Month: May 2023
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Craigellachie x2
I have been watering my whisky bush regularly, and it has grown me a pair of Creigellachies that are now ripe for harvest. The first standard 13yo was gifted to me as part of a larger whisky order I made with an online retailer. A bottle goes for around €40. The other sample is (surprise,…
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Glenwood and Link Elgin
Tonight I have a tasting theme of utmost seriousness, requiring the fullness of attention and discernment: a blind tasting challenge! I happen to have samples from three of my favourite distilleries: Linkwood, Glen Elgin and Deanston. All three are 13 years old, 52-56% abv, and of a comparable colour that suggests all are ex-bourbon casks.…
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Thoughts on how to score
As this little blogling turns 2 months old, I’ve changed enough digital diapers (viz. formally reviewed 25 different whiskies) as to have learned quite a deal about the challenges of reviewerhood. For me, one of the greatest challenges has been choosing a scoring system and sticking to it. In this post I’ll explain my thinking…
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“A” starts the alphabet
I like to follow a theme for whisky tastings and posts. The obvious theme is to compare bottlings from a particular distillery, or how different distilleries turn out in similar casks, etc. But every once in a while I just want to try some random stuff. Then I have to get creative with the thematicification.…
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Who’s that Whiskémon?
I have here the standard 12yo of Glenallachie, which by the way is an integrity bottling (i.e. natural colour, non-chillfiltered), good on them! And yummy for us. It’s been in my cupboard for a bit over a year since the (in)famous first whisky tasting / super-spreader event I hosted for my colleagues, and it’s nearing…
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Benrinnaissance
Finally, two weeks after the onset of a nasty cold, I feel sufficiently recovered to trust my nose with a whisky review (it’s 14th May today). On the menu: two samples from the Benrinnes distillery in Speyside. One from UK independent bottler Chorlton, that I bought from Hop/Scotch, the other sample from my Single Malts…
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Limburg Whisky Fair 2023
With Germany being such a massive importer of Scotch Whisky, it would be strange if there wasn’t at least one massive whisky festival. And indeed there is. At least one. My friends Simon and Veronika put Limburg Whisky Fair on my radar, and offered that I could stay with them in Frankfurt so we could…
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Tamdhu times two
Tamdhu (pronounced Tam-DOO) is one of those Speyside distilleries that has mostly fallen under the radar for me. Last time I can recall having it (well, the only time, really), was when someone brought the 12yo along for a Highland whisky trip in 2019. I remember nought of the taste, but I do remember the…
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Bowmore straight from the source
As part of the Islay trip we visited Bowmore distillery, unsurprisingly located in the town of Bowmore (pronounced BowMORE). This was on my day as designated driver, and we had no tour booked, but hung around in the bar area where the society bought everyone a dram of the non-age stated (NAS) “No 1” that…
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The Islay trip, day 4 – Back to Edinburgh via Deanston
All good things must come to end: bottles of fine whisky before they overoxidize; whisky trips before we get too used to having drams in the morning… We took the ferry back to the mainland in the morning, and then readied our buttocks for many hours in the minibus seats. The original plan of passing…
DuckDrams 