Wolfburn 46%...

Titanic 5 year old Blended Irish Whiskey

A blend of Cooley malt and grain bottled for the Belfast distillery

Tasted: Apr 2016

The nose is soft, full and barley led with perfumed honey and chunky, yet subtle sherry spices. Pleasantly fruity with hints of melon, greengage and lime, along with some malt, crisp grain and vanilla.

The palate opens with thick, butter toffee, which gives it more weight than the nose would suggest. Again fruity, with lime, greengage, apricot and an almost petrolly note. The classy, crisp grain comes through well on the middle and lingers giving the finish a...

Carn Mor Strictly Limited Glen Spey 2000 (16 year old) 46%

Bourbon Hogshead/ Dist: 2000 Btl: 2016/ Tasted: Apr 2016

Quite heavy and oily on the nose with a subtle perfumed/ floral note. Hints of white fruit, barley, herbs and toffee’d spice follow. The perfumed note becomes a little soapy with time and the herbal notes become a little raw and aggressive.

The palate is a little sweeter but still quite oily with more barley character and creamy oak. Possibly a little heavy on the oak but showing a better balance with toffee and toasty notes on the middle. Long...

Carn Mor Strictly Limited Ardmore 2011 (4 year old) 46%...

Carn Mor Celebration of the Cask Auchentoshan 1991 (24 year old) 50.9%

Sherry Hogshead/ Dist: 1991 Btl: 2016/ Tasted: Apr 2016

Initially the aromas are quite grain-like with plenty of rummy, dried fruit, followed by hints of greengage, gooseberry, rhubarb and mulched rose petals. Beautifully balanced and mature with a very subtle sherry sweetness.

The palate is again quite grainy with a touch more sherry character. Quite spicy with sweet grapy notes and a thread of citrus. Soft rum-like dried fruit and spice come through on the middle along with a little wood tannin, but the citrus and alcohol combines...

Langatun Old Deer 46%

Unpeated malt, matured in ex Chardonnay and Sherry casks.

Dist: maj 2010 Btl: Feb 2016/ Tasted: Apr 2016

Young and malty aromas with malt extracted and malt biscuits. Well I said it was malty! Beneath a touch of rose petals, spicy sherry can be discerned along with some winey notes. The maltiness does subside with time but that allows the sherry to come to the fore.

The palate opens with rose petal marc-like notes and malt biscuits. Very herbal with heather and provencal garrigue notes. The sherry has a slight boiled sweet character and imparts a...

Carn Mor Strictly Limited Benrinnes 2008 (8 year old) 46%

Bourbon Hogshead/ Dist: 2008 Btl: 2016/ Tasted: Apr 2016

A pleasant nose of dusty barley, rye-like herbs and no shortage of oak. The oak begins to really dominate the nose and it becomes sweeter and develops a vanilla custard note.

Slightly crisper and still quite herbal and still quite oaky to begin with. Slightly coffee’d, a little bitter and dry. The alcohol is a little intrusive as well. However once the creaminess of the oak subsides hints of baked fruit comes through. Good length, continuing herbal but a little dry...

Smögen French Quarter, 4 YO, 61,1 % On april 14, 2016, this latest bottling from Swedish distillery Smögen Whisky was released.  The Smögen French Quarter is a limited release of just 792 bottles. This whisky was matured for four years in virgin quarter casks (120 litre) made from French oak. The casks were made in Cognac, […]...

SPEY 12 YO, 40% Another review of the range SPEY from the Speyside Distillery. We have previously reviewed the SPEY Chairman’s Choice and SPEY Tenné. A couple of weeks ago I went to a whisky and beer tasting here in Bergen, Norway. The whiskies presented were BenRiach 10 YO, SPEY 12 YO, Amrut Naarangi, BenRiach Curiositas and […]...

Girvan 1965 47 YO The Clan Denny, 48,2 % Today grain whisky is on the menu. It has been a while since I last reviewed a grain whisky. This Girvan 1965 47 YO The Clan Denny was released by independent bottler Douglas Laing just over three years ago. It was matured in a cask with no further details […]...

Beam Suntory has announced two new releases:  Booker’s Rye whiskey and Knob Creek 2001 Limited Edition bourbon. Both are offered as a tribute to the late Booker Noe and are one-time, limited edition releases.

The first rye whiskey offered by Booker’s, Booker’s Rye, 68.1% is uncut and unfiltered. It has a suggested retail price of $300.00 and is available nationwide. 

Knob Creek 2001 Limited Edition, 50% has been aged longer than any other Knob Creek bourbon to date. It will be released in a series of three batches and carries a suggested retail price of $130.00.

See the press release below for more...

The Summer 2016 issue of Whisky Advocate magazine will be on newsstands in early juni. Here’s an advanced preview of this issue’s Buying Guide; the 10 highest-rated whiskies. Sadly, this Top Ten highlights the current state of the whisky industry: our highest rated whiskies are either limited releases and difficult to find on the primary market, not imported to the U.S., or rather expensive. However, be sure to check out all  115 reviews in this issue’s Buying Guide for quality whiskies that are more easily sourced (and more reasonably priced).

#10 –  Colonel E. H. Taylor Jr. Seasoned Wood, 50%, $70

A...

Today, Barton 1792 distillery announced the release of a full proof, limited edition bourbon.  1792 Full Proof Bourbon was bottled at barrel entry proof: 62.5%. It’s expected to be available for sale later this month with a suggested retail price of $45.00. See the full press release below for details.

New Limited Edition Full Proof Bourbon Released by 1792 Distillery 

BARDSTOWN, KENTUCKY (maj 17, 2016) – A stout 125 full proof bourbon is the latest limited edition release in the 1792 Bourbon line up.  Bottled at the same proof it was originally entered into the barrel, the bourbon was distilled, aged,...

When Jim Murray named  Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013  his  2015 World Whisky of the Year , no-one could have foreseen the unprecedented demand Japanese whisky would experience over the following years. It’s been almost a year since Nikka’s announcement that due to lack of mature stocks, it would be discontinuing all its single malts with age statements. We don’t know how long it will be before they’re back, but European brand ambassador Sayumi Oyama told us she hopes it will be within a decade.

In the meantime, three new replacement whiskies have been released and are now here. There’s a...

I’ve seen several Caol Ila 2006 and 2007 releases from independent bottlers lately. This is probably the most recent vintage I’ve tried from this distillery.

Caol Ila 8 yo 2007 (53,7%, The Whisky Agency ‘Good Vibes’ 2016, bourbon hogshead, 324 btl.)

Nose: highly grassy and mineral, with raw wool, limestone and Matcha tea. Hints of moss and soaked grains. Sea spray and peat. Lots of lemons, subtle kiwi and pears. Slightly sharp and youngish but pleasant. A little mint after a while. Mouth: sweet peat, sweet barley, with raw wool and iodine. Quite some almond roundness too. Sea...

Compass Box The Circus is another new limited edition blend. The reference to a circus was chosen for its ephemeral character (just one night in town). A whisky for special occasions, they say.

The heart of this whisky is formed by parcels of blended Maltwhisky that were “forgotten” in marrying casks a long time ago. Compass Box knows very little about the composition of these blends, apart from the fact that they’re old and spent over two thirds of their maturation in marrying casks. It was then completed by some old grain whisky and younger Benrinnes.

This is...