Burrito Fiestro Mezcal Joven 40%...

Villa Lobos Tequila Blanco 40%...

Just a week after announcing its seventh batch of limited-edition bourbon , Kentucky Owl has revealed plans to roll out a rye whiskey for the first time. The 11 year old sourced whiskey will be available in much larger quantities than Kentucky Owl’s bourbon—and will cost less, though it’s by no means inexpensive at $130 a bottle. About half the country will have access to Kentucky Owl rye.

Meanwhile, New York-based Hillrock Estate has a new bourbon from its solera , finished in California Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. The distillery says the 6 to 8 week finish gives the nose and...

In Quercus we trust. There are over 600 species of oak trees in the Quercus genus, to which whisky maturation owes all. Without time in oak barrels, whisky would remain white and fiery, devoid of the toasty, caramel, nutty, or vanilla notes that make our mouths water. It’s simple—without oak, there is no whisky as we know it today. Considering oak’s profound effect on the taste of whisky, it’s not surprising that the details count. The specific type of oak, the origin of the tree, and all the finer points of its treatment during production will influence the flavors the...

The influence of the barrel makes up a huge part of a whisky’s flavor—often  most of the flavor comes from the wood, and that wood is almost always oak. (By law, whisky in Scotland and most whiskeys in the United States must be aged in oak.) So the type of oak the whisky ages or is finished in matters. Here are the six main types of oak used for aging whisky.

American (Quercus alba)

Typical flavors : The standard-bearer, offering vanilla, caramel, baking spices, and coconut

Try it : Your favorite bourbon

Mizunara (Quercus mongolica)

Typical flavors : Oriental incense,...

The days maj be growing shorter, but your whisky options are more numerous than ever. The Fall 2017 issue hits newsstands on september 5th, featuring scores and reviews for over 95 new whiskies—from scotch and bourbon to Irish, Canadian, and world whiskies. Here we reveal the 10 highest scoring bottles, including  Knob Creek ‘s anniversary single barrel, an “electric”  Chivas Regal , 25 year old  Glen Moray with a rich port cask finish, a silky sweet  Canadian Club , and more.

Knob Creek 25th Anniversary Single Barrel 92 points, 61% ABV, $130

Wonderful opening of cigar humidor and tack room, it...

Style diversity is a key characteristic of American craft whiskey, but most have one thing in common: youth. They are generally young compared to what the legacy producers deliver, lacking the years in a barrel that lead to mature-tasting whisky. No one has solved the aging puzzle either. Young whiskeys taste young.

Unlike most other countries, there is no minimum wood aging duration for American whiskey . Any amount of wood contact will suffice. One type of whiskey, corn whiskey, doesn’t need to be aged at all.

American whiskey making tradition has deep roots. Fifty years ago, when bourbon sales...

A truly exceptional whisky requires time, patience, and a lot of tasting along the way. You can’t make it if you don’t love drinking it. Indeed, for most whisky makers, sampling spirit is much less a chore than it is a cherished perk of the job. But even master distillers enjoy an occasional break from the brown stuff. When they’re not enjoying the fruits of their own labor, you’d be surprised at just how varied their tastes can be. Whisky Advocate tracked down a number of off-duty distillers to reveal what they were hiding in the mug.

David Stewart, Balvenie...

Coffee lovers have been embracing whisky barrel-aged coffee, and now British tea company eteaket has partnered with Tomatin Distillery to create a tempest in a teapot—a tea aged in scotch whisky casks . The blend of black teas from Assam, Ceylon, and Fujian has subtle flavors of fruit and smoke derived from its time in wood. It’s available for a limited time only, but there are also whisky-flavored teas from the Edinburgh Tea & Coffee Company and Whittard .

But why stop with the tea? Here’s our recipe for a full-on whisky tea party. From bourbon-laden cakes to scotch-laced honey...

There aren’t any summer doldrums in the world of whisky. In addition to Ardbeg’s announcement about its newest whisky, An Oa , this week also brings news of a limited-edition release from GlenDronach . The pricy single malt scotch is meant as a companion whisky to the Kingsman film franchise, although unlike Old Forester Statesman—a permanent whiskey in Old Forester’s range, specially created to be part of the upcoming film “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” —GlenDronach Kingsman Edition 1991 will not be reprising its role. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Elsewhere in scotch, Johnnie Walker is rolling out its latest Blenders’...

F inishing is the popular term for transferring a mature whisky to a second cask, perhaps one that previously held port or rum, a first-growth Bordeaux, or is crafted from uncommon oaks like mizunara or Irish oak to give a different flavor profile. The purpose of finishing is to create a new whisky that complements the house style. Think of finishing like the secondary boosters on a space rocket, helping it to achieve a higher orbit, or like precious sapphires set around a diamond by a nimble-fingered jeweler to enhance the sparkle. When done well, finishing adds shades of color and...

Locating the best bang for your buck in single malt scotch can require some serious searching. It’s no secret that scotch prices have crept up in the last few years and many releases are small in quantity. And while tasting through thousands of bottles to find the best values isn’t an entirely unappealing endeavor, we realize not everyone has the time, or the budget, to do so. Here then are 9 splurge-worthy whiskies that top of our list of favorites and sell for under $100—some considerably less! Best of all, these whiskies are available on many store shelves—you maj even...

We’ve got great weather forecasts here in London, so it feels like time to whip up some drinks with the most tropical of spirits: rum . Here are five of my favourite rum cocktails to keep you refreshed over the long weekend.

Daiquiri

The original concept of a cocktail was the mixing of three things: sour, sweet and strong. The classic Daiquiri is a primal version of this, combining lime with sugar syrup and rum.

It’s an easy drink to make but balancing the flavours is hard. Almost no one agrees on the ratios, but I use the Difford’s Guide...

Brian Kinsman is malt master for Glenfiddich , and also looks after the Grant’s range of blended whiskies and works with his mentor David Stewart on the Balvenie range. I caught up with Brian a while ago to learn more about his work and see if he’d drop a few clues as to what might be coming next. The success of the first two releases in the  Glenfiddich Experimental Series  – Glenfiddich IPA and Glenfiddich XX  – has led to rumours that the next release is imminent.

How do you keep Glenfiddich interesting when it is one of the biggest and...

The launch of the 2017 edition of the Diageo Special Releases is imminent. While they’re one of the biggest and most prestigious annual whisky launches, every year we receive the same question: what are they?

In the beginning

It all started at the turn of the millennium. Diageo had appeared a few years earlier – created by the merger of Grand Metropolitan and Guinness – and the whisky world was a very different place. The Rare Malts Selection , a collection of cask-strength bottlings from across Scotland, first bottled in 1995, was on the shelves. The prices were incredibly reasonable...

Last week was London Beer City, a week-long celebration of beer in the capital. Purely for research reasons, I threw myself wholeheartedly into the festivities, stopping in at the London Craft Beer Festival for a taste of the new, and the Great British Beer Festival for something more traditional. Talking with beer fans and brewers through the week, a few things popped up over and over again – here’s what I found.

The Wheel of Styles is still spinning

Recently, we have seen an explosion in the number of new breweries in the UK, and with that has come lots...

Our latest monthly focus is all about the Highland and Speyside regions : the two key whisky areas in Scotland. A lot of whisky guides talk about them having their own distinct style, but we think it’s rather misleading, mainly because of the huge diversity of whisky styles found in both regions.

Many people talk about ‘rugged’ Highland malts – well, I’d give them a glass of floral and grassy Inchmurrin . And if others try to tell me that Speyside is all about elegance and soft fruit, I’d suggest they try something meaty and full-bodied from Craigellachie or Mortlach...

This week saw the inaugural Whisky Exchange Whisky Quiz of the Year. Five intrepid teams gathered in our Covent Garden shop to do battle for the honour of being crowned as the first champions.

The quiz in full flow…

Across six rounds, complete with ‘guess which whisky is in your glass’ as the final task in each, our teams put up a valiant fight against quizmaster and shop assistant manager’s Chris Bolton’s occasionally very hard questions and even worse jokes. In the end, while ‘Glenlivet Let Die’ walked away with a bottle of Glenfarclas 15yo for the evening’s best team...

Macallan Edition No.3

Last week I’ve reviewed the very good Macallan Edition No.2 and now we received the news that the Macallan Edition No.3 is arriving in stores. This limited release is created with Master Perfumer Roja Dove (who already created an aroma box for the distillery in 2011).

He selected a combination of American and European oak casks, mostly sherry casks and mostly first-fill. It is said to be a ‘sweet and fruity’ Macallan which brings fresh oak to the fore. Available for around € 90.

Jura One and All / Jura Seven Wood

Jura distillery has...

The Craigellachie 23 Years is part of the 2014 core range makeover (see my post on the Craigellachie 17 Years ). It was the oldest expression until the long overdue 31 Years came out recently.

Craigellachie 23 yo (46%, OB 2014)

Nose: a bit funky unique, very fatty and old-style. Buttercups and other meadow flowers, hints of honey and subtle fruits like melons, kiwi and overripe pineapple. Brass polish. Hints of tobacco. Toasted oak. Seems like a 1970s distillate, not 1990s – very good. Mouth: again very oily, with hints of waxed papers, wet oak as well as...