Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/08/14/heads-tales-bar-edinburgh/

While most of the masterclasses at our London shop are focused on the world of whisky, we do like to do something a little different from time to time. With summer most definitely in the air, we were joined by Tom Bartram and Jon Lister of Speciality Brands to show us a range of drinks to keep us going until autumn.

Speciality Brands has a wide-ranging portfolio, and Tom and Jon picked out a few choice selections that work well in summery drinks. We kicked off with Cocchi Americano Rosa , the follow-up to the much-praised  Cocchi Americano . The regular...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/08/summer-spirits-and-cocktails-at-twe-vinopolis/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Glen-Keith-1992-and-1993-as-a-bonus.html

The Abhainn Dearg distillery, founded by Mark Tayburn in 2008, is located on the the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, one of Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.

Since 2011 they are selling a 3 years old Special Edition whisky (at a whopping £ 150), but this is their new make, a single malt spirit (not yet whisky) which is aged in sherry casks for just a few months before it’s bottled.

Abhainn Dearg ‘The Spirit of Lewis’ (46%, OB 2014, 50 cl.)

Nose: strange. Huge rubber and plastic comes out. Burning plastic. Pear syrup and honey pops. Burnt grasses...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/other-spirits/abhainn-dearg-spirit-of-lewis/

Strathisla 1960 51 YO Gordon & MacPhail, 43 % Some of the last memories from Cinderella Whisky Fair 2014 is coming up! A real gem – for many. Todays whisky is a 51 YO Strathisla from 1960, bottled by Gordon & MacPhail. The whisky was distilled 17 and 19 november 1960 and bottled 28 februari […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/strathisla-1960-52-yo-gordon-macphail/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Bits-and-pieces-today-blends.html

This Kavalan Solist is a sister cask of the one bottled for TastToe . Both sherry casks were filled on the same day, 21st of augusti 2006 and bottled one day earlier in 2013.

Kavalan Solist Sherry (57,8%, OB for La Maison du Whisky 2013, sherry cask #S060821047, 497 btl.)

Nose: really profound, big yet elegant sherry. Prunes, dates, lots of cherries and raspberries. Toasted nuts and cinnamon. A big fruitiness covered with layers of turpentine, camphor and varnished oak. Chocolate and Balsamico. Mouth: big and powerful again. There’s still a fruity side (plum jam, blackcurrants, some exotic hints...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/world/kavalan-solist-sherry-lmdw/

The fall issue of  Whisky Advocate  will hit the newsstands september 1st. It’s a great issue from cover to cover, and the Buying Guide contains more reviews than ever before. Today we offer a sneak peek at the Top Ten whiskies reviewed. (As always, if the price is not listed in U.S. dollars, the whisky is not currently available in the U.S. market.)

#10 -  John Walker & Sons Private Collection 2014 Edition, 46.8%, £500

Smoke begins Jim Beveridge’s public replication of the annual Directors Blend concept, built around Johnnie Walker’s signature characteristics. Peat smoke harks back to Islay, but...

Läs mer http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2014/08/12/whisky-advocates-fall-issue-buying-guides-top-ten-reviews/

SMWS 94.4 Ode to Autumn, 24 YO, 52,3 % The whisky of the day is a rarity. This is an independent bottling of Fettercairn. It is not often I come across Fettercairn ‘in the wild’ so to speak. This distillery produces mainly for the blends of Whyte & Mackay, the owner of Fettercairn. The distillery […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/smws-94-4-ode-autumn/

Every now and then, a new product arrives at TWE that really excites us – unique, with a great back story, or simply an interesting concept. So, when we heard about the release of a French alpine rye, we were eager to find out more.

Vulson is a collaboration between agronomist Frédéric Revol, owner and master distiller at Domaine des Hautes Glaces , and Xavier Padovani – director of Experimental Cocktail Club and former brand ambassador for Hendrick’s Gin and Monkey Shoulder .

Domaine des Hautes Glaces is located in the western Alps – 30 miles south of Grenoble in...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/08/vulson-white-rhino-rye/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Contrasting-Auchentoshan.html

Where next for the whisky collector in America?

There will be no further Bonhams whisky auctions in New York for the foreseeable future. The auction house has canceled its planned sale for oktober 19 ^th at its Madison Avenue galleries and will review the situation on scheduling further auctions next year.

Mariam Cebalo, director of business management at Bonhams confirmed to Whisky Advocate that the cessation of operations in this area was solely due to the whisky department’s profitability. In other words, the department maj not have hit the targets set by the company to justify the resource required to...

Läs mer http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2014/08/11/bonhams-new-york-halts-whisky-auctions-indefinitely/

mars Whisky The Revival 2011 Komagatake, 3 YO, 58 % Hombo Shuzo Ltd is an old Japanese spirits company, established in 1872. They were traditionally a “shochu” producer, but in 1985 they built the Shinshu mars Distillery in Miyata village, to start producing whisky and brandy. The whisky was sold under the brand mars Whisky. Unfortunately […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/mars-whisky-revival-2011-komagatake/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/A-handful-of-independent-Glenrothes.html

There was much excitement when William Grant launched Batch One from Kininvie to the Taiwanese market in the autumn of 2013, the first-ever release from this off-the-radar distillery. But now, UK whisky drinkers have something to get excited about: Batch Two, a 23-year-old Kininvie, is about to be launched in this country. Since it began distilling in 1990, virtually all of Kininvie’s output went into Grant’s blends and the tri-distillery blend Monkey Shoulder , but Kininvie itself stopped operating in late 2010, with William Grant seemingly reluctant to throw its weight behind a third single malt – understandable given...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/08/kininvie/

Middle-aged Ardbeg , especially matured in a sherry cask, is something every bottler wants to bottle. Malts of Scotland had a couple already and now there’s one in the occasional Amazing Casks series.

The cask has been selected by Malts of Scotland’s Thomas Ewers and Ardbeg collector Geert Bero .

Ardbeg 16 yo 1998 (58,2%, Malts of Scotland ‘Amazing Casks’ 2014, ref. Mos 14027, 222 btl.)

Nose: slightly rubbery (tires) and vegetal at first. Chocolate and mastic. Some liquorice and leather. After a while it becomes more classic, with tar and plum jam, but it stays too much on...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/ardbeg/ardbeg-1998-amazing-casks/

Bruichladdich 1990 24 YO Valinch – 05 Mary McGregor Shop Manager, 51,1 % Ever since 2001 Bruichladdich have released something they call the Valinch bottlings. These are the DIY bottlings available exclusively to visitors to the distillery. The way Mark Reynier explains it in an old post to their official website, it is their view […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/bruichladdich-1990-24-yo-valinch-05-mary-mcgregor-shop-manager/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/The-Quest-for-Malternatives-today-more-rum.html