Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Some-Irish-most-from-Midleton.html

The General is an uncommon blend. It consists of casks from two parcels, of unknown provenance but both containing malt and grain whisky, blended at a very young age and then matured together for many years. One parcel was 33 years old (ex-sherry butts), the other supposedly around 40 years old (ex-bourbon barrels).

These super-mature blends were recently offered to Compass Box and John Glaser worked to find the right balance of both. The General is a very expensive blend, but at least the story is awesome.

The General
(53,4%, Compass Box 2013, 1698 btl.)

Nose: a rich, old...

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It’s been a while, but you might remember my report of a legendary birthday party in Ostend . This is one of the morning-after drams. There were too many beauties for one evening, so we had a couple of “leftovers” the next day right after breakfast. Some party…

It’s a Clynelish 1974 bottled by Signatory Vintage .

Clynelish 27 yo 1974 (55,7%, Signatory Vintage 2001, cask #2570, 229 btl.)

Nose: starts waxy and mineral, a little closed even, but then moves to bags of guava. Some oranges and apples as well. Dried yellow flowers, hints of charcoal and...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/clynelish/clynelish-1974-sv-cask-2570/

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Auchentoshan has a series of 1970’s expressions. There has been a 1975 bourbon, a 1977 sherry and now this 1979 from oloroso sherry butts. The casks have been filled in oktober 1979 and bottled after more than 32 years, at natural strength.

Auchentoshan 32 yo 1979 (50,5%, OB 2012, first fill Oloroso butts, 1000 btl.)

Nose: very aromatic. It’s nice to see a classic sherry influence alongside the fresh, citrusy spirit. Lovely tangerines, pink grapefruits and passion fruits. Orange zest. Moving towards golden raisins and bramble jam. Beeswax and leather. Cinnamon sticks and mint. Great stuff, hinting towards...

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Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/01/karuizawa-1984-sherry-cask-3663/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Octomore-vs-Octomore.html

Laphroaig 15 yo 1998 
(52,7%, The Whisky Agency ‘Reflections’ 2013, refill hogshead, 261 btl.)

Nose: clean and sharpish Laphroaig. Very coastal (seaweed, wet beach, some smoked fish). Hints of antiseptics. Some camphor. Wet wool and hints of canvas. Little fruitiness or roundness, apart from some lemon in the background. Ferns. Mouth: oily, chiselled and focused again, though sweeter and definitely rounder than on the nose. Marzipan and more fruits. Salted almonds. Liquorice. Kippers. Again quite medicinal. Finish: very long, peaty, grapefruity and salty.

A Laphroaig of the slightly sharper type. Just really faultless. Not that we’re surprised, mind you....

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Cadenhead has a nice revival with its retro Small Batch series. They’ve got stock from 102 different distilleries, ranging from 2 to nearly 50 years old. They have plenty of things in the pipeline, like a 40 years old Glenfiddich…

Mortlach 21 yo 1992 (55,2%, Cadenhead Small Batch 2013, sherry cask, 228 btl.)

Nose: the fruity kind of sherried Mortlach. Pears, raisins, fresh figs. Candied red apples. Caramelized peanuts and almonds. There’s a spicy tingle as well as a balsamic edge. Milk chocolate in the background. Leather. Hardly any meaty notes, no dirtiness either. Mouth: now the slightly...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/mortlach/mortlach-1992-cadenhead/

Back in late november, the whiskey media received news from Diageo of the Orphan Barrel Whiskey Project, a new series of old and rare limited-edition whiskeys from their warehouses. It’s something we’ve seen from Diageo before, but these are American whiskeys, not Scotch or Irish.

Many of you are aware that Diageo owns and operates the George Dickel distillery in Tennessee. They do not, however, own an operating bourbon distillery.  They own the Bulleit brand, but it’s an open secret that Bulleit bourbon has been produced at the Four Roses distillery in Kentucky; Bulleit Rye is sourced from MGP in...

Läs mer http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2014/01/29/diageos-orphan-barrel-whiskey-project/

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