Ardbeg Rolls Out the Rollercoaster Limited Edition
Ardbeg Distillery has released a new limited edition of rare whiskies that reflects aspects of its early history. The unique collection constitutes two distinct expressions and is dubbed the Rollercoaster. Notably, the limited edition only released 143 sets drawn from two rare cask single malt of a historic Ardbeg valued at over £85,000. The first […]
Lagavulin, Salud And Starward Collab On Whisky
Diageo-owned Lavagulin casks have been used by Australia’s Starward to create a limited edition whisky – Starward x Lagavulin – to be distributed by Dutch distributor Salud Spirits. Starward x Lagavulin combines Starward’s single malt matured in red wine barrels for two-and-a-half years before spending another 18 months in peated Lagavulin Scotch barrels and is […]
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Isle of Jura 10 Year Old
Jura 10 was, I believe, the first whisky produced upon the reopening of the distillery a handful or so of decades ago (that rhymes, by the way). The symbol it carries is apparently of ancient Celtic design and is the sign of “birth, beginning and the forces of nature” (that’s straight from Jura, that). Fascinating stuff, I’m sure you’ll agree. They seem big on the whole “ancient mysteries and magical […]
Four Roses Single Barrel
Four Roses Single Barrel bourbon is a select, high quality bourbon which is released only in limited quantities every year. Each bottle comes with a label which includes the name of the warehouse and racking location where the bourbon was aged, prior to being sampled for quality and bottled by hand. Considering the care and craft which goes into the creation of Four Roses Single Barrel vintages, it is surprising […]
Distillery Tour #3: Speyburn
Grab your drink and drink up, because we’ve got another distillery visit to complete before the day is over! The second day of our bloggers’ whisky tour saw not one (having already visited Balblair) but two distillery visits – the second being Speyburn. I really enjoyed our visit to Speyburn as it was completely different to the other two distilleries we had visited thus far on our tour. That’s because […]
Glenfarclas 1953
“You lucky, lucky bastard.” That’s what I imagine most of you will be thinking in about a minute, once you’ve read what the mailman handed me a little while back. Well, I say a little while, it was actually about a month and a bit – which makes this my new personal record in lazy review writing. All that nonsense aside, what the mailman handed me was an inconspicuous looking […]
Distillery Tour #2: Balblair
Day two of the trip started out similarly to day one: another early alarm (though not quite as early as day one), and another exceedingly unspectacular May morning. This time around, however, I was in a hotel rather than my room – don’t ask me its name or location, I was every bit the passive passenger – and rather than flying to Wick we would be driving to Balblair. Whiz […]
Aberfeldy 21 Year Old
Oh dearest, dearest pocket. I sincerely hope you can forgive me once more for digging too deep, collecting the very last you had to offer, for no reason other than my own decadence. Forgive, and recover. I’m sure most, or at least many, fellow whisky lovers of less than unlimited means will have been in a similar situation at least once: you know you shouldn’t buy something, but equally you […]
Distillery Tour #1: Old Pulteney
My alarm went off at 6:05, and after a mere five hours sleep – far short of the eight I so desperately need – I was greeted by an incredibly mediocre May morning. Normally this would all add up to one very unhappy, if not downright moody, Martin: but not today. Ahead of me lay three days of good whisky, good food, and, as fortune had it, exceptionally good company! […]
Maker’s Mark
Maker’s Mark is a very popular mid-priced bourbon whisky which you can get for about $20.00. Having seen many great reviews for this bourbon, I thought I’d give it a shot. The flavor profile looked appealing, and I’m always searching for good, affordable “everyday” bourbons which won’t drain my budget. The drink is amber in color and smells delicious. Even the aroma is complex, consisting of honey, fruit (banana?), vanilla, […]
Isle of Jura 200th Anniversary
Companies like to justify promotions and products with dubious links to current happenings, so I’ve noticed. An example includes the hoards of businesses from whom I received an e-mail on February 29th this year (this being 2012, a leap year) offering an ever so clever 1-day-only discount of – you guessed it – 29%! Similarly, they like to highlight milestones of their own with special offerings, and the world of […]
Basil Hayden’s Small Batch
Basil Hayden’s Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is a bourbon from Jim Beam’s “Small Batch” collection. The modern recipe is based off of a classic recipe by an early American distiller named Basil Hayden. The bourbon has a distinctive presentation which includes a paper label secured by a ribbon featuring the Basil Hayden logo. The bottle I bought had aged eight years, but was still a pale golden color. […]
Whisky Smoothie
One of the things I like most about the summer is how easily you can get your hands on cheap fruits and berries. Last summer I was wise enough to fill my freezer with berries, pounds upon pounds of berries, and it cost me a mere handful of golden coins. They’ve lasted me until now, and as luck would have it berry season isn’t far off. The reason I love […]
Angel’s Envy
Angel’s Envy is a bourbon whisky produced by Lincoln Henderson of Woodford Reserve fame. The bottle which I purchased had been aged for five years in a charred new oak barrel and then finished in a port barrel. I had heard that Angel’s Envy was a fruity bourbon which is spicy, sweet, unique, and very flavorful.
Crowdsourced Distillery
Do you have somewhere between $3,100-2,875,455 kicking about? Fancy making the world a happier, shinier, better place? Then why not consider investing in a new distillery. Would-be entrepreneur Douglas Barclay Clement think the world needs more whisky (a sentiment with which I am sure most of us thoroughly agree), and is looking to fund the start of one through the magic of the interweb. I’m sure most of you have […]
The Famous Goose
I really like it when companies have the courage to step outside of their comfortable little boxes and do something new; I have even more respect for them when that involves a move away from an existing brand. The latter part may stem from my marketing experience and appreciation of how difficult brand creation is, so take my word for it when I say that it’s not all fun and […]
Islay Series #5: The Botanist Gin by Bruichladdich
I’ll have to admit right off the bat that I’m not a big gin drinker – this could very well be because the standard gin varieties (I’m mainly pointing my finger at Gordon’s, here) are utter nonsense, and drinking that pretty much put me off the stuff. I was very surprised to find myself not only enjoying, but darn near loving, a glass of neat gin which was presented to […]
Johnnie Walker Gold Label
Having already reviewed Johnnie Walker Black Label (where you’ll also find a bit of distiller history) and Green Label, both of which are fairly well-priced whiskies, I thought it about time to check out one of their slightly more expensive blends – the Gold Label, ooh! Very fancy name indeed, but does the whisky live up to it? And more importantly, is it worth the extra $30 on top of […]
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