Scotch Whisky Society Secures Loan Using Whisky Casks
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society has acquired new financing from Ferovinum using whisky casks as its collateral. The SMWS secured the loan to its whisky-producing arm, Artisanal Spirits Company. The founder Scotch Malt Whisky Society has agreed to a £15 million financing deal through Ferovinum. The partnership will extend the Artisanal Spirits Company’s productive capabilities […]
Making Whisky for the King – What Is the Flavor?
Two world-renowned whisky distilleries have set out to make whisky for the king of England. How do you select a flavor unique to the king and what will it be like? Royal leader King Charles III is celebrating his 75th birthday and the Cotswolds Distillery has collaborated with Highgrove to honor him. The whisky makers […]
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Old Crow
Nah ya’ll best be lihstnin’ right’n proper, ‘cuh I ain’t ‘bout tuh be sayin’ dis nahn tahms over. Okay so I’m no Stephen King when it comes to transferring American accents into written form, but who gives a darn. Anyway, what I won’t be saying over and over again is this (which just happens to be the perfect way to drink Old Crow): buy a copy of Stephen King’s The […]
Square Barrel (Aultmore 16 y.o.)
I recently came across Square Barrel whisky, a concept that was first developed in the 1850’s. The idea behind this most unusual barrel shape was to make the transport of whisky on board ships safer, which I would imagine it did, but the unfortunate consequence is of course that it will have been rather more difficult to move the barrels around (as any physicist or engineer will confirm for those […]
Very Old Barton
There are many reasons to extend your social network beyond the borders of your own country. It gives you the opportunity to experience new cultures, ways of life, delicious food and drink. Coincidentally, I’ve just had the last few drops that were left in my bottle of Very Old Barton bourbon and am now desperately seeking an American friend who could send me another bottle – unfortunately you can’t buy […]
Glenlossie 10 Year Old
Founded by John Duff, this Speyside distillery first opened its doors in 1876. Not exactly a newcomer to the scene, then, so how come you haven’t heard of it? Okay so that may be presumptuous, but a lot of people haven’t. This is largely because most of the whisky distilled goes into blends such as Haig, and what is released as a single malt hasn’t received much attention in whisky […]
Glen Garioch 15 Year Old
Glen Garioch‘s history is fairly typical for a Scottish whisky; first opened in 1797, it changed hands several times over its bumpy history, was postponed at one stage and later reopened. Nothing spectacularly interesting so far as I could find. Far more exciting, at least in my opinion, is the design of the bottle and box of their 15 year old expression – a classic bottle Scotch bottle design, accompanied […]
Benriach 10 Year Old
Update: this whisky has been discontinued. Having heard mixed reviews of this whisky, which several of my dear friends decided to purchase around the same time at random, I thought I’d have to give it a go to settle the dispute. BenRiach is a speyside distillery, established around 1898 but closed soon thereafter to be reopened in 1965 by Glenlivet. Since then it has changed hand several times, from Glenlivet […]
Baker’s 7 Year Old
I decided to try another American bourbon, a slightly pricier one this time with a price tag around the $62 mark: Baker’s 7. A part of the Jim Beam family and categorised as “Sour Mash Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey” on the Whiskey Exchange website, I was intrigued. From what I had heard about it already, though, I didn’t quite know what to expect. True enough, you will often […]
Dalmore 12 Year Old
It had been a while since I savored a glass of Dalmore 12, so when I went to meet a friend of mine for a quick catch up in a bar I hadn’t been in before and saw it in the drinks list, priced at only $4 a glass, I couldn’t resist. My promise to myself not to drink anything that evening was then broken within 5 minutes of entering […]
Ballantine’s 17 Year Old
Ballantine’s started out as a grocers in Edinburgh back in 1827, and began blending Scotch whisky in 1869. Since then it has grown to become one of the biggest Scotch brands in the world, and outsells any other brand in Europe. The blend is made from over 50 assorted Scotch malts including Miltonduff and Glenburgie, so I probably don’t need to tell you that their Master Blender, Sandy Hyslop, has […]
Glenfiddich 50 Year Old Third Release
[I am afraid this press-release is the only thing I will be able to post about this bottle. I don’t see myself doing a review any time soon.] Glenfiddich today announces the third release of one of its rarest and most precious expressions of single malt whisky – the Glenfiddich 50 Year Old. With a strictly limited supply of just 450 bottles – just fifty are released worldwide each year […]
Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year Old
It is because of days like today that I couldn’t possibly leave this place. Many are the times when I’ve thought about packing my bags and selling everything I don’t need, to leave the coldness of the Scottish winter and move to Southeast Asia for good. But then comes spring, then comes summer, and the stunning beauty of my beloved city reminds me of why I haven’t yet, and never […]
Jack Daniel’s New Bottle
I was sent an e-mail by Jack Daniel’s the other day with the title “we want you to be one of the first to know!” – I would imagine anyone who’s a Friend of Jack (a member of their fan club, that is) will have received the same e-mail. Curious as ever, I couldn’t resist opening it straight away. The secret contained within was actually fairly exciting, at least if […]
Crown Royal
For each of these posts, it becomes clearer just how massive Diageo actually are. What we’re taking a look at today is a Canadian blend, Crown Royal, which came about in 1939 as a tribute by Samuel Bronfman and the Seagram company to Queen Elizabeth’s and King George VI visit to Canada. Like so many other whiskies I have reviewed it is, if it wasn’t obvious, a part of the […]
Eagle Rare 10 Year Old
Eagle Rare 10 Year Old is a bourbon that has received a lot of praise and is regarded as one of the best bourbons for its price range. Eagle Rare is known for its smooth taste and its woody aroma, which are attributes that it has lived up to throughout my time drinking it. The first time that I got a chance to try Eagle Rare was when it was […]
Auchentoshan Three Wood
As I (didn’t really) walk into the (virtual) whisky shop looking for a good all-round whisky, to which I shall treat next week’s dinner guests, I once again fell for the simple beauty of what has grown to become a lowland classic: Auchentoshan. After rekindling my love for their standard 12 year old bottling a year ago, I decided to splurge and get the Three Wood expression. Before I continue, […]
Highland Park 13 y.o. & Caol Ila 30 y.o.
As regular readers of this, or indeed (nearly) any other, whisky blog will know, a perk of a whisky critic’s “job” is that you occasionally get sent a free little taster from various distillers. Well, a couple of months ago (yep, I’ve taken my sweet time – sorry, Master of Malt) I received two small taster bottles from Master of Malt. One was a 13 year old Highland Park, the […]
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