Antique Lions of Whisky ‘The Birds’

Italian whisky traders Lion’s Whisky and Whisky Antique teamed up with Jens Drewitz of Sansibar to create a new label called Antique Lions of Whisky . The name is a bit silly but the bottles are drop-dead gorgeous and clearly a reference to the legendary 1980s-1990s Moon Import series, which featured animals, birds, sea creatures, etc.

They presented six expressions in this first series The Birds :

• Speyside Region 1975 (46,9%, 230 btl.) – € 495
• Glen Moray 1988 (45,1%, 216 btl.) – € 265
• Fettercairn 1988 (50,6%, 292 btl.) – € 265
• Tormore...

Amrut Rye, 5 YO, 50 % The Amrut Rye is the first ever release of an Indian single malt rye. This is a limited edition of 1000 bottles, released in 2016. European rye was used to produce the Amrut Rye, and it has been matured for five years in American oak casks.   The Amrut […]...

By Susannah Skiver Barton

This week, there’s a 10 year old Irish whiskey from The Dubliner , and Limestone Branch is launching a new rye brand.

Minor Case Rye

Style: Straight rye whiskey Proof: 45% ABV Price: $50 Release: mars 2017 Availability: Widely available

Need to know: A new brand from Limestone Branch, this 2 year old rye whiskey is named after Minor Case Beam, the great-grandfather of Limestone Branch cofounders Steve and Paul Beam. It’s finished in a sherry barrel.

Whisky Advocate says: Limestone Branch opened their distillery in 2011, but this rye whiskey isn’t made there. The label says it’s...

The Spring 2017 issue of  Whisky Advocate magazine hits newsstands in early mars. We’re counting down the top ten highest-rated new releases as reviewed in the  Whisky Advocate Buying Guide. For our Editor’s Choice, Value Pick and more great whiskies,  subscribe now !

#2— Masterson’s 10 year old Rye (batch PSA3), 45% ABV, $89

This 100% rye-grain whisky is distilled in Alberta, then shipped to Sonoma, California for final touches. Finished in new American oak, batch PSA3 is one of the tastiest U.S. bottlings of Canadian rye ever. Soft caramels cushion ethereal honeysuckle, blackened firewood, and lusty rye spices on a framework...

When it emerged that we would be selling a special charity bottling of Lagavulin we were very excited, not only because it’s great to be involved with such a distinguished distillery, but also because all proceeds received by Diageo would be split among seven Islay charities.

Firstly, some context. We had 522 bottles of the 1991 Lagavulin, so we held three ballots in which we drew customer email addresses at random then contacted them to find out if they wished to buy a bottle. After three ballots, we still had 109 bottles remaining, so we contacted all remaining customers who...

Hyde 6 YO No. 5 The Áras Cask Burgundy Finish, 46% This is the fourth whiskey from Hibernia Distillers we present here at Whisky Saga. Hibernia Distillers sell their whiskeys under the trademark Hyde Irish Whiskey. Like the Hyde No. 3 this is a young grain whiskey. The others, Hyde No. 1 and Hyde No. 4, are single malt […]...

The Spring 2017 issue of  Whisky Advocate magazine hits newsstands in early mars. We’re counting down the top ten highest-rated new releases as reviewed in the  Whisky Advocate Buying Guide. For our Editor’s Choice, Value Pick and more great whiskies,  subscribe now !

#3— Black Bull 40 year old 7 ^th release, 47.6% ABV, $1,400

Jaw-dropping: Aberlour 1973, Bunnahabhain 1968 and 1969, Bowmore 1968, Caperdonich 1972, Glen Grant 1974, Glenfarclas 1966, Glenlivet 1968 and 1970, Highland Park 1967 and 1970, and Macallan 1969. It includes a 14% grain content from Caledonian 1974, Carsebridge 1970, Girvan 1974, Invergordon 1972, Lochside 1966, North of...

Knappogue Castle is not a distillery, it is an Irish castle near Limerick, acquired and restored by Mark Edwin Andrews and his wife in 1966. He was a whisky collector and started buying casks of fine pot still whiskey from top distilleries in the country. The casks were further aged and privately bottled under what is now the Knappogue Castle label.

All of his bottles stayed in the private collection until Mark’s son launched Great Spirits LLC and sold them off. The last bottling, a Knappogue Castle 1951 is particularly famous. It is often described as the rarest...

Whisky-Fässle has this new Lowlands Single Grain 1964 , bottled at the age of 52. There are plenty of grain distilleries in the Lowlands, so we could only make some wild guesses. However, when thinking specifically of 1964 expressions, I would say Carsebridge or Girvan are perhaps a bit more plausible than the others?

Fine Single Lowlands Grain 52 yo 1964 (47,7%, Whisky-Fässle 2016, barrel)

Nose: nicely vannilled and syrupy, with pear juice and warm oak. Hints of both American bourbon and exotic rum. Coconut and bananas flambéed. Hints of pencil shavings. Creamy mocha candy. A little toasted...

Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival 2015, NAS, 55,4 % Today I tempt you with this special release from 2015. The Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival 2015 was matured in a mix of refill American an European oak bodega sherry casks. The release was limited to 3500. I have previously reviewed the Lagavulin 1993 Islay Jazz Festival 2011. That was single […]...

The Spring 2017 issue of  Whisky Advocate magazine hits newsstands in early mars. We’re counting down the top ten highest-rated new releases as reviewed in the  Whisky Advocate Buying Guide. For our Editor’s Choice, Value Pick and more great whiskies,  subscribe now !

#4— Kavalan Solist Amontillado Cask, 56.3% ABV, $599

Floor 5 of the Kavalan warehouse is packed with their best sherry casks. The story begins with sultana, Brazil nut, vanilla pod, dates, and chocolate macaroons. The palate has ripe fruit, cherry, date, coffee, candied orange, chocolate, mocha, fruit pastilles, and some pepper, ending with bitter coffee notes. Cutting the strength...

We’re very fortunate at The Whisky Exchange not only to stock a huge range of whiskies from independent bottlers, but also to work closely with our sister company, Speciality Drinks Ltd , which is an independent bottler itself. This lets us see the world of indies from a different perspective to most whisky shops.

The indies work in a very different way to the distilleries themselves, having the flexibility to bottle what they want, without being restrained by house style or tradition. If you want to explore the full range of whisky flavours, then you need to investigate independent bottlings.

Oliver Chilton, hard at...

A Glenfarclas 1986 of around 30 years of age, bottled as part of the Winter 2015 batch of Family Casks .

Glenfarclas 1986 (54,8%, OB ‘Family Casks’ 2015, refill sherry butt #4334, 536 btl.)

Nose: very typical and very elegant. Some fruity notes (oranges, Mirabelles) but the spices are bigger. Clove and cinnamon. Leather, walnut cake, hints of tobacco leaves. Beautiful waxy notes after a while. Mild sherry, and all the elements find a harmonious balance. Mouth: same feeling really, which is excellent. First a combination of pepper and orange, then apricots and tangerines, a little Earl Grey....

Carn Mor Strictly Limited Loch Lomond (Croftenga) 2010 (6 year old) 46%

Bourbon/ Dist: 2010 Btl: Feb 2017/ Tasted: Jan 2017

Initially a little feint to begin with on the nose, but it settles down to show manuery peat, burnt heather and barley. Hints of grainy, coffee’d oak follow along with a touch of earth. Vigorous and vibrant.

The palate is young, with a few rough edges, but the pleasantly sweet barley offsets. Like the nose there is plenty of manurey peat, which melds with woodier peat notes and oily peat notes. There isn’t much in the way of oak...

Carn Mor Celebration of the Cask Caperdonich 1992 (24 year old) 58.9%

Bourbon Hogshead/ Dist: 1992 Btl: Feb 2017/ Tasted: Jan 2017

The aromas are edgy, mature and earthy with sub-Cognac-esque dried fruit, vanilla and almost tart citric notes. Lightly balsamic with manure, treacle and edgy, herbal notes.

The palate is earthy and like the nose displays a sub-Cognac-esque oxidised fruit rancio. Quite peppery with both white and black pepper, slightly hard barley and balsamic notes. The finish a bit on the hard and aggressive side, which isn’t a surprise for Caper, but there is a touch of sweet orange...

Carn Mor Strictly Limited Glen Garioch 2011 (5 year old) 46%...