Highland Park Single Cask Chris Maile Edition, 13 YO, 57,5 % A single cask Highland Park, exclusive for Norway, cask strength official bottling. This is not something we experience very often. In fact it’s been quite a few years. Thus many whisky fans eagerly awaited Friday the 13th of januari, when these 306 bottles were released […]...

Mannochmore 1990 25 YO (Special Releases 2016), 53,4 % I continue my review of the Diageo Special releasesz 2016. Today I am looking at the Mannochmore 1990 25 YO. It is not very often I come across whisky from mannochmore, as they mainly produce for blends. I have reviewed just one Mannochmore before, a release from SMWS […]...

Gjoleid Praksis 1.2, 4 YO, 47,2 % Here is the third new release from Arcus, under the brand Gjoleid. I have already reviewed the Gjoleid Blindpassasjeren and Gjoleid Praksis 1.1. The Gjoleid Praksis 1.2 uses the same mash bill as the other two; light malted barley, malted wheat, and malt lightly smoked using logs of alder […]...

Michter’s 20 YO Single Barrel Bourbon, 57,1 % This is the jewel in the crown, as it were, for US distiller Michter’s. This particular release of the Michter’s 20 YO Single Barrel Bourbon was released in 2014, with a very limited run of 100 bottles. One more version has been released since this one, with an ABV […]...

By Susannah Skiver Barton

Longtime lovers of Scotch whisky are usually familiar with Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet. The 18 ^th -century bard’s use of the Scots dialect in his compositions made him one of the country’s most beloved figures, and every januari 25 ^th , millions of people in Scotland and throughout the world celebrate his birthday with feasting, poetry, and whisky.

As Scotch whisky has grown in popularity in recent years, more people in the U.S. are hosting a Burns Night supper. Presuming you can choose your own Scotch (and if you can’t, consult our Buying Guide ), here’s...

In the second part of our exclusive interview, Jim Murray explains his strict rules for choosing his World Whisky of the Year, his response to critics of the Whisky Bible, and his retirement plans. You can read part one here .

Jim Murray chats to Stuart of The Whisky Exchange

How do you go about tasting for your Whisky Bible ? It averages out at 1,200 [whiskies]. It’s a good day if I’ve done 20, I’m concentrating so hard. I’ve had a number of girlfriends from different countries, and come the evening, they go quiet, because they’ve spent all day...

In the first part of our exclusive interview, Jim Murray tells Stuart how Lord Lucan helped him get into whisky, how he helped create the rye boom, and why sulphur is the enemy of a great dram…

Jim Murray, whisky writer and author of the Whisky Bible

Before you wrote about whisky, you were a Fleet Street reporter. How did you get involved in journalism? I was still at school. I covered league cricket at the age of 14, so earned my first pennies at that tender age. After school, I wouldn’t go home, I would go to the paper...

I already talked about this two months ago but never came around writing the review.

At first glance the Redbreast 25 Year Old looks like a regular, wide release but if you dig deeper into the label you’ll find that it is a single sherry cask release for the 60th Anniversary of La Maison du Whisky . This is very rare for Redbreast and in fact it maj be the oldest pot still whisky ever from Midleton distillery.

Redbreast 25 yo 1991 (53%, OB for 60th Anniversary of LMdW 2016, first-fill Oloroso butt #42972, 624 btl.)

Nose: glorious nose, which...

The colour of this Yamazaki 1995 is almost black. It is cask 5J3020 from the Owner’s Cask series. While it sounds as if these are private bottlings, it also includes a lot of shop exclusives. This one was bottled for La Maison du Whisky back  in 2010.

Yamazaki ‘The Owner’s Cask’ 1995 (54,9%, OB for La Maison du Whisky 2010, sherry butt #5J 3020, 420 btl.)

Nose: almost refortified high-quality Oloroso. Very intense plums and figs. Lots of polished oak, including hints of turpentine and acetate. Polished leather. Walnut liqueur. Some volatile hints of raspberries and yuzu. A...

Whereas the original  Blanton’s bourbon – produced at Buffalo Trace distillery – is bottled at 93 proof (46,5%), this Blanton’s Gold Edition is bottled at a stronger 103 proof (51,5%) and composed with barrels from the esteemed middle racks of warehouse H. It has the same mashbill of corn and around 10-12% rye – more than for the Buffalo Trace brand.

You can recognize the Gold Edition by its gold coloured full-metal topper , which has the usual Kentucky horse rider in different (collectible) positions. It is not available in the US, only in European markets and duty free shops....

We already mentioned it here in oktober, but now the label has appeared in the TTB database so we can be 100% sure. Ardbeg An Oa will be released soon.

It is a vatting of different cask types, including (but not limited to?) new charred oak , PX sherry oak and first-fill bourbon casks . They claim Ardbeg An Oa (pronounced ‘an oh’) is well rounded because it spent some time in a gathering vat.

Bottled at 46,6%, it will become a new standard expression that is permanently available.  Here’s a promo video of the new Ardbeg (now deleted)

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This is the latest batch of Glengoyne Cask Strength (as far as I know). It is a combination of first-fill and refill sherry casks.

Glengoyne Cask Strength (58,8%, OB 2015, Batch #4)

Nose: a less intense sherry influence than I expected. Fudge and golden syrup. Stewed plums, apricot pie, in fact lots of pastry notes and oat cookies. Hints of milk chocolate. Orange peel and dried banana too. Hints of pepper. Mouth: still on the fresh, fruity side of the sherry spectrum, with cinnamon apples and golden raisins. Plenty of spices too – mainly pepper, with a light...

Compass Box is about to release...