Author: emil
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Ghost Safari – Brora, Port Ellen
Brora and Port Ellen were among the many casualties of the deadly year of 1983, within the period of whisky-bust in the 1980s. In the last couple of decades, they became iconic and coveted among enthusiast (and traders), as mature casks of the old stock came into circulation. In the present whisky boom, both distilleries,…
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Craigellachie x2, again
I became quite smitten with Craigellachie a few months back. A rather immediate consequence has been the hoarding of additional samples, of which I now have about six. Time to get to work and knock them down before they proliferate further! For a middle-of-the-week tasting, I’ll restrain myself to two non-CS samples… Craigellachie | 14yo…
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Bowies from three decades
Back for some more of that Bowmore. The not-so-amazing core range was one of my first horizontals on the blog (#13-16), followed up by a special 25yo release (#32), and then over a year later some special Bowmore blends (and one not so special, #200). Tonight’s roster sports a rather random trio of 2cl Bowmore…
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Ghost Safari – Rosebank, Pittyvaich
Halloween is approaching, so to get into the mood it’s time for some more ghost distilleries. First, a curious sample of Rosebank, only 8yo and presumably bottled in the 1980s. Then it’s one I haven’t tried before, as far as I can recall — Pittyvaich. This distillery was only in operation 1974-1993 and then demolished…
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Glenwinnie
Elgin in Speyside, Scotland is home to a handful of distilleries, two of which are among my longtome favourites — Glen Elgin, and Linkwood, both owned by Diageo. The only regular official bottling is from the Flora & Fauna range (colored, chillfiltered, low ABV), but fortunately indie bottlers have me covered. Then there is Glenlossie,…
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VT
Another first for this blog — a cognac review! — but I’ve been enjoying good cognac for a couple of years now. Naturally, I simply skipped over the mass-market Remy Martin, Hennessy, Camus and their ilk — if bland whisky isn’t worth the time, cost and liver damage, sure as hell bland cognac isn’t either.…
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The Black Box #1
Tasting blindly is so revealing and so much fun, as I learned especially from the whisky calendar tastings. And in WOLS we always did blind tastings, though on a known theme and in the good company of others and on a time budget, a super carful analysis of the taste experience was not really the…
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The Helmsman and Smoky Two
At the back of the cupboard I have two driver’s drams that I picked up at Bunnahabhain distillery during the 2023 Islay trip. So they’ve sat in small sample bottles for a worryingly long time. However at some point (late 2023 perhaps) I sealed the cap lining with wax in a hope to reduce oxidation.…
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A grainy day
Today’s tasting goal is simple: to etch the particular character of grain whisky so deep into my conscious that I’ll never mistake a single malt for grain (or vice versa) in a blind tasting ever again! Well, we’ll see how that goes. Usually, on the unusual occasion that I drink single grain, it’s in the…
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Two Tullies
I discovered Tullibardine no so long ago. It reportedly has an uncommonly floral and bready character. Today, I’ll investigate this character further. Notably no distillation occurred at the distillery between 1994 and 2003 due to mothballing and change of ownership. One should keep an eye out for the 20yo and 25yo at auction, which are…
DuckDrams 