Botas from the Williams & Humbert solera at J. Rieger & Co. in Kansas City

There’s a new sherry-finished whiskey in town, and this one offers an unusual twist. J. Rieger & Co. Monogram Whiskey is a blended whiskey—comprising 11 year old rye sourced from Alberta Distillers and 9 year old light corn whiskey sourced from MGP—that has been finished for 18 months in sherry barrels. All sounds pretty normal so far, right?

Here’s what makes it special: the barrels themselves are roughly 100 years old and came from the solera of Williams & Humbert , one of the oldest...

Barrels age in Buffalo Trace warehouse.

By Susannah Skiver Barton

The age of your whisky might matter to you—but how important is the age of the barrels it aged in? As part of its Experimental Program, Buffalo Trace Distillery is making barrels with very old oak—300 years old, in fact. The company aims to find out what effects, if any, the age of tree at harvest could have on the whiskey. Most oak trees don’t live past 200 years old, so acquiring wood that managed to tack on another century is unusual. The staves used in the barrels were seasoned...

The Irish whiskey industry is in fine fettle. Many new distilleries are planned across the country, and there’s an exciting new project from the biggest name in the business: Irish Distillers. I visited Ireland to get the lowdown on the project – Method and Madness – which uses three very unusual cask types.

Last week, we looked at the most common ways of maturing whisky , but this new project features cask types rarely seen: French chestnut, virgin Spanish oak and French Limousin oak. The name refers to the collision of careful tradition from the old hands at Irish Distillers...

When it comes to sparkling wine , there’s one name that stands head and shoulders above all of the rest: Champagne . But why does it earn such praise? I asked our resident Master of Wine, Dawn Davies, what she thought.

What sets Champagne apart?

Refermented in bottle

Rather than pumping it full of gas like a SodaStream or letting it ferment in large closed tanks, the fizziness is created in each bottle. The still base wine is filled into bottles, some sugar and yeast are added and the bottle is sealed. The yeast eats the sugar, producing alcohol and carbon...

Jameson Bow St reopened

Last week I was invited to visit the reopened Jameson Distillery Bow St. in Dublin. It was closed in augusti 2016 to undergo an € 11 million redevelopment and reopened about a month ago. The whole project was supervised by a special ‘experience design’ agency which set up new, more immersive experiences within the historical building.

Basic tour: Jameson Bow St Experience

The basic tour is called Bow St. Experience . It is a guided tour with three major topics, each covered in one room: the 230-year history of the Jameson brand,...

Benromach 1975 is the latest premium release from Benromach. It was bottled from a single ex-bourbon hogshead #3434 after 41 years of maturation.

It comes after the 1973, the excellent Benromach 1974 cask #1583 and Benromach 35 Year Old that were presented in the same dumpy bottle.

Benromach 41 yo 1975 (49,9%, OB 2017, refill bourbon hogshead #3434, 162 btl.)

Nose: as expected from a bourbon hogshead, I find a bit more direct oak than in previous bottlings. Minty oak shavings, ginger and hints of white pepper. It gradually turns towards fruits: luscious apricots, apple compote, grapefruits and...

Another one of these ‘extra old’ vatted malts bottled by The Whisky Agency , or is it ‘relaXed Old’… this release was done for the Maltstock 2016 festival in september. Participants had it there as an aperitif and could order a bottle afterwards.

Blended Malt XO (44,9%, Whisky Agency for Maltstock 2016, sherry wood)

Nose: starts on burnt raisins. Dark caramel, black tobacco. In the high tones we have blackberries, cassis, oranges, a little mint. Walnuts. Clean matchsticks but they fade away. A damp leafy side too. Mouth: again it’s more on the charred side, including walnuts, some pepper,...

Most malt heads are familiar with Aberlour Distillery due to it’s heavily popular A’bunadh series (58 batches and counting) as they (and I) love a good sherrybomb. But we shouldn’t forget there are other whiskies in the line-up ranging from 12 Year Old to 18 Year Old and bottled at 40% or 43%.

But there’s an interesting variant to the 12 Year Old, one non chill-filtered and bottled at 48%, priced very similarly to the standard 40% and chill-filtered.

Aberlour 12 Year Old Non Chill-Filtered (48%, £35.99 / €43.50 )

Nose : Rich and full, malt and strong dried fruit, figs,...

This Highland Park 1992 (bourbon cask) is part of a new Chinese Mask series from Sansibar .

Highland Park 1992 (51,4%, Sansibar ‘Chinese Mask label’ 2016, bourbon cask, 263 btl.)

Nose: a big mineral side, with wet gravel, linseed oil and waxy notes. Then more on sweet citrus (lemon, grapefruit, tangerine). A little banana and kiwi. Minty freshness. Hints of white chocolate as well. Beautiful combination. Mouth: a little sweeter and fruitier than expected, although the mineral sharpness is still present. Albariño wine. Yellow and pink grapefruits, tangerines, nectarines. Honey coated almonds. More herbal notes towards the end,...

Balvenie is a quintessential Speyside malt, fairly light and balanced. The 12 years old Balvenie DoubleWood is a classic in the range. It is also the youngest expression since the 10 Year Old was discontinued a few years ago.

It is first matured in American ex-bourbon oak (“whisky oak” as The Balvenie calls it) and then finished in first-fill European oak sherry casks.

Balvenie DoubleWood 12 yo (40%, OB +/- 2016)

Nose: fairly smooth, with a little honey, oranges and vanilla. Sweet malt, peaches. A few floral notes as well. Very light sherry notes. Brioche. A fitting wood...

Wolfburn Aurora is the second release from Wolfburn Distillery at Thurso. I had the pleasure of visiting there, tasting some spirit and very much liked their first release the Wolfburn Northland.

So naturally I was eager to try Aurora which was released last september. It’s a no-age-statement whisky, aged for three years in 3 different cask types: A minority (about 20-30%) in first fill Oloroso Sherry hogsheads and the rest in refill quarter casks and first fill ex-Bourbon barrels.

Wolfburn Aurora (46%, Bottled 30/8/16, £48.43 / €44.95 )

Nose : Malty, creamy, with gentle red fruit (strawberries and raspberries) in the background....

By Susannah Skiver Barton

It’s a world whisky week, as new releases from both Kavalan in Taiwan and the New Zealand Whisky Company are hitting the U.S. for the first time. Read on for details.

New Zealand Whisky Company Collection  

Dunedin 16 year old DoubleWood Style: Blended whisky Origin: New Zealand Proof: 40% ABV Price: $85 (375ml.) Release: maj 2017 Availability: Major U.S. markets

High Wheeler 21 year old Single Grain Style: Single grain Origin: New Zealand Proof: 43% ABV Price: $95 (375ml.) Release: maj 2017 Availability: Major U.S. markets

The Oamaruvian 16 year old Cask Strength DoubleWood Style:...