The BenRiach (12 year)
When I think of BenRiach, I think of asceticism. The house style is very un-Speyside: light, airy, dry, minerally, and spare. Tasting blind, I would think it was a lowlander of the Auchentoshan...
View ArticleTobermory (10 year)
Tobermory is a distillery located in the town of Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. Positioned geographically between Islay and the Isle of Skye, it shares taste elements with both the peaty Islay malts...
View ArticleLedaig (10 year)
Once cannot review Tobermory without also tasting its other bottling of peated malt, Ledaig. Much like Springbank releases a heavily-peated malt by the name of Longrow, Tobermory makes both an unpeated...
View ArticleGlengoyne (12 year)
Glengoyne, technically classed as a Highland whisky, toes the Highland line some 20 miles north of Glasgow. In fact, its warehouses sit on the south side of the road, in the Lowlands! There likely...
View ArticleGlenmorangie Quinta Ruban (12 year)
These days with scotch prices rising like lost balloons above an amusement park, one must look harder than ever to find reasonable deals to keep the scotch bug fed. Lately I’ve been surprised to see...
View ArticleAngel’s Envy Rye
A big thanks to Aaron at Deep Focus who kindly sent me a review sample of the new rye from Angel’s Envy. The brainchild of Master Distiller Lincoln Henderson, Angel’s Envy rocked the American whisky...
View ArticleLost Spirits Ouroboros
For background on this distillery, see this post about my visit. Ouroboros is one of three new expressions from “mad chemist” Bryan Davis, released recently along with Leviathan II and Bohemian...
View ArticleCrown Royal Reserve Canadian Whisky
Ok, so here’s the thing about Canadian whisky. Laws about what constitutes “Canadian Whisky” are somewhat less strict than those for, say, bourbon or scotch. The law allows “blended Canadian Whisky” to...
View ArticleLost Spirits – Leviathan II – Old Man And The Sea Cask
For background on this distillery, see this post about my visit. My visit to Lost Spirits distillery in Salinas, CA was a rewarding experience. I learned a lot from distiller/owner Bryan Davis and also...
View ArticleBruichladdich (10 year) – The Laddie Ten
I really, really wanted to like Bruichladdich’s first official standard bottling after its re-opening and re-vitalization in 2001 by Mark Reynier and Jim McEwan. After a mad flurry of special releases,...
View ArticleOld Grand-Dad Bourbon (40% ABV)
Owned and distilled by the Jim Beam company, Old Grand-Dad is named after famed distiller Basil Hayden. The whisky is produced at a few different proofs, including a 100-proof Bottled in Bond variant....
View ArticleTormore (12 year)
A wide range of little-known or largely unavailable single malts dot the whisky marketplace. These producers, sometimes seen only on the labels of independent bottlers, were generally built for the...
View ArticleHenry McKenna K&L Single Barrel (10 year)
This is a bit of an unfortunate review, today. I often jump at the chance to get value whisky from K&L (as my regular readers know, my favorite whisky retailer) when they get in single barrels and...
View ArticleEdradour (10 year)
For some reason when I picture tiny little Edradour in equally tiny Pitlochry, I think of light, floral, small-batch whisky. I don’t know where I got this impression, because it’s dead wrong. Now that...
View ArticleAuchentoshan Three Wood
Auchentoshan is usually known as a light, gentle spirit, originating from the Lowlands which is also known for producing generally light, gentle spirits. Auchentoshan reinforces this reputation by...
View ArticleHibiki (12 year) Japanese Whisky
I have not had the best of luck with Japanese whisky up to this point. I had read that the Japanese love of artistry, obsessive technical prowess, and passion for the Scottish style of whisky made for...
View ArticleThe Balvenie (12 year) Signature
I know you all love it when I review a whisky that you can’t buy. In this case, at least, it works out well because I don’t recommend it anyway. I should start by saying that The Balvenie is one of my...
View ArticleCaol Ila (12 year)
Caol Ila, long owned by Diageo (from back when it was DCL) and long used as fodder for blending because of its subdued peatiness and round, nutty undertones has in the last decade won more recognition...
View ArticleSpeyburn Bradan Orach
Speyburn, at first glance on the “cheap” section of the whisky shelf, seems like one of those fake “distilleries” that is actually independently bottled from a secret source. It’s not. The Speyburn...
View ArticleNikka From The Barrel – Japanese Whisky
My third taste of Japanese whisky – another blend, like the Hibiki 12-year that I recently reviewed – is another home-run hit. This is some damn fine blended whisky. Honestly, I would have been unable...
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