As the weather turns colder, my after-dinner drinks change from light, summery whiskies to brandy. One of my favourites is Delamain , known for its elegant yet complex Cognacs . We recently welcomed MD Charles Braastad to TWE to showcase the range.

Charles Braastad, MD of Delamain, does his best Chancellor of the Exchequer pose

In their own words – Charles Braastad

‘People say the Cognaçais distil their wine as it’s too bad to drink. We intentionally make it undrinkable as acidic wine produces the best brandy ‘

‘The governing body [ BNIC ] stops checking the age of the eaux-de-vie once it reaches...

I reviewed the GlenDronach 15 Years back in 2009 when it had just been relaunched by its new owners. I wasn’t entirely convinced because of some sulphury notes so now I’m keen to see what the recent batches are like, five years later.

As you maj know, GlenDronach was mothballed from 1996 until maj 2002. This production gap forces the distillery to use much older casks for certain expressions. My bottle of 15 Year Old was bottled in 2014, which means the whisky inside must be at least 18-19 years old.

This is also why this bottling has become more...

Another day in oktober, another review of a whisky release for the holidays. This time, the latest annual edition of one of the few bottlings that actually admit it’s targeted at Xmas shoppers: Big Peat Xmas Edition and today it’s a review of their new 2015 edition.

Just like the normal Big Peat, it contains malts from various Islay distilleries, and like the previous annual Xmas editions, is bottled at cask strength and this year it’s 53.8%.

Big peat Xmas Edition 2015 (53.8%, £49.95 / €48.90  )

Nose : First sniff screams YOUNG! But not all young whiskies are equal so let’s paddle on. Sweet peat...

Remember Compass Box “This is Not a Luxury Whisky” I reviewed last week? When it was released, to celebrate Compass Box 15th anniversary, there was another whisky release: the 5th edition of Flaming Heart.

Once again, we do get to see what are the ingredients and it and I wish we could see such a list for every whisky. is very interesting composition: old Caol Ila, younger Caol Ila, Large dose of Clynelish and a dash of spicy young highland malt.

There are 12,060 bottles of this whisky, bottled at 48.9%, Not chilled-filtered and Natural color. Let’s dive into it....

No3 London Dry Gin 46%...

Hunter Laing Old Malt Cask Glenlossie 1997 (17 year old) 50%

Bourbon/ Code: OMC2497/ Dist: Nov 2007 Btl: juli 2015/ Tasted: Aug 2015

The aromas are full and very barley’d with slabs of luscious, thick honey, lime/ lemon and grass. Hints of malt, shortbread and vanilla appear. With time the citrus really power through. A delightful nose!

Fuller on the palate with the honey showing even more density! Again barley led with the grapefruit, lime and lemon notes quite hidden but they add freshness. Buttery oak and vanilla arrives on the middle but the balance is absolutely spot on! Long,...

Hunter Laing Hepburns Choice Speyburn 2005? (10 year old) 46%...

Big Peat Christmas 2015, NAS, 53,8 % It is that time of year again. The days are getting colder and shorter. Soon there will hardly be any daylight at all, and Christmas is getting ever closer. A sure sign that it is ‘that’ time of year, is the release of the annual Big Peat Christmas. […]...

Hibiki Japanese Harmony, NAS, 43 % The whisky of the day is a relatively new no age statement release from Suntory, the blended whisky Hibiki Japanese Harmony. This whisky is made up of Maltwhisky from both Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries, and grain from Chita distillery, all Suntory owned. Five different types of casks is […]...

Space—Captain Kirk’s ‘Final Frontier’ —seems to be occupying the minds of whisky distillers around the world, and three have taken practical steps to engage with the hard vacuum void that exists more than 62 miles above Earth’s sea level. First out of the blocks was Ardbeg, which in 2011 sent vials of what were described by the distillers as “Ardbeg-crafted molecules” and samples of charred oak to the International Space Station, where said vials orbited the planet at 17,227 miles per hour, 15 times a day. An Ardbeg spokesperson explains, “The vials contained a class of compounds known as ‘terpenes.’...

Region – Kentucky – 50.5% ABV

I’m not a bourbon guy (generally speaking). Really, I’m just not huge on American spirits in general.

Don’t get me wrong, I quite enjoy bourbon, rye, and other American whiskeys. It’s just that, well, my heart and passion is in Maltwhisky.

You can look at all of my posts over the past 6 or so years, and see that I focus on Maltwhisky. Maltwhisky is mine, my precious.  I wants it. I needs it. The others, they’re all tricksie!!

Gollum! Gollum!

Still, I need to give credit to a whisk(e)y...

I must admit I hadn’t heard of Lockett Bros when they contacted me. They have a wine & whisky shop in North Berwick (not far from Edinburgh) and they have a selection of exclusive shop bottlings.

We’ll try a couple of their selections. We’ll start with this 21 year-old Springbank 1993 .

Springbank 21 yo 1993 (49,4%, Lockett Bros ‘Bros Reserve’ 2015, bourbon hogshead #470, 235 btl.)

Nose: a very pure version of the typical Springbank character. Chalk, candle wax, a few metallic notes… Aspirin as well. Underneath there are some oranges, lychees, mint and ginger. Some floral...

A recent Glenlossie 1993 in the Cadenhead Small Batch series. This sort of Glenlossie is popping up from different bottlers these days and they all seem to offer pretty good quality.

Glenlossie 21 yo 1993 (56,1%, Cadenhead Small Batch 2015, bourbon hogsheads, 492 btl.)

Nose: a green fruitiness, lemons, gooseberries, with grassy notes and some paraffin. Underneath this is a relatively neutral, malty body. Hints of honeycomb. There’s a slightly dusty side as well. Mouth: punchy, pleasantly tart and citrusy. Oranges and apples. Gets more body after a while, with some almond paste and whitecurrant. Picks up some...

Glenfiddich The Original, NAS, 40 % The Glenfiddich Original is a limited edition bottling that is a reproduction of the 1963 Glenfiddich Straight Malt recipe. The original (yeah, I know, bear with me) expression launched in 1963 came at a time when blended whisky ruled the whisky market completely. The single malt category was in […]...

In 2006, father-and-son team James and Andrew Nelstrop opened the first stand-alone single Maltwhisky distillery in England since the closure of Lea Valley Distillery in 1903. James had always dreamed of making whisky and his son helped to make that dream a reality.

Distillation began at St George’s in 2006

The original concept was to build a micro-distillery in a shed to produce one or two barrels a year, but as regulations at the time only allowed distillation in stills no smaller than 1,800 litres, the Nelstrops felt they had no choice but to build a full-size distillery –...

It was billed as the most expensive whisky tasting ever staged, and there was an appropriately reverent, almost nervous air as people took their seats for this one-off tasting of five extremely rare Karuizawa whiskies at The Whisky Show. Every seat was sold and the event was hugely over-subscribed, despite the £6,000 ticket price, which included an ultra-rare bottle of Karuizawa 1983 (limited to just 50) that all attendees took away with them; all proceeds from the tasting have gone to charities helping those affected by the devastating earthquakes in Nepal.

The five whiskies tasted in the Karuizawa Nepal Charity Tasting...