It’s time for april’s drinks of the month! We have the usual malt and spirit offers, and new for this month: sparkling wine.

The Malt of the Month is Royal Brackla 16 Year Old . Launched in 2015 as part of Bacardi’s Last Great Malts series, it’s finished in first-fill sherry casks, adding a richness to the sweet, spicy and slightly smoky whisky. It is nearly £7 off at £64.95 for the whole of the month.

Royal Brackla 16 Year Old, 40%

Tasting Notes by Stuart P

Nose : Clean, bright aromas of fresh fruit – green apple, melon and...

The Golden Age Blend refers to the ‘Golden Age’ of distilling from the early 1960s to the mid 1970s, being made exclusively with whiskies that are at least 40 years old. Malts from Macallan , Glenrothes and Tamdhu are used, along with a little peated Bunnahabhain to add the ‘seasoning’.

I believe Bunnahabhain ceased its maltings in 1963 and started ordering unpeated malt since then, but the people from Master of Malt confirmed this was probably some leftover smokiness from a refill cask.

An extremely old grain from North British was selected to complete the blend and bring the different...

One of the most highly anticipated releases of this year already: Springbank 16 Years Local Barley. It’s easy to see why: Local Barley was an iconic range of 1965 / 1966 expressions released in the 1990s.

Made with prisma barley (a spring barley) grown at Low Machrimore Farm in the south of the Kintyre peninsula, this was distilled in september 1999 and aged for 16 years . There were 80% bourbon casks and 20% European oak sherry casks in the mix.

This is the first of five annual releases (not sure this would mean the last will be a 21...

These are the first three Springbank releases in the Archives series.

What a great idea to release three sister casks at the same time: two refill bourbon hogsheads (distilled in oktober 1996 ) and one first-fill sherry hoggie (distilled maj 1996 ).

Springbank 19 yo 1996 (56,4%, Archives ‘Shells from the Bay of Caracas’ 2016, refill bourbon hogshead #550, 284 btl.)

Nose: a nice mineral / fruity combo. Lots of ferns, a little linseed oil, hay and wet limestone, mixed with juicy grapefruits and lemon drops. Subtle vanilla and nougat. A light grassy yeastiness as well, which works well....

Hunter Laing Old Malt Cask Balmenach 2001 (14 year old) 50%...

Tomintoul 1969 42 YO The Perfect Dram, 53,1 % This rare gem from Tomintoul Distillery, in the Speyside region, was released by independent bottler The Whisky Agency. It was distilled in 1969, matured in a bourbon cask, and bottled in 2011, with a total outturn of 182 bottles. You will be hard pressed to find […]...

Karuizawa 17 YO, 40 % Here’s a special treat, at least it was a special treat for me. A good friend gave me a sample of this Karuizawa 17 YO. Noit sure when this was released, but it sells online for fantasy prices now. Master of Malt had one bottle for sale at one time […]...

The Whisky Exchange has learned of a startling development that could turn the whisky industry on its head – within 12 months, every spirit produced in the EU will need to declare its age on the label . The new directive comes into force in spring 2017, and is expected to have a far-reaching impact on the industry. The new ruling is the result of lobbying from consumer groups for greater transparency in food-and-drink labelling.

The leaked EU report that could change the spirits industry forever

Distilleries will have just one year to adjust to the legislation, and the effects will be far-reaching....

Some time ago, a good friend brought this Glendrostan 5 Year Old to the table in a tasting at my place.

None of us knew the brand and nowhere could we find tasting notes or helpful references, but given the age of the bottle it certainly looked interesting. On the label they claim Glendrostan has been on the market since 1820 and is blended by following a recipe dating back to 1780.

The brand seems to have shifted around. The 1960s bottle reviewed today – the ultra-rare pear-shape bottle with tin cap – refers to Judge, Craig & Pirrie of...

In case you eagerly started looking for forgotten bottles of...

To know more about Exile Casks and their first release The Trojan , read my post from last saturday . It’s an undisclosed 25 year-old Speyside single malt bottled from a refill hogshead .

More releases are on their way and I can advise you to keep an eye on this bottler.

‘The Trojan’ 25 yo 1990 (57,1%, Exile Casks 2016, refill hogshead, 50 cl, 306 btl.)

Nose: very nice and aromatic. Juicy yellow plums, baked red apples and stewed mixed fruits. Sweet rhubarb and honey. Nice hints of polished wood, hay and dusty libraries too. Subtle wax and...

I was preoccupied with other things, so today we have a quick post with tasting notes of a bit weird (in a good way I promise you) Glen Garioch. It’s a 1991 distillate, bottled in 2015 as part of the Small Batch series of WM Cadenhead.

There were 444 bottles produced of this Glen Garioch and it was bottled at 54.4%.

Glen Garioch 23 Year Old Cadenhead Small Batch 54.4%,  £81.79 / €129,99 )

Nose : Spicy, very dusty as many other Glen Garioch whiskies, crisp ex-bourbon, honey, pickles (!) and after it opens up a bit, peat smoke which...

Vingården Lille Gadegård Bornholmsk Whisky Nr. 1, 3 YO, 43 % The whisky I am reviewing today is actually the first Danish single malt, since C.L.O.C. closed down in 1974.  The distillery Vingården Lille Gadegård (Vingård = vineyard) is located on the island Bornholm in Denmark. They started production in december 2005, and this particular release, […]...

Maker’s Mark Cask Strength, NAS, 55,65 % The Maker’s Mark Cask Strength was first released in oktober 2014. This is a batch product, so there will be slight variations from batch to batch. I tried batch 15-01, with an ABV of 55,65 % (111.3 proof). This is a No Age Statement (NAS) whiskey, but it […]...

Whisky Advocate brings you breaking news of the latest Scotch whisky distillery project…

Plans have been unveiled to build Burnbrae distillery in the former Rolls Royce factory in East Kilbride, just south of Glasgow. The new Lowland distillery has been commissioned by Campbell Meyer & Co. Ltd, a company of whisky blenders, bottlers, brokers, and exporters. Their intentions are to construct a new facility capable of producing up to two million liters of alcohol per annum by oktober 2017.

The head of Campbell Meyer & Co. is Colin Barclay, the nephew of Loch Lomond distillery developer Sandy Bulloch. Barclay...