Karuizawa 1984 29 YO Cask #7802 Cask by Cask, 56,7 % This is a single cask bottled by Independent Bottler Number One Drinks, and bottled for Cask Norway and Cask Sweden. It was distilled 1984-11-29 and bottled 2014-10-13, with a total outturn of 577 bottles. Karuizawa 1984 29 YO Cask #7802 Cask by Cask was matured in […]...

Talisker 2008 6 YO Hepburn’s Choice, 46 % When I wrote about Bladnoch from Creative Whisky Company last week, I told you that was my last tasting note from Cinderella. Well, I was wrong, I have another one. Today I will give you my tasting note on the youngest Talisker I have ever tasted, a […]...

Breizh Whisky – Whisky Breton Blended, NAS, 42 % I present to you today the Breizh Whisky – Whisky Breton Blended. This is the primary blended whisky from French distillery Distillerie Warenghem, the producers of Armorik single Maltwhisky. A very interesting fact about Breizh Whisky is that both the grain and the malt has been […]...

In the crisp morning light of southern Ireland, we regard the sentinel oak that has stood anchored to this hillside near Stradbally, Co. Laois for the past 150-200 years. Season after season, her buds have burst into leaf, unfurled, and stretched up for the light, the broad canopy sheltering the forest floor far below. But she has seen her last summer.

Today, bright pink spray can markings signal the end for this swaying Irish giant. The buzzing of chainsaws breaks the morning stillness and in less than ten minutes, she is felled with a splintering crump . Don’t get too...

This Bunnahabhain 1988 from the latest batch of  Wemyss releases was sold out in no-time. Just look at the colour and you know that you’re dealing with a heavy sherry influence.

Bunnahabhain 26 yo 1988 ‘Kirsch Gateau’ (56%, Wemyss 2014, sherry butt, 442 btl.)

Nose: very rich and highly aromatic. A true sherry bomb. Lots of black cherries, ginjingha, rum & raisins, moeilleux with bits of raspberry, all the usual suspects really. Cinnamon and clove. Hints of walnuts. Very nice touches of polished oak as well. On par with the best GlenDronach releases. Mouth: similar chocolate cake associations,...

Utvalget av whisky tilgjengelig for kjøp i Norge vokser stadig. Dette kan vi i stor grad takke et lite knippe importører for, selvsagt kombinert med Vinmonopolets vilje til å satse mer på whisky som kategori. En av disse importørene er Daracha AS. De har holdt det gående siden 2005, men det var først i 2010 […]...

Earlier this month, The BenRiach launched two new cask finishes: the BenRiach 15 years old Sauternes finish and this BenRiach 18 years old Albariza , which is a peated whisky finished in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks.

Albariza is a white chalky soil, typical for Andalucia but similar to the soils of Champagne or Chablis. Nowadays around 90% of the vineyards in the sherry region are planted on Albariza (although mainly with Palomino grapes, not Pedro Ximénez).

The BenRiach Albariza is distilled from peated malt. It was first matured in American oak casks and then finished in PX casks.

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Teerenpeli 8 YO, 46 % Teerenpeli Distillery is located in Lahti, Finland. They have a great, little distillery in the cellar beneath one of their restaurants. It is a perfectly lovely distillery to visit, so if you ever find yourself on travels in Finland, make sure you go visit them! The Teerenpeli 8 YO has […]...

The Glenlivet XXV, 25 YO, 43 % My husband and I attended Bergen International Whisky & Beer Festival 2015. Of course there are always a lot of new whiskies to taste at a festival. But this time I chose to taste one whisky from Glenlivets core range; Glenlivet XXV. I have tasted quite a few Glenlivets, […]...

Oddbins selected a whole series of Glen Garioch casks in the second half of the 1990’s. There was a 1966, 1967, 1971 and this 1972 vintage. All of them say ‘bottled from a single cask’ but no further information is given. No age, not even a bottling year…

There is very little Glen Garioch 1972 to be found. Remember the distillery was mothballed in 1968 due to chronic water shortages and sold to Stanley P. Morrison in 1970. In 1972, Joe Hughes was appointed as manager, and he found another water source that was more reliable. In that same year,...

Whisky shop Massen and whisky clubs De Tongerse Whiskyvrienden (Belgium) and Dram Brothers (Luxemburg) are closely related and sometimes share an exclusive bottling.

This time they selected two casks from the stocks of Malts of Scotland : a Littlemill 1990 and this Highland Park 1994 .

Highland Park 1994 (54,5%, Malts of Scotland for Dram Brothers & De Tongerse Whiskyvrienden 2015, bourbon hogshead, ref. MoS 15007, 268 btl.)

Nose: fresh but fairly neutral. Barley with lemon and apple peelings. Herbal notes (fennel) as well as some heather honey. Becomes more complex, with mint and light waxy notes. A slightly...

Translated as ‘big ocean’, Laphroaig An Cuan Mór has been matured in first-fill bourbon barrels and was then re-casked to European oak.

It is funny how Laphroaig says it is ‘aged in 18 year-old casks’. What is that supposed to mean? Are we counting the age of the wood now? It seems unclear whether the whisky has the same age as well. If that were the case, then why sell it as a NAS?

It is officially only available in travel retail and through Friends of Laphroaig, although that doesn’t mean you can’t find it in regular shops as well....

Glendullan 2001 13 YO Svenska Eldvatten, 54,2 % Dette er min andre Glendullan! Altså er det ekstra spennende å smake en whisky fra et, for meg, relativt ukjent destilleri. Den første Glendullan jeg smakte, var fra Rare Malts-serien, og den likte jeg godt. Svenska Eldvatten har utgitt en 13 år gammel Glendullan. Den ble destillert […]...

OK, then. We have lined up the full Highland Park The Valhalla Collection, and at long last we can taste them all in one go. It’s a bit like having waited for that final book in a very exciting trilogy (or trilogy in four parts (yeah, you know the one, right?)), and the author cannot […]...