Here’s another 16th Annual Malt Advocate award winner, which was originally announced here last month. (Our “Artisan Whiskey of the Year.”) This is my formal review for the Buyer’s Guide. A solid whiskey–especially for its age.
84 Stranahan’s (Batch #49), 47%, $55
It shows nice maturity, considering it contains whisky as young as two years old. Smooth, too, with layered sweetness (honeyed caramel, English toffee, maple syrup), tangerine, roasted nuts, an [...]
by John Hansell at March 10, 2010 12:00 PM
So much whisky and so little time… a very interesting statement. With the growing number of new distilleries popping up all over the world, there are literally lakes of whisky out there, waiting to be bottled. A growing trend to bottle just after the minimum 3 years maturation has seen our palates being introduced to a much fresher and lighter style of malt.
There are obviously huge financial considerations when starting a distillery. Very few businesses will willingly sh [...]
by aandarse (noreply@blogger.com) at March 10, 2010 09:54 AM
You might have noticed King Sheep's name in the comments section of this blog. He runs a great blog with Major Sheep that focuses on animation, movies, and the occasional video game. Each Friday, King Sheep runs through the weekend's opening movies with great wit and humor. I highly recommend checking him out. Now that my wife and I have a three year old and another on the way, reading our good friend and SMWSP member, King Sheep, is the closest we get to the movies t [...]
by noreply@blogger.com (Jason Johnstone-Yellin) at March 10, 2010 08:05 AM
Taking place in San Francisco!
For those of you in San Francisco, Whiskies of the World is taking place at the Hotel Nikko on Mason Street on Saturday, March 27, 2010. The last whisky festival in San Francisco (WhiskyFest) was a doozy and this seems to be a right decent one, too. The event organizers were kind enough to give WhiskyParty a code for discounted tickets to share with our readers and friends. Enter discount code: WPARTY8P on the checkout page for an 8% discount on ticket [...]
by stronglikecask at March 10, 2010 05:44 AM
The latest volume of the popular manga "Bartender" is all about Japanese whisky and Hokkaido. I found it very evocative, having visited many of the spots and met some of the people featured in the stories as part of my research for "Drinking Japan", my book about Japanese alcohol (for those of you getting impatient waiting, it is expected to be in the shops by the end of the year. Tuttle have all the drafts but editing it and putting all the hundreds of photos and maps together i [...]
by Nonjatta (noreply@blogger.com) at March 09, 2010 11:03 PM
Glenburgie (or Glenburgie-Glenlivet as stated on this bottle) was officially founded in 1829, but like many other distilleries it seems they were active before legalizing their production. The spirit was part of the Ballantine’s blend and the distillery also produced another malt called Glencraig using Lomond stills (an experimental type of still that it said to produce a heavier and oilier end product thanks to a thick column-like neck).
Glenburgie was refurbished in 2004 and is still con [...]
by Ruben at March 09, 2010 11:00 PM
I am officially the (better looking) James May of EWB. I am that guy that, at the most amazing party, ends up doing the washing up in the kitchen. Why do I say this? Well Lucas writes an exciting article about a Famous Grouse competition, and I get stuck with the terms and conditions. So [...]
by chris at March 09, 2010 10:18 PM
We have a bunch of Famous Grouse branded Scotland vs. England rugby beanie hats and some Q-jump passes for the weekend game to give away. All you need to do to get your hands on them is submit a funny whisky-themed caption to the picture above in the comments box (bottom of the page) and then drop an email [...]
by admin at March 09, 2010 02:18 PM
Here is the promised tasting from the Tomatin Distillery Focus feature. Myself and Chris sampled three different Tomatins (continuing the EWB policy of not relying on a single nose wherever possible), and our tasting notes and thoughts are presented below.
12 Years Old
Nose: I went for violets and refresher sweets (apologies if our foreign readers haven’t [...]
by admin at March 09, 2010 01:38 PM
What do you want to chat about? Let me know what’s on your mind.
I try my best to come up with interesting discussion topics, but I’m sure you have some great ideas too. Let us know what they are. The ones I like I’ll use for future postings.
Thanks!
by John Hansell at March 09, 2010 01:08 PM
A few extra thoughts for my WDJK friends in addition to my formal review below. First, this is not available in the U.S., which is why I have the price in Pounds Sterling. (Anthony Wills, the Managing Director of Kilchoman, tells me it will be in the U.S. in 2010.) I checked the Kilchoman website, and they still list it as being for sale with a two bottle limit. They also note that there will be a third release this month–something to look forward to.
I also wanted to note that I [...]
by John Hansell at March 09, 2010 11:00 AM
Last week I tasted the Cragganmore 10 Year Old, cask strength and received a comment from Gal at the Whisky Israel blog asking for a comparison between that and Cragganmore 12. Given that I'm a slave to my commenters I'm happy to focus on Cragganmore 12 Year Old this week.
This is a duty free bottling so the good news is that it's one liter. The bad news is that it's a meager 40% alcohol. Ugh! We need to make it illegal for single malt whisky to be sold bel [...]
by noreply@blogger.com (Jason Johnstone-Yellin) at March 09, 2010 08:05 AM
The Island of Jura, is one of Scotland’s last wilderness. For those how are not familiar with it, Jura can be found North east of the more famous Isle of Islay. The famous “sound of Islay” or Coal Ila , separates those two islands.
Despite the fact that it’s pretty much the same size as Islay, [...]
by Gal Granov at March 09, 2010 07:01 AM
Tasting Notes from Bloggers We Trust:
Whiskey Notes thinks that the Littlemill 1990 (Malts of Scotland) is more complex and fruity than other Lowland scotches.
He calls the Coleburn 1983 (Whisky Agency) “bitter” and “old-fashioned.”
Whisky Host reviews a Bowmore 26 yo from Masters of Malt.
Whisky Fun tries two Cragganmores bottled in 1997. He also tastes three bottles from Knockando.
Two more reviews of Ardbeg Rollercoaster – The Whisky Exchange gives it a mo [...]
by whiskyparty at March 09, 2010 04:41 AM
Another closed distillery: Dallas Dhu, one of many distilleries that didn’t survive the crisis year 1983. Diageo released three Dallas Dhu bottlings in the Rare Malts series: two 24 years old 1970’s and one 21 years old 1975. There were some releases in the ‘Historic Scotland’ series as well, and there are a bunch of independent releases.
Dallas Dhu 24y 1970 (60,6%, Rare Malts, 1995)
Nose: malty and nutty, with prominent oak. Quite waxy. Lots of apple juice, some alm [...]
by Ruben at March 08, 2010 11:00 PM
Last week I asked you here whether you wanted me to review Round 2 of Diageo’s Manager’s Choice whiskies. By roughly a 2-1 margin, you voted “no”.
I told you I would offer my decision today. (Sorry for the delay–an unexpected doctor visit pushed my schedule back.)
Here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll review the whiskies–it might only be informally–sometime soon and let you know my thoughts. Many of you are curious about the whiskies (e [...]
by John Hansell at March 08, 2010 08:11 PM
This was posted on the Kilchoman Distillery website last week. I’m finally getting around to posting it up here.
Now that Kilchoman has (surprisingly good for its age) legal whisky to sell, the need to expand their operations.
I’m not sure who will replace John at Bunnahabhain.
The press release:
We are delighted to announce that John MacLellan will be joining us as General Manager. John has worked in the whisky industry for over 20 years and for the past 12 years he has been t [...]
by John Hansell at March 08, 2010 04:30 PM
As you recall, I announced the 16th Annual Malt Advocate Whisky Award winners here back in February. Some of the award winners were never formally reviewed and rated for the Malt Advocate magazine Buyer’s Guide. I’ll be posting those up this week, beginning with our “Best Buy” award winner, so that these whiskies will be searchable in our Buyer’s Guide database. They’ll be published in the next issue of Malt Advocate.
Focus on “The MacPhail’s Coll [...]
by John Hansell at March 08, 2010 01:30 PM
When John Dewar and Sons undertake special editions of their whiskies, it’s a very rare and - to whisky lovers at least – important event. Take, for instance, the limited edition of Aberfeldy 25 year old released a few years ago and now highly sought after by collectors worldwide. The latest, even rarer, bottling of Dewar’s flagship Aberfeldy Highland Single Malt is bound to achieve the same desirability in the years to come.
Only 228 bottles of the new Aberfeldy 18 Year Old [...]
March 08, 2010 01:19 PM
Hello folks, on this sunny Monday morning. Just to say that Caskstrength.net is 2 years old today and to celebrate, Neil and Joel made a little video for our amusement!!
http://tinyurl.com/anotherround
March 08, 2010 01:03 PM
Two little boys had two large drams, Each had a bottle spare. Gaily they played each summer's day drinking lots of course. One little chap then had a mishap and broke his Glencairn glass. Wept for his dram then cried 'Well Damn, We've plenty where that came from!'
Thanks to Rolf Harris for his help in 'penning' this ode to our 2nd birthday celebrations.
Today is the day we posted our very first blog back in 2008.
200 posts later and we haven't looked ba [...]
by aandarse (noreply@blogger.com) at March 08, 2010 09:29 AM
Welcome to another work week. Remember, if you're in the UK, that this one ends with Mother's Day. So make sure you've got flowers, chocolates, or single malt whisky (if that's her thing) ready to go Sunday.
A few weeks back we featured a short video clip from The Malt Project. Since then, they've added more clips to their Youtube channel. Here's an eight minute clip from their coastal and islands documentary. It features, Springbank, Kilchoman, and O [...]
by noreply@blogger.com (Jason Johnstone-Yellin) at March 08, 2010 08:05 AM
In the early 20th century Suntory Ltd. was primarily an importer of Spanish wines but began to make its own plum-based dessert liquor. In 1923 its founder, Shinjiro Torri, capitalized on the sizable whisky market and founded the Suntory Distillery in the Vale of Yamazaki, between Kyoto and Tokyo.
Suntory's flagship whisky
Most of their (very lightly peated) barley is imported (from Australia, typically), but the natural water used for Suntory whiskies comes from wells right near the distil [...]
by dodgydrammer at March 08, 2010 12:30 AM
There’s only one official bottling of Coleburn whisky, a 21 years old Rare Malts version released in 2000. The distillery was closed in 1985 and dismantled in 1996.
Coleburn was described by Jim Murray as a “rarely enjoyable” whisky, but given the extremely low number of bottlings, I don’t think anyone can really make a judgement of this kind.
Coleburn 26 yo 1983 (49,5%, The Whisky Agency 2009, Fossils series, 120 btl.)
Nose: slightly phenolic and earthy but at the same time fru [...]
by Ruben at March 07, 2010 11:00 PM
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month or so, you won’t have failed to notice (ex) England Football captain John Terry getting himself into a wee spot of bother with both his young lady and the England Football manager, Lou Reed Fabio Capello. A fierce disciplinarian and family man, Capello was not best pleased at JT’s indiscretions and has since stripped Terry of the England captaincy. But what of Paul Terry? “Who?” I hear you cry! Yes, Paul Terry. Paul [...]
by aandarse (noreply@blogger.com) at March 07, 2010 09:48 AM
Here's my weekly round up of the most interesting whisky stories from this first week of March:
Three new releases on the horizon from Arran (Glasgow's Whisky), Glenfiddich (Talking Retail), and St George English whisky (Thetford & Brandon Times). There's a new range coming from Duncan Taylor, too (The Dieline).EU ruling might end the 'minimum pricing' discussion (Press & Journal).Another snippet letting us know the Isle of Lewis' Abhainn Dearg Distillery is in business ( [...]
by noreply@blogger.com (Jason Johnstone-Yellin) at March 07, 2010 08:05 AM
This week's episode includes highlights from the Whisky Guild's annual Whisky Classic event in Morristown, New Jersey. Ardbeg's Rollercoaster made its U.S. debut at the Whisky Classic, and we'll get some of the details from Dr. Bill Lumsden. We'll also hear about plans for the first U.S. Ardbeg Committee gathering this April in Chicago, and Rick Wassmund of Copper Fox will tell us about his latest single malt from Virginia. In the news, John MacLellan leaves Burn Stewart Distillers for Ki [...]
by Mark Gillespie at March 07, 2010 06:29 AM
Mark Brown, President and CEO of Buffalo Trace Distillery, is such a tease.
Here is the landing page of a website that will expand into revealing a project that Mark is hopeful “will be the largest experimental project of its kind ever undertaken.”
That’s saying a lot. But, if anyone call pull it off, Buffalo Trace can. Stay tuned!
by John Hansell at March 06, 2010 12:45 PM
Littlemill was founded in 1772 which would mean it has one the earliest foundation dates! As a Lowlands distillery, it used triple distillation until the 1930’s. After 1984 it has been closed and reopened a couple of times until the final dismantling in 1994.
There is an official Littlemill 12 years that is still bottled by the owner and a couple of independent releases over the years. This 1990 bourbon barrel was recently bottled by Malts of Scotland.
Littlemill 19 yo 1990 (54,3%, Mal [...]
by Ruben at March 05, 2010 11:00 PM
Master of Malt is a great UK-based whisky store whose website is one of the best I've seen. Currently, they're offering a single cask, Bowmore 26 Year Old with a bunch of British candy, a Glencairn tasting glass, and three tasting samples from the rest of the "Single Cask Series." I recommend taking a look at the offer. Over the next four Fridays I'm going to taste the four whiskies that make up the "Single Cask Series."
This Bowmore was distilled in 1982, aged i [...]
by noreply@blogger.com (Jason Johnstone-Yellin) at March 05, 2010 08:05 PM