Tag: speyside
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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…
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Glen Keith im Vergleich
“Glen Keith” must be the least sexy distillery name in Scotland. At least it’s not Glen Kevin… He’s a big boomer boy, Keith, built in 1957 to produce 6 million litres a year for blends geared towards the American market (Chivas Regal, Passport and 100 Pipers Blends). Mothballed in 1999 and reopened in 2013. There…
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Man(nochmore) down!
Mannochmore is one of the lesser known Speyside distilleries. Most of its output goes into blends, most notably it’s the prime component of Haig. The only official single malt from Mannochmore is released as part of Diageo’s Flora & Fauna series. Luckily, Mannochmore is quite available among the independent bottlers. I’ve mentioned the independent bottler…
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Cnoc, cnoc!
Who’s there? A 12 and a 24 year old from Knockdhu distillery, Speyside. Goes by the the name of AnCnoc. This distillery mostly ends up in the Hankey Banner blend, but at least the older age statement single malt has received a small following for being a great quality and undervalued (hence affordable) dram. But…
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The Grand Glenfarclas Gustation
Glenfarclas stands out for many reasons. It’s one of only a few family owned distilleries in Scotland. It’s one of only three Scotch distilleries to direct-fire their stills, supposedly contributing to the ‘weight’ of the spirit, so suitable for long maturation in sherry casks. They market themselves a Highland malt, rather than a Speyside malt,…
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B-whiskies
“A” starts the alphabet, and then comes “B”. It’s refreshing to have a tasting theme now and again that does not revolve around one distillery or some other very logical category. Here I simply went looking for some drams that started on the letter B, and found several candidates. In the end my palate was able…
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Tamdhu times two II
In the previous episode of Tamdhu times two I tried two Tamdhus and today I will too, in Tamdhu times two II. First off, their standard 15 years old, and then a luxurious 34yo distilled in 1967(!). I do like to spoil myself from time to time! Tamdhu 15yo Type: Scotch single maltAlcohol: 46%Cask info:…
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Whisky from the 1940s
Let’s get straight to it. This whisky was supposedly distilled about 75 years ago. I got a sample at the Bad Homburg whisky festival, and the oversized Dutch man selling it claimed it was from the 1940s. Very plausible, although I couldn’t verify the date on the bottle or online. One can notice that it…
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Waiter, there’s a fly in my Balmenach!
I had never heard about Balmenach until 2021 when an independently bottled version for Royal Mile Whiskies appeared on their website. And no wonder, because this Speyside distillery has no official expression as a single malt since about twenty years, and is seen rather rarely among the indie bottlers. I bought the bottle from RMW…
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Littlemill for little Emil
This venerable distillery is one I don’t have any personal history with. I’d barely heard about it until this year. Interestingly, Littlemill has a claim on being the oldest licensed scotch whisky distillery, founded 1772 or at least 1773, but due to the uncertainty of the evidence Glenturret (1775), Bowmore (1779) and Strathisla (1786) are…
DuckDrams 