open to visitors in 2017. And there’s more to come, as both new and established distilleries welcome whisky lovers with larger venues, new experiences, and greater access. Peak months are juni to augusti, so make sure you leave enough time to check out the latest visitor experiences on your whisky vacation itinerary.

Best Insider Tour

Bowmore Vaults Secrets Tasting Tour Behind-the-scenes access to Bowmore Distillery, including the traditional floor maltings and a peek inside the thick-walled vaults that protect the casks from the...

You can thank George Washington Vanderbilt III for putting Asheville, North Carolina on travelers’ radar. After the Manhattanite visited and fell for the Blue Ridge Mountains, with their dreamy splendor and curative climate, he built the Biltmore House between 1889 and 1895. At 178,926 square feet it was, and remains, the biggest privately owned house in the U.S. Where once it drew throngs of guests, now it draws tourists. Walk through the banquet rooms overlooking the mountain range, and it’s clear this setting was designed for socializing over drinks. But Asheville’s imbibing legacy extends far beyond posh parties. It’s said...

Millions of us spend our weekends grilling various forms of meat over open fires. Mostly, though by no means exclusively, those meats take the form of sausage, from the humble all-beef hot dog to bratwursts, chorizos, spicy Italian sausages, and the odd lamb merguez or Dutch boterhammenworst.

Enjoyed alongside all those wursts and foot-longs will be plenty of cold beer, principally lager, or in a pinch, chilled white wine. What will only rarely merit grill-side consideration is whisky, and it’s time to rethink that position.

“Every kind of sausage is an emulsification of fat and protein,” explains Jesse Vallins, executive...

Playing a successful stock trader on TV has its perks. For one, David Costabile , who plays Mike ‘Wags’ Wagner on Showtime’s Billions , is able to unfurl expletive-laden turns of phrase at knee-buckling speed. For another, he has access to an enviable array of whiskey.

Billions  (which returns for its fourth season on mars 17) follows Wall Street stock traders and the U.S. attorneys investigating them, and over the course its run, both sides have reached for seriously badass bottles of whiskey. They toast over Johnnie Walker Blue Label , unwind with Kavalan , and celebrate with Michter’s 20...

Before we get to the week’s newest releases, an update: Following up on the news we published previously about Macallan 52 year old , the distillery has confirmed that 42 bottles (out of 250) will be available in the U.S. The price is, as reported earlier, $53,500.

Another very old whisky is coming out, but at a much lower price. Independent bottler Gordon & MacPhail has unveiled a 70 year old Glen Grant, distilled in 1948 and matured in a sherry butt. Priced at £17,500, just 210 bottles are available, including some for the U.S.—although the exact amount and price...

The wash that goes into a whiskey still is sometimes called distiller’s beer , but this un-hopped fermented liquid tastes nothing like your favorite IPA. Now though, some craft whiskey producers are distilling the same craft beers you could buy off the shelf, with tasty results. “The overarching philosophy behind it is if you have a good product going in, you have a good product going out,” says Clint Potter, cofounder of San Francisco’s Seven Stills Brewery & Distillery .

At Berkshire Mountain Distillers in Massachusetts, founder and distiller Chris Weld finds fodder across the panorama of American craft beer—everything...

The Boulevardier has a slight a case of mistaken identity. Although many refer to the cocktail as a twist on the Negroni, the Boulevardier actually came first.

At the dawn of Prohibition, American bartender Harry McElhone left for Europe, first to England and then France, where he opened an American bar called Harry’s Bar, explains Ted Haigh, a.k.a. Dr. Cocktail , author of the award-winning Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails and a founder of The Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans. “He really promoted the idea of cocktails in Europe and had a certain amount of success,” Haigh...

The annual Special Releases from Diageo’s stable of scotch distilleries are a focal point for many whisky lovers—and not just collectors. Many drinkers anticipate buying a special bottle from a beloved distillery—for example, Lagavulin or Talisker—that’s a little out of the ordinary. Others splash out for a super-aged scotch to celebrate a birthday or anniversary.

Whatever your motivations, the 2018 Special Releases offer a little something for nearly everyone—and the scores are, as expected, quite high. Three of the ten releases are not available in the U.S., including the blended malt Cladach—a disappointment for fans of coastal distilleries , which...

There’s plenty of new whisky on the horizon this week, from the U.S., Scotland, and beyond.

Old Forester is debuting its first new mashbill in a century and a half with the launch of a rye whiskey. Bottled at 50% ABV and priced at $24, the whiskey is widely available.

Another brand from Brown-Forman, Coopers’ Craft , is also adding a new whiskey. Coopers’ Craft Barrel Reserve was aged in a new charred oak barrel that was chiseled on the inside to create more surface area for the wood and whiskey to interact. At 50% ABV, it’s also higher proof...

The last year has been a very busy one for The Whisky Exchange when it comes to exclusive bottlings. We’ve put out more than 30 exclusive whiskies and a rum, with many more to come over the next 12 months. However, one of my favourites is a whisky that I poured at The Whisky Show back in september – a mysterious Speyside 1973 bottled by The Whisky Agency .

Mysterious 1973 Whisky

There have been a few 1973 releases from Speyside recently. They are listed as blended malt whiskies and with little information about them, other than that they are...