Category: Review
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Armagnac: a malternative
For the first time on this blog we venture beyond the comforts of whisky! As I remember it, I got lured into the French brandy universe by a bottle of Thompson Bros. 27yo “Early Landed Late Bottled” brandy (most likely Cognac) that I gifted my father with great success. Then I started reading more about…
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Ghost safari #1
I have been trying a lot of newbie distilleries recently (Newbies Pt I, II, III) with the aim of getting through all of them eventually — a task that will take years for the simple fact that new distilleries still keep popping up like malty mushrooms in the ground! Of the 28 distilleries founded in…
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Son of a bad bottom
“Isn’t particularly of any interest… let’s move on.” So said Ralfy recently of Macduff in his overview of Scotch malt distilleries A-Z on his Patreon channel. To the contrary, in the Bad Homburg whisky festival 2023 I tried two Macduffs that were both were really interesting. One was relatively young but had a very distinguished…
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Birthplace of the water of life
“And by payment made to Brother John Cor by precept of the comptroller, as he asserts, by the King’s command, to make aqua vite within the period of the account, 8 bolls of malt.” Exchequer Rolls of 1494 This is widely recognized as the first written record of the production of aqua vitae, or whisky.…
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Blend it up
Sometimes I can be very undecisive. I stand in front of my whisky safe, with a dozen or two different tastings themes to choose from. Young grains. Old Islays. A Glen Garioch horizontal. Another vertical of newbie distilleries. Cracking open a new bottle for a first impression? After a long time hesitating, and trying to…
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Revisiting Edinburgh, my spirit-ual home
Oh Flower of ScotlandWhen will we seeYer like again? In the beginning of July I went on a short holiday in my favourite city that I called home for four years. The purpose of the visit was to attend Zoe’s graduation and meet some old friend (…and while there to enjoy a dram or two.)…
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Bushy Irish diamond lady
Irish whiskey has thus far been nearly absent from this blog. Time to give a chance to the green island in the west. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world. Then it crashed in the 20th century following domestic and world wars, trade wars with the UK, and whatnot, with only…
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Remarkable rocky hill hooch
Craigellachie — ‘rocky hill’ — distillery, is a Speyside distillery dating back to the 19th century. It’s gained a following among afficionados for it’s traditional and ‘dirty’ style. Despite being owned by drinks giant Bacardi via the Dewar’s subsidiary, the entire single malt core range is integrity bottled — 46%, non-chillfiltered, natural colour — and…
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Try before you buy
Today I will implement the ancient wisdom of trying before buying. Two bottles on the German market have caught my attention recently, and I’ve contemplated a buy but thought I could maybe wait for a sale before I took the chance. Then I found both in 5cl tasting samples, so I ordered them (along with…
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The Jingle Malts of Scotland
It’s been many weeks of hard work, and no whisky tasting. Now I finally have a day off, and what a grand tasting I shall have as a reward for my toil! A 14yo Lowland, 13yo Highland, 31yo Speyside, and 28yo Islay, all single casks with 51-54% ABV. These are the samples from undisclosed distilleries…
DuckDrams 