Last month, Speyburn, a Speyside distillery, announced Arranta Casks, a limited no age statement (NAS) release, which is said to show off a bolder take on the classic Speyburn flavor profile of citrus, vanilla and honey – “Arranta” meaning ‘bold’, ‘daring’ and ‘intrepid’ in Scottish Gaelic. Made using only first-fill ex-Bourbon casks hand-selected by Speyburn’s Distillery…
This time last year Glenfiddich announced The Original – A unique expression inspired by the 1963 Straight Malt, the first ever single malt to be actively marketed internationally, effectively establishing the entire single malt category we know today. A reproduction of the original Glenfiddich Straight Malt, this release is an exclusive addition to the family run…
As it was recently announced here on the site, Glenfiddich has added this new 14-year-old to its permanent range. Exclusive to the United States, the bourbon barrel reserve is a celebration of American spirit. It pays tribute to the shared history of American and Scotch whisk(e)y, and the American Oak ex-bourbon barrels that are the…
Of the various expressions of The Macallan that I have had the pleasure of sampling, the Cask Strength (10-year-old & No-Age-Statement (NAS)) has certainly been one of my favorites. It’s a shame it was removed from the market, but I suppose we do have other cask strength sherried monsters from which to choose. My dear…
Glenlivet Nàdurra, how have I not yet shared a tasting of you on this site? This has been one of my favorite go-to whiskies for some time now, and for very good reason. The Glenlivet distillery makes plenty of good malts, from your everyday sippers to your special occasion drams. This expression, however, is a…
A few weeks back I received an invite from Amanda Gerecs of The Thomas Collective to take part in a virtual tasting – a first for me – of the Highland region of Scotland and a few of its distilleries. These included Knockdhu, Balblair, Old Pulteney and Speyburn, each of which presented a couple of…
Back in April, my friend Gino, Manager of Kappy’s Medford, my favorite wine & spirits store in the Greater Boston Area, invited me to a private dinner and tasting at Capital Grille Boston hosted by The Balvenie Brand Ambassador, David Laird. First, if you live in the Boston area and have yet to visit Capital…
Technically speaking, nearly all whisky comes in batch form. Some batches may be quite larger than others (quite larger!), but it is all batched nonetheless. A “Small Batch” whisky could be as little as two casks (extremely small batch I guess) all the way up to a couple hundred or more. It all depends on…
1992. I was 9 years old. At just shy of a decade in existence here on this wonderful planet of ours, a couple handful of men on the other side of the Atlantic were tossing around some malted barley on The Balvenie floors. They were firing up the kilns, prepping the wort for fermentation, running…
In 2005, David Stirk, author of The Malt Whisky Guide and previous journalist for Whisky Magazine, established the Creative Whisky Company as a further means of following his passion for single malt whisky. The Creative Whisky Company bottles various single malts aged anywhere between five and forty years and sometimes even older. One thing all…
I wasn’t sure that I would be so lucky, but not long after my review of the Tun 1401 Batch 5 I acquired a bottle of Batch 3, which is what we have for review today. The brilliance of Batch 5 made me very curious of Batch 3, and I must say, getting to know these Balvenies…
When it comes to Scotch whisky or even just Speyside malts for that matter, the choices can seem rather endless. The upside of this of course is that there’s a plethora of whiskies for us to try, with the name of the game being to find the hidden gems amongst them – which ones shine…
After finishing a run of American whiskies I wanted to jump back in the world of single malts with something a little different. About two months ago, after getting towards the last half of a bottle of Aberlour A’Bunadh Batch #39 and Ardbeg 10-year-old, I thought I’d do a little experimenting with the two by…
Cask-strength Glenfarclas – Yes please! It’s been hovering around 90 degrees (F) the past few days in this heat-waived summer week, but now it’s a cool and relaxing 68 degrees outside, so I can comfortably get to work on this powerhouse of a Speysider. Although, I guess that is what air conditioners are for… In…
Continuing on with a couple more 30 year olds – Next on the list, Glenfarclas. Glenfarclas is a distillery that is encompassed by the rolling hills of Ballindalloch and located right down the road from the River Spey. Founded in 1836, it is one of the few remaining family owned distilleries in Scotland. Unfortunately the…
There has been a delay in postings recently and unfortunately that is going to continue over the next couple of weeks as my schedule remains all but light. However, I have decided to take the little free time that I have now to relax and sip on this fine single malt. Before moving on to…
This is the first of two Glenlivet tastings planned for this week; the 18 year old will be next. Unlike others in the range, The Glenlivet 15 year old is matured using French Limousin Oak (Limousin region of France). You’ll often see it stated that this 15 year old is finished in French Oak casks,…
Experimenting is a fun and exciting way to further enhance your whisky experiences. There are several ways that you can do this and I recommend you try some out. Whether it’s creating your own blended whisky or developing your own custom single malt, engineering your own dram can be quite rewarding. Although I’m not doing…
This next tasting is of a classic and very well known Speyside Malt, the bourbon cask matured Glenlivet 12 Year Old. The Glenlivet 12 year old is the number one selling single malt in the U.S. and second in the world next to Glenfiddich. It is the flagship malt for the distillery and can be…
I’ve reviewed a couple expressions from Aberlour already and if you’ve read those then you know that I thoroughly enjoy their whisky. Today’s dram is no exception; the cask strength, non-chill filtered, Oloroso sherry butt matured Aberlour A’Bunadh (Batch #39) (pronounced A-Boon-Arh). A’Bunadh is a monster sherried Speysider. The name “A’Bunadh” is Gaelic and roughly…
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