A balanced and refreshing variation of the Brown Derby makes this a perfect summer drink. “The mellow, smooth rye whiskey compliments the vermouth. Basil adds a fresh, herbaceous quality, and the black pepper gives a subtle touch of spice to round it out,” say Alan Lam, beverage director of...

This Highland Park 12 Years ‘ Viking Honour’ was the first expression from the new core range at Highland Park to hit the shelves. I think the reception of the ornately decorated new bottles has been quite warm, and it maj be a new batch but with the same recipe.

The new Highland Park 18 Year ‘Viking Pride’ is also arriving in stores now. We should be able to try it in a few weeks, alongside the Highland Park Dragon Legend and Highland Park Magnus expressions.

Highland Park 12 yo ‘Viking Honour’ (40%, OB 2017)

Nose: nicely comforting....

For the weekend I’m going to focus on two young whiskies bottled by The Exclusive Malts Company (founded by David Stirk), selected and bottled for the Whisky In Leiden 2017 festival back in april (The 2018 Festival will be held on april 14th 2018).

First one up is a young sherry bomb speysider from Glentauchers Distillery. It was distilled in mars 2008, matured in an ex-Sherry Butt #900179 and 250 bottles at 53.5% were bottled for the occasion.

The Exclusive Malts Glentauchers 2008 8 Year Old (Whisky in Leiden 2017) (53.5%,  €54,99 )

Nose : Strong oakiness at first, sour...

A new wave of Octomores is hitting the shelves with Octomore 8.1 and with 3 more releases (8.2, 8.3 and 8.4) coming till januari. So it’s a good time to clear the “waiting for review” shelf from older Octomores and so we have a review of Octomore 7.3.

Like with previous x.3 Octomores, it’s Islay barley Octomore and in fact could be called Local Barley Octomore as the barley was grown in Octomore farm. It was distilled back in 2010 and peated to 169 ppm, aged in bourbon barrels and red wine casks from Ribera del Duero in Spain.

Bruichladdich Octomore...

Like many whisky lovers, Professor Gordon Cook of the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Center would love to get his hands on some Macallan 1878 27 year old. Yet he has no intention of putting it in his mouth. The whisky recently captured a lot of attention when a Chinese multi-millionaire reportedly paid 9,999 Swiss francs ($10,000) for the dram at the Hotel Waldhaus am See in St. Moritz, Switzerland. What’s even more surprising than the exorbitant price: the whisky maj be a fake.

The vintage bottle’s label raised suspicion with the words, ‘Roderick Kemp. Proprietor, Macallan and Talisker Distilleries Ltd.’—an...

It’s a big week for whisky!  Jack Daniel’s is launching a new, permanent rye whiskey. Jack fans maj remember seeing and tasting the Unaged Rye and Rested Rye that the distillery released in the last few years, as well as Single Barrel Rye , which will still be available. The new rye whiskey is the culmination of those early releases, which came from Jack Daniel’s first new mashbill in over 150 years.

Also new this week: The Macallan Edition No. 3, a limited-edition whisky that highlights the aromatic qualities of single malt scotch. Meanwhile, Highland Park Magnus is debuting, part...

Here at The Whisky Exchange we like to choose special bottles – we have a wide range of exclusive whiskies and other spirits already, and we add more each month. One of the common questions I get asked is how we choose them. It varies a bit from bottle to bottle, but the core idea is the same – find great drinks and get them on our shelves.

Our latest exclusive bottling is a 22-year-old Frapin 1993 vintage Grande Champagne Cognac . It was selected by head buyer Dawn Davies MW and Whisky Exchange founder Sukhinder Singh and followed our...

Balvenie Peat Week 14 Years

We mentioned the Balvenie Peat Week already some time ago. It’s here and it turns out to be a permanent addition to the core range, taken from peated experiments of the early 2000s, at a time when not that many Speyside distilleries were doing peated runs. The first batch uses 14 years old whisky distilled in 2002 , matured in American oak. It recently arrived in stores for around € 60.

Benromach Triple Distilled

Surprising news from Benromach: Benromach Triple Distilled (ABV 50%) is distilled in a wash still once and twice in...

Twenty years old , bottled at cask strength 51%, uncoloured and reasonably priced for a fairly rare expression, what’s not to like in this year’s limited edition from Jura distillery?

The new Jura One And All is a celebration of the community spirit among the 200 inhabitants of the island. The whisky is an assemblage from ex-bourbon casks, ex-sherry, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon casks, and Pinot Noir barriques.

Jura One and All 20yo (51%, OB 2017)

Nose: quite complex. Nice fruitiness: kumquats and fragrant apricots, later some blackcurrant too. Lots of gingery notes, baked apple with cinnamon,...

I’ll never get bored of the Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength series. I love Laphroaig and those whiskies usually deliver the Laph profile dialed up to the max. I tasted a few earlier batches (although I only published a review on Batch 7 ), so now it’s time to review Batch 8 and eventually I hope to catch up to the latest Batch 9 before the next edition will be released

Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength Batch #008 (59.2%, $65.00)

Nose : Soft peat smoke with short lived acrid burn note (that thankfully disappeared quickly), vanilla and honey, sweet fresh...

Some drinks are simply synonymous with a big-screen moment and with the person drinking them. The freshly poured, ice-cold Martini for James Bond. The Dude’s White Russian in The Big Lebowski and the stain it leaves on his beard and clothes is the perfect match to his deadbeat character. Hannibal Lecter’s Chianti reminds us of this sophistication and taste (the book went one better – Lecter’s original wine choice was the even-more upmarket Amarone). Here are our top-five whisky moments in film and TV:

1. Johnnie Walker Black – Blade Runner

Harrison Ford’s character in 1982 cult classic Blade Runner would have looked...

With only a handful of official bottlings, Benrinnes is very much a blender’s malt. Between 1974 and 2007 Benrinnes distillery used a unique partial triple distillation. I’m not sure whether this is the only explanation for its often a little bulky, sulphury spirit that sometimes reminds me of Mortlach. I don’t think I’ve ever had a Benrinnes that was bad or uninspired…

Benrinnes 20 yo (50%, The Whisky Exchange ‘Time series’ 2016, bourbon cask, 280 btl.)

Nose: a fresh mix of lemon peel with grassy notes and a mineral / waxy touch. Pears and apples underneath, light floral...

The oldest Bunnahabhain to date is this Bunnahabhain 46 Year Old nicknamed Eich Bhana Lìr meaning The great waves of the God Lìr .

The whisky is from a single second-fill ex-Oloroso sherry butt selected by the Distillery Manager Andrew Brown. It has been maturing in warehouse #4 since mid-1969.

Bunnahabhain 46 yo 1969 ‘ Eich Bhana Lìr’ (41,8%, OB 2017, Oloroso butt, 198 btl.)

Nose: lots of lovely hints of beeswax and manuka honey, then baked apples and orange water, blackcurrants, moving towards mango and pineapples. Sweet cinnamon. Gingerbread and almond paste. Old leather and cedar...