Tag: gordon & macphail
-
Ghost safari – Pittyvaich Trio
Pittyvaich — let’s say it’s not one of the closed distilleries people are mourning the most, but it’s still a pity that it’s gone forever… During its years of operation (1975 – 1993) it was a component of Bell’s blended whisky, a brand owned by Arthur Bell and Sons which owned also the distilleries Blair…
-
Killing spree
Over the course of a couple of weeks I’ve killed off a good few good bottles. In recent reviews: the Ardnamurchan AD/ bottle (#338) and the lovely 24yo Glen Elgin from Asta morris (#333). And here come a few more: I though it would be fun (for me) to recall why I bought these bottles…
-
Black Box: May 2025
In September 2024 I posted my first edition of the black box, followed in October by the second edition. And then many other things scratched my blind tasting itch: whisky calendar, mystery tasting packs… Now in May 2025 I got back to the rather expansive black box and drew a sample here and there throughout…
-
Ghost Safari: Double Kill
Only a few weeks ago in my review of Glen Flagler I wrote: The same compound housed a grain distillery Garnheath, the Glen Flagler malt distillery, and Killyloch malt distillery. The latter was a lighty-peated style (with a heavily peated ‘Islabrae’ version) whose production stopped in the early 1970s. Only three bottlings on whiskybase! That’s…
-
WC sniff & sip 2025 (Part 2/2)
We continue after Part 1 with the second batch of 12 secret samples. One can surely expect a special finale! Hercynian Whisky Co. | “The Alrik Limited Exclusive” | 55.1% | Official 🌐 German single malt 🪵 PX sherry quarter casks 💲 €130 (50cl) 🔗 whiskybase from a 2cl sample bottle tasted blindly 🗒️ Tasting…
-
Sampling the Whisky Loch
The story goes that the whisky boom in the 1960s and 70s lead to an overproduction of Scotch, a veritable “Whisky Loch”, but with changing economics and consumer preferences in the 1980s, the industry had a hard time, with many now-revered distilleries like Port Ellen and Brora closed or mothballed. If market logic holds, one…
-
Good grog from Gordon
Gordon and MacPhail: the most venerable of Scotland’s independent bottlers, with over 125 years in the business and an enviable stock of old and rare malts. Today I’ll review some not too enviable stock, but still worthy enough to be bottled under their premium “Connoiseurs Choice” range, instituted in 1968. In both cases, the dram…
DuckDrams 