The regular Sheep Dip is a vatted malt, a marriage of 16 malt whiskies brought together by Richard Paterson. The name refers to a time when farmers hid their homemade whisky in casks that said “Sheep Dip” (a kind of fungicide for sheep) to avoid having to pay taxes to the revenue man.

This Sheep Dip 1999 Amoroso is a funny experiment. The whisky inside had been matured in Scotland for 3 years in ex-bourbon hogsheads, and was then shipped to Jerez, Spain – the capital of the Sherry triangle . The renowned Bodegas Romate poured it into Amoroso sherry...

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Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/A-large-bag-of-Longmorn.html

We welcome Geoff Kleinman, editor of the DrinkSpirits website, as a guest blogger on the subject of aged gin…which can be tantalizingly close to whisky.

Aged Gin isn’t a new spirit category, but it’s a category that has been getting an increasing amount of attention. Craft distillers have embraced aged gin as another vehicle for creative expression and as an aged product that can be sold during the long waiting game that’s required for aged whisky. The problem with the category is that, at times, it tends to blur the lines between gin and whiskey, with one product, Pow-Wow Botanical Rye,...

Läs mer http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2014/01/27/gin-meets-whisky-in-a-barrel/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/A-little-verticale-of-oldish-Glenturret.html

This post has only one purpose: I bought a bottle of this Talisker 25 Year Old back in 2007 (when prices still allowed you to buy a blind bottle once in a while) and I’ve never got the chance to taste it. Now I had a chance to buy a sample and find out if it was a smart purchase. Thanks Jeroen.

Talisker 25 Year Old is a classic and in 2006 it was still bottled at cask strength, whereas the latest version (bottled 2011) was brought down to Talisker’s traditional strength of 45,8%. It was matured in refill American...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/talisker/talisker-25-years-old-2006/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Two-1997-Deanston-for-fun.html

Official Highland Park releases tend to be sherry matured, but independent bottlers like Gordon & MacPhail manage to show bourbon oak version as well. Today a 2001 vintage in the recently redesigned Cask Strength series.

Highland Park 10 yo 2001 (57,7%, Gordon & MacPhail 2012, first fill bourbon barrel #2998)

Nose: juicy barley notes, lots of pear drops and vanilla. Akin towards tropical fruits, with a fresh floral note as well. Rather candied, modern, bright and fairly simple. A shy smoky note in the background. Mouth: sweet and fruity at first, but a toffee sweetness and a Starbucks...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/highland-park/highland-park-2001-gordon-macphail/

What is Maltwhisky? Pretty simple question; almost stupidly simple. It’s whisky made from malt. If you put anything else in besides malt, it’s not Maltwhisky. That’s why single malt and blended malt Scotch whisky doesn’t have a “mashbill.” It’s 100% MALT. Just malt.

Barley

Well, then, what’s malt? We use the term generally to refer to malted barley : barley that has been wetted (“steeped”), allowed to germinate while being turned, and then kilned to drive off the moisture and kill the sprout (before it eats anymore of those valuable starches that will become the water of life).

...

Läs mer http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2014/01/24/but-is-it-malt-whisky/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Two-1997-Deanston-for-fun.html

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/01/24/burns-night-a-la-monkey-shoulder-via-springfield/