Glen Scotia 16 yo
Talk about being in the shadows, Glen Scotia knows the feeling all too well. 1 of the 3 remaining Campbeltown distilleries, its operates in the shadow of its neighbour Springbank. … Continue reading
Bowmore 1968 / 2000 Signatory Vintage Cask 1422
OOoh finally. Old one. Bowmore isn’t one I’ve had in some time. I once had a 17yo OB from the Changi duty free, which was ahem perfumed, but not overly … Continue reading
Laphroaig 10 yo Cask Strength, Batch 1, Feb 2009
Old bottle I have, pulled down from behind the Bowmores. I know this one, and I know what to expect! Alright, remember the strange still set up – 7 … Continue reading
Campbeltown Loch
There is in fact a real Campbeltown Loch – Loch Chille Chiarain, its gaelic name, ‘is a small sea loch near the south of the Kintyre Peninsula facing eastwards towards the Firth of Clyde‘ (Wikipedia) But … Continue reading
Lagavulin vs itself
Standing in front of my whisky shelf I realize I have more Lagavulin open than any other distillery. 5 open bottles vs 2 for Laphroaig, 2 Mortlach, 2 Clynelish, 2 … Continue reading
Black Bottle Fine Old Scotch Whisky
This is a blend by Burn Stewart Distillers (Tobermory), the blend includes malt from Islay, and is in fact known to be a peaty blend. … Continue reading
Tamdhu 1973 / 2008 Gordon & Macphail Reserve, 1st fill sherry butt no. 3230
Another 6 still 4.5 million litre a year blending machine. Quite a few of those finding their way into indie bottles too. No complaints here. Being distilled in 1973, this … Continue reading
Ben Nevis 37 yo 1966/2003 Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask for Skorupa
Ben Nevis (the mountain) is Scotland’s tallest at 4406 feet. Beautiful sight, and if you wanted to visit the distillery, you wouldn’t have to go all the way to the … Continue reading
Glen Grant 39 yo 1972/2011 The Perfect Dram
Finally, Glen Grant. When I see ancient bottles at (relatively) fair prices, it’s likely a Glen Grant or Strathisla, and it’s going to be thanks to Gordon & Macphail and … Continue reading
Lagavulin 1997/2013 ‘Distillers Edition’
Lagavulin DE got a facelift, check out the pretty new bottle! Lagavulin ‘The Distillers Edition’ 1997/2013, lgv. 4/502, 43% Nose: Lagavulin-esque. Immediately dry smoke, coastal scents, rubber, seaweed and … Continue reading
50th post! Yoichi 20yo for a reward
My word, made it to 50! This calls for something nice. Yoichi Distillery Yoichi potstills displaying the varied sizes and shapes used by a Japanese distiller to make different styles … Continue reading
Port Ellen 15 yo 1969, Sestante
(circa 2009) What a treat – Port Ellen only reopened in 1967 (closed for good in 1983) and this beautiful bottle comes from a time when the distillery had only … Continue reading
The Singleton of Glen Ord 12 yo
It’s really just surplus Glen Ord 12 yo bottled under the ‘Singleton’ label and sold at duty frees etc.. The original ‘Singleton’ label was created by United Distillers (one of … Continue reading
Ledaig 1997/2013 Gordon & Macphail, ‘La Maison Du Whisky’, cask 461
Ledaig, that’s really peated Tobermory of course. From the Isle of Mull. Though blind tasted, it may well be mistaken for a whisky on the south coast of an island … Continue reading
Japanese whisky – differences in production
Japanese Whisky Production There is no doubt that the Japanese produce good whisky, very much on par with the best Scotch Malt. I have always known this, but the breadth … Continue reading
Johnnie Walker Gold Label 18 yo ‘The Centenary Malt’
Johnnie Walker Gold Label 18 yo ‘The Centenary Malt’ 40% Another Johnnie. Note that this is NOT the same as the current (2013/4) NAS Gold label that seems to be … Continue reading
Longmorn 1975/2011 Malts of Scotland
Longmorn 1975/2011 Malts of Scotland, 46.4% Bourbon Hogshead 3977, 122 bottles Nose: Luxuriant but hot. Juicy syrupy red berries, fruits of the forest style, that reminds me a … Continue reading
Talisker DE 1991/205 TD-S: 5GS
Some whiskies are so so shy, one has to coax it out of the glass by artful manipulation (swirl swirl swirl), or else by plain duress (plain water treatment). In … Continue reading
Loch Lomond Distillery
Loch Lomond Distillery, or ‘Scotland in a teacup’, or maybe the sexier ‘Scottish Rebel, Ye Distillers By Name’. If you are reading this blog, (and I myself because I write … Continue reading
Whisky pairings
Whisky and food – strange bedfellows? Not so, says Martine Nouet, long a proponent of cooking with whisky, and that’s all 3 courses. Her website is illuminating, it even gives … Continue reading
LG1 (Lagavulin)
LG1 So this is the first Lagavulin in Specialty Drink’s Elements range. I bought 2 of these when it first came out and immensely regret not getting more. Its only … Continue reading
Mortlach 14 yo 1993/2008 Duncan Taylor NC2
Ok quick one, need to sleep earlier. Young Mortlach this time: Mortlach 14 yo 1993/2008 Duncan Taylor NC2 46% Nose: This bottle really nosed differently the first pour and … Continue reading
Glenfarclas 21 yo
Hooray for the independents! Glenfarclas is still family owned, and independently operated, by J. & G. Grant – not the William Grant & Sons of Glenfiddich fame, making it a … Continue reading
Glass hunt and 2 whiskies
Whiskyrific has been on a bit of a whisky glass hunt this weekend. You see I am hosting a whisky tasting for some friends next weekend, and I simply do … Continue reading
Macallan 1990/2011, Malts of Scotland, Fino Sherry Hogshead 1135
It’s a Macallan. THAT coveted distillery beloved of hungry collectors, capable of selling a NAS whisky for GBP380,000. They do make a fine whisky truth be told, with their famously … Continue reading
Clynelish 15 yo, Adelphi 1997, cask 6521
A bit of the history behind Clynelish and Brora has been mentioned in the Brora 1981 LMDW post, so the tale does not bear retelling here. Nonetheless, Clynelish does fill … Continue reading
Lagavulin 16
Happy Chinese New Year! As this is the year of the Horse What better way for Whiskyrific to welcome it with Lagavulin 16. Loch water rushing over rocksy falls, barley … Continue reading
Springbank 10yo ‘100 proof’
Campbeltown used to be a major whisky producing region, a centre of distilling the way Speyside is today but spotty quality control and massive over production (I’m sure there were … Continue reading
Chivas Regal 21 yo Royal Salute
This is an old blend, Chivas launched this in 1953 in honour of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. The constituent malts are not known, except for the heart malt which is … Continue reading
Teaninch 30yo 1975/2006 Dewar Rattray Cask Collection cask 9419
Teaninich distillery is located in Alness, making it another Eastern Highlander. Built in 1817, the original 4 still distillery chugged along till 1970, when a new distillery with 6 stills … Continue reading
Glenugie 29yo 1977 Part des Anges ‘Closed Distilleries’ cask PDA 360
Glenugie. How rare! Glenugie was located in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, putting it in the Highlands category. It was the most easterly distillery, today that title has moved 20 miles inland to … Continue reading
Arran 12 yo Cask Strength
It’s a strange time of the year. Decidedly undecided between 2 great big holidays, it’s a bit of a no man’s land between working off Christmas’ inertia plus related excesses, … Continue reading
Flavour wheels across beverages
First off, there’s really nothing I can do to top the research and study that went into this fantastic blog on flavour wheels. Besides whisky, I also enjoy fine teas … Continue reading
Caol Ila 12 yo OB
Caol Ila is a huge distillery, at 6 stills and 3.75 million litres of newmake a year. Most would know it as the blending beast feeding Diageo’s blends, but did … Continue reading
Scoring System
When I decided to start Whiskyrific, I believed that tasting notes and descriptors were sufficient to convey my interpretation of a whisky’s quality (and how much I liked it). I … Continue reading
St. Magdalene 26 yo 1982/2009 Chieftain’s cask 2219
St. Magdalene otherwise interchangeably known as Linlithgow, because it was located in the town of Linlithgow, but specifically on the grounds of the former St. Magdalene hospital for lepers. Here … Continue reading
Dailuaine 2002/2013, Gordon & Macphail, cask 7068
Here’s a distillery whose output goes primarily into blends – if you’ve had a Johnnie Walker, you’ve had Dailuaine. In terms of pure production capacity, Dailuaine is big. Churning out … Continue reading
Johnnie Walker Double Black
How ’bout a blend. as any person serious about whisky knows, Single Malts are not always better than blends – though I myself would rather be drinking a cheap cheap … Continue reading
Barrel finishing at home
A while ago I made a post on the DramFull Facebook group on some data I found on the Islay distilleries, that can be found here. A shorter while ago … Continue reading
Old Pulteney 17yo
One of the most strangely shaped bottles around, said to resemble the shape of the stills: Nose: Orange peel and beeswax. Wood polish. Mentholated, then sea water and fruit … Continue reading
Glenglassaugh 33yo, 1979
If a distillery could have a run of bad luck, Glenglassaugh certainly qualifies. Built 1875, but nearly silent between 1908 and 1960, and again after 1986. Purchased from the Edrington … Continue reading
Perfumery vs Whisky
I wonder if some lesson can be gleaned from the method of olfactory analysis used by the perfume industry. After all perfume is 70-80% methanol, whisky is 40-60ish% ethanol. Ahem, … Continue reading
PE5 ‘Elements of Islay’
Elements of Islay is a range by Specialty Drinks, the indie bottle line of Whisky Exchange*. Whether a result of marketing or contractual limitations, no distillery name is printed. Instead … Continue reading
Glendronach 12 vs Glenfarclas 15
Alright, so it’s not a fair fight. The Glenfarclas has 3 years over the Glendronach, but while the Glendronach is matured ‘in a combination’ of PX and olorosso sherry casks, … Continue reading
Glendronach Cask Strength ‘Batch 1’
Yum Glendronach.. bound to be good. Nose: Dusty cocoa powder, moist raisins, treacle, candied ginger. With water, more perfumed and floral. So much more than I can tell. Hey, grape … Continue reading
Pappy Van Winkle 20yo ‘Family Reserve’
Had a Japanese in an earlier posting, why not a bourbon tonight, lest this blog appears overly scotch-biased. Crowds of people queuing outisde Macallan for the Easter Elchies bottling? Meh, … Continue reading
Bruichladdich 15 yo ‘Links’ series, Birkdale, England
A smokeless whisky from Islay? Yup. Those familiar with Bruichladdich would know the story of it’s convalescence and revival, and the stock of old whisky ‘rescued’ by wood finishing in … Continue reading
Nikka Taketsuru 21 ‘Pure Malt’
Nikka Taketsuru 21 yo ‘Pure Malt’ Time for a Japanese treat. I don’t drink enough Japanese, but the quality is almost always great. Note for the nerds – Pure Malt … Continue reading
Brora 1981 23 yo ‘Unfiltered’ by La Maison Du Whisky cask no. 05/593
THE original Clynelish, till 1968 when an expansion next-door was completed. This new distillery became the Clynelish we know today, and the old distillery became known as Brora. Interestingly the … Continue reading
Balmenach 1988, 25 yo, Signatory Vintage
This is bottled for the Whisky Exchange, cask no. 1132, which yielded 187 bottles. That’s 130.9 out of 250 litres after 25 years, slightly over half full. Angels were thirsty … Continue reading
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