Cragganmore & Dalwhinnie 150th Anniversary

Two of Diageo’s distilleries, Cragganmore and Dalwhinnie , were founded in 1869 and two limited releases will mark the 150th anniversary.

Cragganmore 15 Years 150th Anniversary was double matured in heavily charred hogsheads and bottled at 48.8% ABV. Only 1869 bottles are available at the distillery only for £ 150.

Dalwhinnie has a 150th anniversary bottling matured in American brandy casks and specially charred hogsheads. Also a distillery exclusive, with 6000 bottles being sold for £ 85.

Single Malts of Scotland – Reserve Casks

Elixir Distillers will present a range of Single Malts...

Daftmill distillery , founded in 2003 by brothers Francis and Ian Cuthbert, is one of the smallest and one of the only self-sufficient distilleries in Scotland. It is a true farm distillery, with barley production as their core business for many years. Whisky production is marginal: about 100 casks per year , during short two to three month seasons when there’s less work on the fields.

People have been raving about the first few Daftmill releases. Buying a bottle was virtually impossible. On the other hand I’ve also read quite a few reports of people who were disappointed...

Fettercairn has a new travel retail expression: Fettercairn 12 Years PX Cask Edition which is basically their standard 12 Year Old finished for around 6 months in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks.

Recently they also added a 16 and 23 years old expression to their travel retail range.

Fettercairn 12 yo ‘Pedro Ximénez Sherry Cask Edition’ (40%, OB 2019, travel retail, 100 cl)

Nose: this one has a weird fragrant side to it. Rosehip syrup with hints of potpourri. Raisins and plums. Then moist wood and very yeasty notes, as well as szechuan pepper and cinnamon. Mouth: quite soft...

One of these viking releases, I must say I lost track and I don’t know which series it belongs to. It’s called Highland Park Valknut . Mainly American oak sherry casks and a slightly higher level of phenols.

Highland Park Valknut (46,8%, OB 2018)

Nose: cereals, dusty oak shavings, hints of mashed potatoes and heather honey. Caramelized nuts and sultanas. A coastal sharpness too. Cloves. Medium smoke. Quite typical, with a modest sherry influence. Mouth: richer than the nose suggested, with a nice theme of sweet nuts, toffee and honey alongside hints of Oloroso and fruits. Cinnamon and...

Atom Brands (who own Boutique-y Whisky and Master of Malt ) launched a new brand called The Character of Islay Whisky Company , which will focus on Islay whisky.

The first release is Aerolite Lyndsay , an anagram of the words ten year old Islay . It is a 10 year old single malt, distilled at an undisclosed distillery. The whisky is a mixture of 70% bourbon barrels, 25% Spanish oak sherry quarter casks and 5% ‘mystery’ casks.

Aerolite Lyndsay 10 yo (46%, The Character of Islay Whisky Co 2019)

Nose: very coastal, with a chalky minerality and...

Only the fourth Knockando review on this blog, the distillery is hiding under the radar. I loved the Knockando 25 Years though.

Today we’re trying the 1998 edition of the Knockando 18 Year Old which comes in yearly bottlings as part of a Slow Matured series.

Knockando 18 yo 1998 (43%, OB ‘Slow Matured’ 2016, bourbon and sherry casks)

Nose: leafy, wintery sherry. There’s toast, pepper, malty notes and wet leaves. Walnuts. A vague sweet element underneath, honeyed almonds majbe. Mouth: playing in a different league. Almost entirely on barley notes, vanilla and yellow apples. The sherry influence...

Aerolyte Lindsay 10 Year Old

Atom Drinks, the company behind Master of Malt, That Boutique-y Whisky and other brands, has launched a new range called The Character of Islay Whisky Co . The first release is an undiclosed Islay single malt called Aerolite Lyndsay (an anagram for ‘ten year old Islay’).

It’s already available from Master of Malt . Stay tuned for our review.

The Glenrothes 13 Years ‘Halloween Edition’

The Glenrothes started a tradition of releasing a 13 year-old expression for Halloween . This year it comes in a beautiful white frosted bottle.

It is matured...

Mildleton distillery launched two new expression in their experimental Method & Madness series.

Both are matured in a combination of bourbon and sherry oak, but they are finished in two wood types that are rarely used for the maturation of whiskey. The first one is Wild Cherry Wood , never used before, which is characterised by its porousness and greenish hue.

The other one is finished in Acacia wood, famous for ageing French white wines, and already used by Bushmills some time ago. This type of wood has a much tighter grain and a redder colour.

Obviously this is where...

The latest release in the Asta Morris range is a Glen Moray 1989 . I tried a cask sample of this whisky a couple of months ago, and I was immediately convinced.

Glen Moray 29 yo 1989 (53,2%, Asta Morris 2019, ex-bourbon cask, 204 btl.)

Nose: fresh and full of orchard fruits, with secondary notes of apricots and guava. Juicy with a slightly floral edge (orange blossom). Lots of polished oak, manuka honey and a little sunflower oil. Mouth: mirabelles, lime and pear, as well as a little coconut liqueur. Mixed with some cinnamon and vanilla this makes...

Talisker 41 Years ‘Bodega Series No.2’

The second release in the Bodega Series from Talisker has arrived. It is a 41 year-old expression, the oldest to date. Distilled in 1978, it was aged in refill American oak and finished in Manzanilla sherry casks from Delgado Zuleta, the bodega that was also responsible for the previous Amontillado finish.

It is limited to 2000 bottles, you can already pre-order from The Whisky Shop for instance.

Glenkinchie Tattoo

Glenkinchie celebrates the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo with a limited edition of 6000 bottles. Matured in rejuvenated hogsheads and American oak barrels, this...

We do appreciate a nice old Glen Moray , yes. The name maj not be the sexiest around though, which is why you can still find this Glen Moray 1990 bottled in 2016 by Berry Bros & Rudd on the shelves.

Glen Moray 25 yo 1990 (46%, Berry Bros 2016, cask #10307)

Nose: a vivid, rather youngish nose. Plenty of green banana and pear candy, yellow apple skins. Hints of kiwi. Sweet Chenin. Barley sugar, light mint and honey. Just a wee waxy note. Mouth: creamy and fruity, very easy drinking. Apricot juice, apple pie and fruit jelly....

In mars 2019 Tamdhu expanded its core range with this Tamdhu 15 Year Old . It has been matured in Oloroso sherry casks made from American and European oak.

The distillery is widely promoting their exclusive focus on sherry casks, backed with a campaign From Spain to Speyside , explaining how they source their casks and how they are seasoned with sherry. More importantly, we can’t deny the resulting whiskies have been pretty good so far.

Tamdhu 15 yo (46%, OB 2019, 24.000 btl.)

Nose: a modern, rounded and thick nose. Dense fruitcake, dried figs, plenty of raisins...

The Nectar is distributing Elixir Distillers bottlings in Belgium. They now have two exclusive releases bottled in the Single Malts of Scotland range: an Imperial 1996 and this Ben Nevis 1996 . Two interesting distilleries, both with rather unique profiles.

Ben Nevis 23 yo 1996 (51,3%, Single Malts of Scotland for The Nectar 2019, hogshead #536, 249 btl.)

Nose: lemon, lime, pineapple and kiwi mixed with green tea, light minty notes, sage and pine needles. Then some chalky notes, concrete and moss. Waxy / greasy notes and linseed oil. Pretty excellent. Mouth: very oily, developing a wonderful fruitiness...

Compass Box Juveniles was first launched in 2003 or 2004 as a custom bottling for a wine bar in Paris with the same name. Later (2007, 2014…) new versions were launched and the latest one was bottled in september 2018.

As the original malts (Clynelish, Longmorn and Ord) were hard to source, other distilleries were used, keeping the bright, smooth, non-smoky profile. Here’s the new recipe:

• 34% Strathmill (Hogshead)
• 34% Balmenach (Hogshead)
• 30% Clynelish (20% Recharred barrel, 10% refill Sherry)
• 2% Glendullan (1st fill Sherry)

Compass Box Juveniles (46%, Compass Box 2018, 14.894 btl.)

Nose: gentle and bright indeed,...

Wolfburn Kylver #5: Raidō

Wolfburn announced the fifth whisky in its Kylver series . It is named Raido after the fifth runic letter of the Kylver alphabet which means ‘to ride’ or ‘journey’. The whisky is a combination of first-fill bourbon and Pedro Ximénez casks. Bottled at 50% ABV with only around 900 bottles available.

Benromach 50 Year Old

Benromach is ready to announce a 50 year-old expression, the oldest expression in the distillery’s range at the moment.

It was distilled 11th of juni 1969 and has been bottled in juni this year at 44.6% ABV from a...

Asta Morris already had a few Glentuachers in the past few years, including other 2009 casks like the PX cask for Malt Monkeys.

Now there are Belgian monuments as a watermark on the labels. There’s a frog, a peeing little boy and a speech balloon. Makes no sense but we’re the country of Magritte after all.

Glentauchers 10 yo 2009 (51,5%, Asta Morris 2019, AM 102, sherry cask, 220 btl.)

Nose: baked apples and a nutty side. Then generous malty notes, even a hint of dark Belgian beer. Blackcurrant, some leafy notes. A bit of chocolate and gingerbread....

I won’t declare my love for GlenDronach 1993 again. I know many people don’t believe in the vintage concept for whisky (which is fine if you’re talking about climatic influence on the raw materials) but sometimes a distillery just gets things right, resulting in a batch of really good casks in a specific year. I’ve enjoyed many a great 1993 ever since GlenDronach first released single casks in 2009.

To be more precise: I didn’t think the first casks #523 and #529 were any special but I started to adore the low numbers which started to appear around 2012 (all...

Diageo Special Releases 2019

Diageo has announced the Special Releases 2019 , themed “Rare by Nature”. For the first time it seems there is a visual theme in the whole series, with these jungle / retro plant motifs and animals. Most whiskies are in the same bottles and nicely match in terms of colour and identity. Although this is a nice touch, I suspect some people maj be disappointed that whiskies are not presented in their own traditional brand identity (e.g. the typical Lagavulin dark bottle), breaking their collection a little.

Here are the confirmed details, including the...

This GlenAllachie Pedro Ximénez Wood Finish is part of the brand-new wood finishes series from the distillery (see my news post ).

It has been matured for over 10 years in American oak barrels and then finished in Pedro Ximénez puncheons, resulting in a 12 year-old whisky, the oldest in the series.

GlenAllachie 12 yo – Pedro Ximénez wood finish (48%, OB 2019)

Nose: sweet and candied, with golden raisins, raspberry candy and baked bananas. Round and slightly rummy. Good balance with the (clearly noticeable) plain oak underneath: plenty of vanilla custard and cinnamon. Mouth: same feeling, actually...

The first Boutique-y Whisky bottling from James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington, South Africa: Three Ships 6 Years . The distillery was founded in 1886 and produces a variety of single malts, blends and grain whiskies in two pot stills and two column stills (plus others for neutral spirits).

This whisky was matured in American oak casks for about half of its age and the rest in Pedro Ximénez sherry-seasoned casks.

Three Ships 6 yo (53,7%, That Boutique-y Whisky Co 2019, PX finish, Batch #1, 1150 btl.)

Nose: very bourbonny, with a lot of fresh oak. Resinous notes, sandalwood,...