The popular Whisky in Leiden festival is coming up this Saturday. Organiser Whiskysite.nl announced this Benromach 2008 single cask. A first-fill bourbon cask, like we’ve seen for van Wees, Whiskybase, LMdW and others in the past few months.

While a Coal Ila and Glentauchers are the official festival bottlings, this is a side release for the shop. However Benromach’s Steven Cameron will be present at the festival and will happily offer you a free dram.

Benromach 2008 (59,5%, OB for Whiskysite.nl 2017, first-fill bourbon #8523-347, 231 btl.)

Nose: clean and bright, with a rather sharp onset and then...

Last week I was part of an interesting Whisky Wire Twitter tasting with new releases from That Boutique-y Whisky Company . For me this Mortlach 18 Year Old (Batch #3) was not the winner of the evening, but the biggest positive surprise nonetheless.

Mortlach 18 yo (48,9%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company 2016, Batch #3, 50 cl, 363 btl.)

Nose: starts impeccably fresh and fragrant, with something of lemongrass and verbena, then perhaps a little silver polish, green apples, a little carambola. Floral notes. Fennel seeds. Tangerine. There’s an underlying weighty layer, but not meaty for me. Mouth: oily...

In the American TTB database two new labels appeared from Laphroaig .

First is the Laphroaig 27 Year Old , double matured in ex-bourbon barrels and refill quarter casks in warehouse n°1 and bottled at cask strength (52%). The other is the Laphroaig 25 Year Old , a mix of second-fill Oloroso sherry casks and American bourbon barrels, also bottled at cask strength (48,6%).

Even more expensive will be the Tamdhu 50 Year Old , a single cask release from a European oak first-fill sherry butt. That’s fifty years in a first-fill cask, and even at this...

The success story continues with another vintage release of Benromach Sassicaia, this time a 2009 vintage that more then doubled the bottles count (to 8000 from 3500) of the previous release in 2016, the Sassicaia 2007 which I reviewed before and liked.

The concept stays the same as you don’t mess with a successful and working recipe, first maturing in 1st fill bourbon casks and then finished for 28 months in Sassicaia wine casks from the region of Bolgheri in Tuscany. But it’s interesting to note that previous releases were 8-9 years old while this new Sassicaia 2009 is only 7-8 year...

By Susannah Skiver Barton

It’s a mixed bag of new whiskies this week: Johnnie Walker launches the first in its new Blenders’ Batch series; Buffalo Trace has released its latest Col. E.H. Taylor, Jr. bourbon; WhistlePig is debuting its first whiskey made with rye distilled and matured on its Vermont farm; Hochstadter’s has a super-aged rye whisky from Alberta Distillers; and Woodford Reserve ‘s special Derby bottle is rolling out.

Johnnie Walker Triple Grain American Oak

Style: Blended scotch Proof: 41.3% ABV Price: $30 Release: mars 2017 Availability: Nationwide while supplies last

Need to know: In the course of his...

Cognac expert Michelle Brachet came to our London shop on a mission to convert people to the wonders of this classy spirit. After wowing guests with her choices, it appears she succeeded. And if you think that Cognac should be served warm in a big balloon glass, she has some advice for you…

Cognac expert Michelle Brachet

1. Cognac is for everyone

‘Cognac is the most neglected spirit in this country. People are scared by it; they think it’s too expensive; they think you have to be a millionaire to drink it – I’m here to dispel these myths.’

2....

Cheese is an incredibly varied thing. From runny blues to rock-hard Pecorino, from smoky Oscypek to stinky Epoisses, the range of flavour is wide. Fortunately, whisky is up to the task of pairing with it.

Here are a few styles of cheese and some ideas of which whiskies to drink with them. These have been road-tested during a long afternoon’s work with Paxton & Whitfield , cheesemonger to Her Majesty The Queen, but if you have any suggestions, please let us know in the comments below.

Cheddar – semi-hard cows’ milk cheese

We start with the UK’s favourite cheese. Despite the name,...

This Justerini & Brooks blend was bottled in the 1960s at 20 years of age. We all know J&B of course, but the brand used to offer more higher-end bottlings at the time. Another well-known version of this 20yo was bottled in square decanters during the 1970s, they are regularly seen in auctions.

Bottled in the 1960s, so the whisky inside should be distilled in the 1940s.

Justerini & Brooks ‘Choicest Liqueur’ 20 yo (45,5%, OB +/- 1960s, blue letters, 4/5 quart)

Nose: rather rounded, with brown sugar and dried oranges, toffee and a clear smoky background. Nicely balanced sherry influence (raisins,...

This is from the late 2016 batch of casks released by Claxton’s: a Glen Elgin 1995 . It’s nice to see this bottler is reaching out to a wider audience and more retailers lately.

Glen Elgin 20 yo 1995 (51,5%, Claxton’s 2016, refill hogshead #1609-1671, 294 btl.)

Nose: fresh fruity notes, especially peaches, melons and tinned pineapple. It’s not just a simple fruity Speysider though. There’s something of cardamom and potpourri. Then some wax candles, oil paint and linseed oil. Some lightly toasted oak as well. Mouth: the peaches are back for a while, with white grape juice,...

This second edition of Octomore 10 Year Old was matured in 60% fresh bourbon casks and 40% casks that previously held Grenache Blanc wine. Made using 100% Scottish barley, it has a phenol level of 167 ppm . It spent an entire decade slumbering in P2, the ancient stone warehouse in the village of Port Charlotte, close to the western shore of Loch Indaal.

There’s a #LaddieBelgium tasting on Twitter tonight (19:00 CET) which will feature three 10yo expression: Octomore, Port Charlotte and Laddie Ten .

Octomore 10 yo 2005 (57,3%, OB 2016, second edition, 167 ppm, 18.000...