We were sad to read of the death of Kyle Rogers on Monday. Kyle, only 27 years old, was caught in the explosion at Silver Trail Distillery last month. The Hardin County (Kentucky) distillery exploded and burned to the ground on april 24. Rogers and his cousin, distiller Jay Rogers, were caught in the blast; Jay remains in stable condition at the burn unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Nashville. Spencer Balentine, the founder of Silver Trail, paid tribute to Kyle on the distillery’s Facebook page, saying he “left a legacy etched in our minds.”

Working as a distiller means a...

The latest release in the Archives series is this Aultmore 2007 , bottled at a whopping strength of 67,4%.

Aultmore 8 yo 2007 (67,4%, Archives ‘Fishes of Samoa’ 2015, sherry butt #900016, 172 btl.)

Nose: sweet and spicy, like gingerbread. Red fruits (raspberry, strawberry). Caramel and molasses. Light vegetal hints (tomato plants) as well as some fresh oak shavings. Mouth: drinkable at full strength, but rather closed. Sweet, showing red fruit candy and pomegranate. Pepper. With water more jammy fruits, milk chocolate and fig syrup. Rum and raisins. Mocha. Noticeable oak, with a minty / peppery edge. Finish:...

Another Aultmore , this time distilled in 1997 so roughly twice the age. It was bottled by Berry Bros & Rudd , who have bottled several sister casks in the past few years.

Aultmore 17 yo 1997 (46%, Berrys’ Own Selection 2014, cask #3591)

Nose: lots of freshly cut grasses at first. Slowly becomes more fruity, mainly common garden fruits. Pears, gooseberries, greengages. Also a hint of green banana. Hints of sweet barley and honey as well. Mouth: sweet and fruity again, with a buttery texture. Banana and vanilla. Apples. Nice hints of wild strawberries and melons as...

Linkwood 1997 “Citrus Burst”, 16 YO, 46 % A light dram from the Speyside distillery Linkwood is on the test bench today. Independent bottler Wemyss Malts released the Linkwood 1997 “Citrus Burst” in oktober 2013. It has been matured in a bourbon hogshead and the total outturn was 363 bottles. This whisky available to buy […]...

Smögen 2011 3 YO, 55,4% This is the first independent bottling of a Swedish single malt, as far as I know. This Smögen 2011 3 YO is extra heavily peated at 90 ppm. It was distilled on New Years Eve 2011, matured in a 40 liter 1st fill sherry cask, and bottled in januari 2015. […]...

Laphroaig PX Cask, NAS, 48 % The Ladies’ Share met for a peaty evening i februari 2015. One of the whiskies in the line-up was a Laphroaig PX Cask. I have tasted this whisky quite a few times, but never really got around to take any tasting notes…until now. The PX Cask is a NAS […]...

Bunnahabhain 1987  27 YO ‘The Osprey’ Liquid Art, 51,3 % This whisky is from Liquid Art, a relatively new independent bottler from Belgium. Serge Reijnders and Bert Dexters released their first bottling in juli 2014, and this Bunnahabhain 1987 27 YO ‘The Osprey’ was their second release. The artist behind the label art on this whisky is […]...

Bowmore 100 Degrees Proof, NAS, 57,1 % Bowmore distillery is located on Islay, which I recently visited for the very first time! We stayed just a few meters from Bowmore distillery actually, and of course we got a chance to visit. Well, todays whisky I did not taste on Islay, but with The Ladies’ Share in februari. I […]...

Bunnahabhain 1988 “Kirsch Gâteau”, 26 YO, 56 % The Bunnahabhain 1988 “Kirsch Gâteau” is one of the latest releases from independent bottler Wemyss Malts. It was released in februari 2015. The whisky itself was distilled in 1988, matured in a sherry butt, and bottled in 2014. The total outturn was 442 bottles. We have tested many […]...

Lossit Classic Selection, NAS, 43 % Here is another new creation from The Lost Distillery Company. This company researches old and lost distilleries, often closed a hundred years ago. They figure out what sort of whisky they made, then try to create a whisky that they feel represents what that distillery would have made had they […]...

Glen Elgin 1995 19 YO ‘Stag beetle’ Liquid Art, 49,3 % This is my very first experience with the independent bottler Liquid Art. And I am tasting their very first release, a 19 YO Glen Elgin. I have tasted a few Glen Elgins before and have found all of them to be ‘good’ or ‘very […]...

Today we present the ten highest-rated reviews from the summer issue of  Whisky Advocate  magazine. This issue’s Buying Guide is brimming with 110 whiskies reviewed and 19 beers. We start with #10 and conclude with the highest-rated whisky of the issue.

Redbreast Mano a Lámh, 46%, €65

Oh, hello there. Meaning hand in hand in two languages, this Redbreast was solely matured in Galician oak seasoned with oloroso for 2 years at the Páez Morilla bodega in Jerez. A slightly closed nose of eucalyptus, menthol, and apple pre-empts a rich, fruity, cherry bomb of dark sugars, strawberry laces, morello, and clove....

Jonny McCormick reports from “An Evening with the Blenders” at the Scotch Whisky Experience, Edinburgh.

Seated before us, high above Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, was what can only be described as a smoothness of master blenders.* We were spending an entertaining evening in the company of these men and women, little knowing it would be the final time for one of them. But before all that, let me take you back to the start of the evening.

As we sipped our cocktails, a man slipped unnoticed through the crowd at the Scotch Whisky Experience, armed with a microphone. It was John...

Cadenhead is still going strong. They release some older malts that few other independent bottlers have in their warehouses. Today we’re looking at a single cask  Glenburgie 1985 , almost thirty years old.

Glenburgie 29 yo 1985 (55,3%, Cadenhead Single Cask 2014, bourbon hogshead #95/36/10, 222 btl.)

Nose: quite lovely. Very aromatic hints of vanilla marshmallows and green banana skin. Stewed fruits (apples, oranges) with cinnamon. Honey. Dried flowers. Hints of exotic polished woods, not unlike what you sometimes get in bourbon-aged Karuizawa actually. Just lovely. Mouth: thick and very fruity (citrus, hints of banana and pineapples, figs)....

SPEY is a brand created by Harvey’s of Edinburgh , a Scottish company with a history in whisky that goes back to the 18th Century. They owned Dundashill, Yoker, Bruichladdich and Aultmore and for instance. It’s still a family business with a presence that’s biggest in Asia (especially Taiwan).

A few years ago the family bought the Speyside distillery which is also responsible for the Cu Dhub whisky and brands like Drumguish.

The range seems to change according to your location. The core range seems to consist of a Spey 12 Year Old, this Spey 18 Year Old and the Port-finished Spey Tanné. I’ve...

I had planned 2 more Craigellachie reviews in this round but we’ll have to settle for just one as the Craigellachie 7 bottle from Whisky Live TLV didn’t arrive yet. So the last indie Craigellachie in this round is another Old Malt Cask but this time it’s 15 year old with different profile. It was distilled in 1997 and bottled in 2013 after it was matured in a refill hogshead.

Craigellachie 15 yo 1997 Cask 9344 Old Malt Cask (50%, 293 bottles,  £61.68 )

Nose : Nosing it gives lots of fruity and malty notes. There’s some floral note which enrich it along...

The second Craigellachie review in the series and this time a 11 year old offering from Hunter Laing, matured in a sherry cask and was bottled exclusively to the duty free store in TLV airport. As it was priced decently it was an easy choice to buy by many malt-heads here.

Craigellachie 11 Old Malt Cask (50%, TLV Duty Free Exclusive, $71.9)

Nose : Malt with young fresh berries, cherries, meaty and chewy with light sulphur note of unlit matches, sour apples, all those with sweet forest berries on the side. With water added spices of nutmeg and cinnamon.

Palate : Malty...