We have exciting news to share with everyone. Effective augusti 1 ^st ,  Jeffery Lindenmuth will be joining Whisky Advocate full-time as Executive Editor, working directly with me. Jeffery has nearly 20 years of writing experience within the M. Shanken Communications organization, including Whisky Advocate , Wine Spectator , Food Arts , and various special projects. He has also written for many other drinks publications (and major circulation magazines) over this timespan.

Specific to Whisky Advocate , Jeffery has been with us from the beginning; he was actually the magazine’s first designer and art director back in the 1990s. He’s since...

Michter’s announced that they will not be releasing their Toasted Barrel bourbon in 2016. In a press release issued today they indicated a shortage of bourbon as the reason. Michter’s distillery president, Joseph J. Magliocco, stated that it was a difficult decision to make, but necessary,  “The problem is every drop of our Toasted Barrel Bourbon that we release this year is one less drop of our Michter’s US*1 Bourbon that we have to allocate to our distributors and importers.”

Expansion is underway at Michter’s distillery to remedy the shortage. The current capacity of the Louisville, Ky. facility is 500,000 proof gallons...

Region – Four different ‘Murrican locations – ABV 40%

My life, for the past 12 years, has brought me to Chicago for various and sundry reasons. Mostly, it was my previous life in the world of Industrial Storage Supplies and the sales thereof. Yessir/ma’am, sexy, sexy stuff, that; Industrial Storage Supplies. Don’t hate it until you’ve hated it. The people were great though. Nay, amazing. But… it’s Industrial Storage Supplies. Industrial. Storage. Supplies.

As of late, my reasons for visiting the  Windy Apple   are those more related to whisky. Be...

The Martini is undoubtedly the king of classic cocktails. While other drinks maj have more history – both in terms of time and colourful stories – the Martini stands out as an icon. With countless variations and cocktail names ending in -tini, it is also one of the most misunderstood, which is why we called on some experts for the latest tasting at our London shop – Rich Hamer from Sipsmith and Fliss Gransden from Belsazar Vermouth .

Rich Hamer and Fliss Gransden – Martini experts

The classic Martini contains two ingredients: gin and vermouth . Until recently, the style...

What is bourbon ? That’s Jack Daniel’s , right? Whiskey ? Something to do with rye ? Well, yes to all three, actually. Very simply, bourbon is a mixture of grains, ground up, mixed with water and heated, fermented with the help of yeast, distilled, then aged in oak barrels.

All very simple. But are bourbon and American whiskey the same thing? No. One way to remember is that all bourbons are whiskeys, but not all whiskeys are bourbons. American whiskey includes sub-categories including bourbon , straight bourbon, rye , wheat , malt, rye malt and corn , each with its...

Since 2012, Talisker 30 Year Old is bottled at the classic 45,8% ABV instead of cask strength. It also comes in a jazzier, shiny red box instead of the old blue cardboard.

Talisker 30 yo (45,8%, OB 2015, 3912 btl.)

Nose: very mild and elegant, with little smoke but a more forthcoming sweet, fruity note. Oranges, apple peelings and red berries. Also oily / waxy notes. Subtle coastal elements in the background, as well as a bit of pepper. Just a hint of charred oak. Very nice, but slightly understated, not to say underwhelming. Mouth: not very punchy...

The Glengoyne Teapot Dram is a ‘tribute to the daily dram that the Glengoyne workers enjoyed three times each day from copper teapots in the distillery canteen’, a custom that existed until the 1970s.

This expression was launched around 2011 and is only for sale at the distillery. It’s matured in first-fill sherry casks and bottled at cask strength. I believe Batch #4 is the latest available version. Each batch is 3000-3500 bottles.

Glengoyne Teapot Dram (59,4%, OB 2014, first-fill Oloroso casks, Batch #3, 3484 btl.)

Nose: lush and very juicy, with cherry liqueur, strawberry jam, bananas and...

Tomatin Distillery released a single cask whisky distilled in 1971 and bottled at cask strength (45,8% vol.) at 44 years of age. The spirit was matured in Oloroso sherry casks and just 252 bottles are available.

This expression is presented in a crystal decanter with an ornate box, part of which serves as a wooden plinth. Price: around € 3000.

Duncan Taylor released a new batch of its Black Bull 40 Year Old , a blended whisky has been around since 2010 ( we reviewed Batch #1 ).

The new batch – now in an all-black packaging –...

Another sample from the latest Spring 2016 releases from Wemyss Malts, a Mortlach 1995 . As always, a single cask bottled at 46%.

Mortlach 1995 ‘Flambé fruit’ (46%, Wemyss Malts 2015, hogshead, 337 btl.)

Nose: juicy fruits. We have green bananas, mirabelles and apricot. Acacia honey and hints of mint. Hints of rhubarb jam as well. Then we get some leafy notes and dandelions before settling on golden syrup and yellow raisins. Clean and fruity, with virtually no Mortlach meatiness at all. Mouth: again very fruity, with apples, yellow plums, sweet and sour citrus and plenty of barley...

Glenmorangie Private Edition collection has seven releases so far with Milsean being the latest one. The bottles are usually releases in januari so it’s surprising to see that information on the eight release in the series was revealed on the Federal TTB database, six months ahead of the release. According to the label it will be: Glenmorangie...

Statesman Finest Old Scotch Whisky, NAS, 40 % I have a special treat for you today. Not just a scotch, but one that is both ‘finest’ and ‘old’. Reading the label we also find that it is ‘fully matured’, and has added caramel colouring (E150). A handful of strong indications that this will be an […]...

This is the new Nikka Yoichi without age statement. After the discontinuation of virtually the entire core range in 2015, including the old Nikka Yoichi NAS , this is now pretty much the only available Yoichi. I fear we will have to deal with this situation for many years.

Nikka Yoichi Single Malt (45%, OB 2016, 70 cl.)

Nose: really nice. Less recognizable as a Japanese whisky, but good nonetheless. Very bright, juicy barley with apples and peaches. Candied orange peel. A little mint from the obvious American oak. A very light smoky touch underneath, with some nutty...

The new Compass Box Enlightenment whisky is another step in their campaign for Scotch Whisky transparency which follows the uproar that accompanied their previous releases.

In case you forgot, when Compass Box released Flaming Heart 5th edition and This is Not a Luxury Whisky  in late 2015, they also included the full recipe for the whiskies including the whiskies ages . However, seems like it was breaking UK and EU regulations and therefor, following a request/pep-talk from SWA, the ages we removed from the website and the marketing materials and the new Soctch Whisky transparency campaign was launched with other distilleries backing it up (like...

Grand Grizzly, NAS, 40 % The Grand Grizzly is a rye whisky made at an undisclosed Canadian distillery. It is produced for the Mexican market, and it is dead cheap. Apparently this is a product meant to compete with tequilas. The character the producer is aiming for is spicy, earthy and not too sweet. In other […]...