At The Whisky Exchange, we are always looking at what’s hot and what’s not. Last september we presented our ideas on upcoming drinks for 2017 at an exclusive event at our London shop, and we are now proud to show that we are following our own advice. Introducing Clean Spirits: a range of great-tasting alcohol-free spirits from The Whisky Exchange. Forget clean eating, this is clean drinking…

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

With increasing focus on healthy living across the world, it was only a matter of time before the spotlight fell on the world of spirits. While beer and...

The Glenrothes Wine Merchant’s Collection is a new series of whiskies finished in casks from renowned wineries in different countries.

Distilled in 1992 and matured for more than two decades in common hogsheads, they were transferred in 2014 to casks from Château de Beaucastel, Lustau and Ridge Vineyards, casks from port houses Warre’s and Graham’s as well as ex rum casks from the St. Lucia Distillery. They are around € 230 each.

• The Glenrothes Wine Merchant’s Cask #15 – St Lucia
• The Glenrothes Wine Merchant’s Cask #6, #8, #10, #11 – Ridge
• The Glenrothes Wine Merchant’s Cask #2 + #5...

A cult bottle – this is said to be one of the best Highland Park bottlings ever. It was released in 2006 as an exclusive bottling for Binny’s Beverage Depot in Chicago.

This is the Highland Park 1971 cask #8363 . Around the same time Binny’s also sold a 1973 cask #13308.

Highland Park 34 yo 1971 (53%, OB for Binny’s Chicago 2006, first-fill sherry butt #8363)

Nose: actually quite close to a real, highly aromatic Oloroso sherry. Juicy red plums, sultanas and truckloads of preserved cherries and Ginjinha. Apricot jam too. Polished oak. Hints of rosewater, perhaps...

Looks like Highland Park founding father is making a cameo. Highland Park is gearing up to release a new NAS expression in their official line up named...

When a whisky is matured in 1st Fill Sherry Butts, you’d think it will sport dark color and big sherry notes in the whisky, but that’s not always the case because there are different kinds of sherry and different kind of casks.

Take for example this Caol Ila 2005 11 Year old from Gordon & Macphail. A vatting of 4 casks (Casks 301521, 301523, 301524 & 301527) that were all distilled on februari 2005, lay asleep for a long time and then married together and bottled Last juli. You wouldn’t think it’s a whisky matured in first fill sherry casks.

Caol Ila...

After the pretty good Laphroaig Brodir Batch 001, let’s go for a review of another whisky in port casks – Highland Park Fire Edition.

It’s the first Highland Park in Port casks that I have ever encountered so I went ahead and purchased myself a sample because I’m a whisky geek and it interests me to see what Highland Park in Port will smell and taste like because I wouldn’t shell out such a big sum of money on a whisky with one big glaring question: What are those Refill Port-Seasoned Casks that the whisky matured in them (and quite a...

Over a year ago I reviewed a Laphroaig I really didn’t like – The Port Wood Finished Brodir. It was the batch generally available on the market, batch 002. A friend of mine couldn’t believe I found it so bad because he liked it a lot. After a short discussion we found out where the difference in opinions came from: while I was tasting and disliking the second batch, he has a bottle of the first batch, so he generously sent me a sample to check for myself that Brodir can be good (Thanks T!).

A quick refresher: Laphroaig Brodir is...

It’s full blown blossoming spring time here – getting warmer, greenery all around, and so a fitting day for a spring-time Bruichladdich dram. A bottling from Speciality Drinks Ltd (the sister company to The Whisky Exchange, although Billy from TWE maj say “it’s complex” on the relationships )

It’s a 1992 vintage, 23 year old that matrured in a Hogshead #3839 that was bottled in augusti 2016, yielding 237 bottles.

Bruichladdich 1992 23 Year Old (The Single Malts of Scotland) (55.4%, 237 bottles,  £125 / €165 )

Nose : Starts fruity with a lot of spiced melon, oak wood spices, a...

Glenmorangie launched Pride 1974 at Steinway Hall in New York City on mars 23rd. (Photo by Brian Ach/Getty Images for Glenmorangie)

By Susannah Skiver Barton

How many senses do you use when drinking whisky? You might look at the color, give a good sniff to pick up the aromas, and—of course—you taste it. Now there’s a whisky you can hear . Sort of.

In partnership with legendary piano makers Steinway & Sons , Glenmorangie commissioned an original composition from jazz artist Aaron Diehl to accompany its newest release, Glenmorangie Pride 1974. Diehl composed “Echoes of the Glen of Tranquility” after...

It’s agreed that whisky gets much of its flavour from the wood it’s aged in. Many different types are used, but what do they add? This was the subject of a recent shop tasting hosted by senior assistant manager Chris Bolton. Here the key points about whisky maturation:

• the number of times the cask has been used – the more times, the less flavour will be imparted,
• the size of the cask – the greater the surface-area-to-volume ratio, the more flavour the whisky will get,
• the length of time in the cask – more time means more flavour extraction,
• the intensity...

For some distilleries, you can quite accurately predict the aromatic profile if you know the vintage and the cask type. For others, there are surprises sometimes. A good example is this Bruichladdich 1992 in the latest batch from The Single Malts of Scotland .

Bruichladdich 23 yo 1992 (55,4%, Single Malts of Scotland 2016, hogshead #3839, 237 btl.)

Nose: lots of dried grasses, greasy notes and honeysuckle. Melon aromas. Discreet hints of greengages and dried apple. Plain barley notes. Nice coastal notes too, salty sea air and wet gravel. A light farmy note. Quite subtle and certainly idiosyncratic,...

One of the younger Irish single malts, distilled in 2001 and bottled by Sansibar for the Dutch retailer van der Boog ( Passie voor Whisky ).

Irish single malt 15 yo 2001 (50,2%, Sansibar & van der Boog 2016, sherry cask, 161 btl.)

Nose: nicely sherried, but not with the usual raisins and plums. In this case you’ll find roasted hazelnut, a certain dusty tobacco note and some coffee. Hints of old bodegas. Also rather clean gunpowder. There’s an orange note underneath, perhaps a little peach, but not much of the typical Irish fruitiness in this case. Mouth:...