Mackmyra Moment Norrsken (6), NAS, 53,2 % Here is the next installment in the Moment series from Mackmyra. The Mackmyra Moment Norrsken was the sixth release in the series. It was released on december 1, 2011, in a limited run of around 1500 bottles. The Mackmyra Moment Norrsken was matured in a mix of 100 litre bourbon […]...

Box Whisky The Festival 2016, 5 YO, 53,9 % The third annual festival bottling from Box Whisky is under review today. Every summer, for ten years, Box Whisky have arranged a whisky festival. The last three years they have handed out certificates with unique codes allowing the holder of the certificate to purchase a bottle of […]...

By Susannah Skiver Barton

This week brings an array of expressions, from bourbon, rye, and Canadian whisky to single malts from Ireland and Scotland—plus a whiskey liqueur, since it’s the holiday season and even die-hard whisky lovers enjoy a sweet treat from time to time.

Bushmills 16 year old and 21 year old single malts

Style: Irish single malt whiskey Proof: 40% ABV Price: $70 (16 year old), $121 (21 year old) Release: december Availability: Widely available, but in limited amounts

Need to know: Both whiskeys are triple-distilled, and both are aged in bourbon and oloroso sherry casks before undergoing...

By Susannah Skiver Barton

When you get in a festive mood, sometimes a simple pour of whisky isn’t enough. Sometimes you want to trim your drink to match your tree. You maj even feel adventurous: after all, what good is that bar set you got last Christmas if you only use it for Manhattans?

If you want to concoct something extra-special, we’ve rounded up a few whiskey cocktail recipes from top bars’ holiday menus. Whether you’re in the mood for a hot or cold drink, or feel like bourbon, rye, or Irish whiskey, you’ll find something suitable to toast this...

John Lunn, who previously worked at the George Dickel distillery, will remain Master Distiller at Sazerac’s distillery in Newport, Tennessee.

  By Susannah Skiver Barton

Sazerac , the company that makes  Buffalo Trace and Pappy Van Winkle , among numerous other brands, announced it has purchased the Newport, Tennessee distillery where Popcorn Sutton’s Whiskey is made for an undisclosed price. The purchase did not include the Popcorn Sutton brand, but did include space for barrel storage. All employees will keep their jobs, including Master Distiller John Lunn and Master Blender Allisa Henley, both of whom joined the distillery from the...

High West Distillery

When we named David Perkins, founder of High West Distillery , our “ Pioneer of the Year ” for 2010, it was a controversial decision. Now, six years later and following the recent sale of the company to Constellation Brands for approximately $160 million, we expect there will still be some naysayers. Yes, High West, a craft distiller based in Utah, is a great American success story. However, their success is not the reason for our recognition, but just one more result of what whisky enthusiasts know to be true: High West delivers innovative and delicious whiskeys,...

Lifetime Achievement This year we honor three icons of the whisky world: Willie Cochrane, Eddie MacAffer, and Richard Paterson.

Willie Cochrane The Isle of Jura’s remote and sparsely populated landscape maj not be for everyone, but it’s a seductively beautiful place to spend your working life. When Willie Cochrane first came to Craighouse, he thought he would stick it out for a year. Thirty-nine years later, after overseeing the production of tens of millions of liters of Jura spirit, he decided to call it a day. Although born in the great city of Glasgow, I’m certain his prominent position at...

Ailsa Bay, 48.9%, £55

Given the plethora of recently opened and planned distilleries within the Lowland area of single malt Scotch whisky production, there should be many contenders for this award in a few years. For now, however, most new releases from the region are independent bottlings of old favorites and innovation has been at a premium. So it was a great pleasure to see William Grant & Sons do something truly radical when it came to the first bottling from their Ailsa Bay Distillery at Girvan, in Ayrshire.

The Grant’s team threw the rulebook of what a Lowland malt...

Despite our name, we don’t just sell whisky at The Whisky Exchange; far from it. In fact, we have nearly 4,000 spirits , liqueurs and Champagnes to choose from. The TWE blog team cast our minds back across the past 12 months to pick the favourite non-whisky we each tried this year.

Stuart

For me, there was one spirit in 2016 that stood out a mile: Plantation Pineapple Rum . The name put me off initially, as I was expecting something too sweet for my palate, but when I tasted it, I was hooked: a rich, spicy rum with Christmas...

Not sure what to get for Christmas ? Join the club. Because of the buffer of a non-working day between now and Christmas on Sunday, I’ve tricked myself into thinking I’ve got a hold on my Christmas shopping this year, when actually I’ve still got a handful of family members to buy for. For many, the task of Christmas shopping has still not sunk in and it’s our duty to remind you that our UK Standard Delivery ends at 5pm on Thursday 22 december . So, last orders, please! If you are still missing a gift for that impossible somebody,...

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye took centre stage last year after being named best whisky of 2015 by Jim Murray. While it’s old news, we don’t get to try many Canadian whiskies in Europe so I thought I had to grab the opportunity.

According to his website, Murray tried batch L5085N3 (at last he discloses this kind of information). I’m trying a batch which was bottled one and a half months later, reasonably close!

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye (45%, OB 2015, L5132R7)

Nose: pleasant, with vanilla, apple pie and ripe banana, as well as prominent hint of...

Montilla-Moriles is a neighbouring region to the sherry region in the South of Spain, and they produce wines in a similar style. Although they use similar names like Fino and Oloroso, they almost exclusively use Pedro Ximénez grapes (also for dry wines) whereas the sherry denomination requires Palomino grapes for most wines.

All this just to say Oban uses Montilla Fino casks for the ‘double maturation’ of their Distillers Edition . We’re trying the latest 2016 release.

Oban 2001 ‘Distiller’s Edition’ (43%, OB 2016, Montilla Fino finish, ref. OB 165.FB)

Nose: orange peel and lots of malty notes....

This 36 years old Ardbeg 1973 is probably one of the rarest bottlings, with only 78 bottles. Douglas Laing has bottled quite a few Ardbegs from this era, in the Old Malt Cask series (early 2000s) and later in this Old & Rare Platinum series. It is said to be one of their best Ardbegs, with the younger sibling 30yo 1973 (98 bottles) roughly on the same level.

Ardbeg 36 yo 1973 (44,7%, Douglas Laing Old & Rare Platinum 2009, 78 btl.)

Nose: starts on mellow peat that breaks up into soft leather, chalky Manzanilla Pasada, fresh lemons,...

H ouse of Sobel was a wine and spirits company in California. It existed from 1946 until 1988. Although I had never heard the name, it looks like they imported Glenfarclas releases into the US.

The back label of this Glenfarclas 21 Years Old talks about the distillery and also tells us the 1955 vintage was highly acclaimed at that time. Does it mean this was distilled in 1955? That would also mean it was bottled after 1976. The fact that there is no ‘Glenlivet’ after Glenfarclas seems to confirm the 1970s timing. On the other hand Grant Bonding Co (a Glenfarclas subsidiary)...

I can’t think of a whisky broker / bottler that is able to match Gordon & MacPhail when it comes to legendary old stocks. We’ve had some great examples in the past months: Strathisla 1967 , Glenlivet 1974 , Glen Grant 1954 …

Recently G&M launched the Speyside Collection , an exclusive series of six whiskies from Speyside’s finest distilleries (each of which has been available on its own in the past, if I’m not mistaken). They are distilled between 1947 and 1972 and bottled at 40 or 43%. Only 75 sets are available for an impressive € 12.500.

We’re trying...

The latest Malt Maniacs Awards 2016 caused a bit of a stir because Kavalan expressions seemed to have hijacked the whole competition (no less than 10 bottlings in the top–15). I agree on the impressive character of these whiskies and the general quality, but to get a more representative outcome they probably need to come up with a more efficient limitation across distilleries (as 1 of every 8 bottles in the competition was a Kavalan).

A lot of retailers and whisky clubs are currently looking at the Taiwanese Kavalan distillery for their bespoke expressions. Heavy sherry has a wide audience, Taiwanese...

The unpeated Caol Ila is one of the constant appearances in Diageo’s Special Releases. It has been roughly between 10 and 17 years old – this year brings a Caol Ila 15 Year Old , a mix of refill American oak casks and European oak sherry butts.

I’ve tried a few of these unpeated Caol Ila expressions before ( 2009 , 2013 ‘Stitchell Reserve’ and 2015 ).

Caol Ila 15 yo 2000 ‘unpeated style’ (61,5%, OB 2016, Special release)

Nose: fairly fruity (sweet lemon, grapefruit, apples) with lots of pine needles, grassy notes and an alcoholic kick. Light...