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Fettercairn 2008, Lady Of The Glen

October 24, 2021
Mortlach 14 year old – Sestante

October 15, 2021
Berry Bros & Rudd: The Nordic Casks #1

October 6, 2021
Tomintoul Seiridh, batch 2

September 29, 2021
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W.D. O'Connell

W.D. O’Connell

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BYOB-C

BYOB-C, Belgian bottler or club?

The Whisky Jury

An interview with Joeri from The Whisky Jury

Introduction to Whisky Certificate

Course: Introduction to Whisky Certificate

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Fettercairn 2008, Lady Of The Glen
Mortlach 14 year old – Sestante
Berry Bros & Rudd: The Nordic Casks #1
Tomintoul Seiridh, batch 2
Highland Single Malt 2010, Thompson Bros

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Besides the Springbank 12 year old cask strength,

Besides the Springbank 12 year old cask strength, the 10 year old Springbank is also a single malt that I always like to return to. A classic that you can rely on and also very affordable. Great value for money in my opinion. What are whiskies that you often return to?⁠

Myken (Norway) was the first Artic whisky distille

Myken (Norway) was the first Artic whisky distillery. Located on a tiny island about 32 kilometres from the mainland (and a full day’s travel from Oslo!), you can imagine that it wasn’t the most obvious choice logistically. But that hasn’t stopped Roar Larsen, the founder, from making his dream come true. A special story and that actually applies also to this whisky. This cask was not filled in one go, but that took a number of months. And that has ensured that many different types of new make have ended up in it. This ranges from unpeated to heavily peated, ultimately resulting in a lightly peated spirit of 8ppm. Bottled at 61.4% ABV.⁠
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NOSE: oh this is really elegant. Subtle peat, very light. A touch of vanilla custard and there is some cotton sugar as well. This is followed by hints of oatmeal. Lemons. Milk chocolate and a faint floral note in the back. It’s very gentle but rather nice.⁠
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TASTE: soft smoke and slightly ashy. Then zesty notes from limes and lemons. Chocolate. Ginger and also unripe pears and a hint of green apples. Later also a resin and a touch of pine needles.⁠
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FINISH: long with resin, ginger and fresh mint.⁠
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I tasted this Myken for the first time during the Nordic Cask tasting of Berry Bros & Rudd, of which they kindly sent me a sample pack. And I really liked this one so I bought a bottle of it. It has its own style, making it really interesting and while the ABV is quite high it’s very drinkable and quite tasty. Funny story, this whisky could never be released in Norway because it is illegal to bottle anything above 60% ABV. 😁

About last night…. After 15 months we could fin

About last night….

After 15 months we could finally have a family tasting again yesterday. And what fun it was! The bottles in the photo were the single malts we tasted and for the first time we had no clear winner. They were actually all nice in their own way and therefore the opinions were also divided about which one was the tastiest. I have some left over from all the bottles so I'll be enjoying and reviewing them soon. 😊

Two of the 6 stills at Glentauchers. ⁠ ⁠ This

Two of the 6 stills at Glentauchers. ⁠
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This Speyside distillery, which started producing whisky in 1898, is one of the distilleries that closed its doors in the 1980s. A few years later (1989), however, the distillery was already purchased by Allied Distillers (later Chivas), but it wasn't until 1992 before they went back into production.⁠⠀⁠
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There aren't many official bottlings since almost the entire production is used for blends, especially Ballantine's. But you sometimes see Glentauchers being bottled by a number of independent bottlers.

It's been a while since I bought the Springbank 12

It's been a while since I bought the Springbank 12 year old CS, but it's one of the few whiskies I keep coming back to. The great thing is that the batches are always different, but it's always of great quality and quite tasty. This is the new batch, which has fully matured in bourbon casks and my first impression is that it is really good! Today I'm going to taste it again today (starting the weekend right!) and I'll write down my tasting notes right away because I'm afraid this bottle won't last long. 😅 Cheers and happy weekend folks!

This week I will be revisiting the Old Pulteney 12

This week I will be revisiting the Old Pulteney 12-year-old. And it's been a while since I've tasted this one (before the new labels and packaging), but at the time I thought it was a great entry-level whisky or a daily dram. I remember this single malt was quite light and fruity back then, but it also had some lovely maritime notes. I'm curious if that is still the case with this newer version and how I will find it now, after not having tasted it for several years. ⁠
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What are your thoughts on the Old Pulteney 12 year old?⁠
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(Bottle provided by @monnikdranken

The names of more and more distilleries are no lon

The names of more and more distilleries are no longer allowed to be mentioned on the label of independent bottlings. A pity of course, but the bottler can’t help that, as this is a choice of these distilleries themselves. Fortunately, you often see that funny and/or creative solutions are being devised so that you still know what's actually in the bottle. The same goes for this Highland Single Malt 2010 from the Thompson Bros, where a cat is shown on the label, indicating this is a Clynelish.⁠
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This Clynelish has matured in a refill barrel and is bottled at a strength of 57.3% ABV.⁠
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NOSE: sweet ripe pears and lemon peels. A thick layer of vanilla custard and some lovely wax. Honeycomb and a hint of freshly baked bread. A grassy note and green leaves. Baklava, but also a note of olive oil.⁠
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TASTE: rather creamy with notes of creme brulee. Acacia honey. There is a waxy note again and it’s slightly vegetal. A touch of leather? Followed by minerals and lemons. Pink grapefruit, a vague earthy note and a pinch of black pepper.⁠
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FINISH: A long finish with lemons, vanilla and minerals. A hint of black pepper too.⁠
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This just goes to show why I love Clynelish so much and this is another of those younger releases that are just really good. The wax is well present, but there is more. Sometimes fruity and sometimes quite sweet with even a hint of Baklava (a Turkish pastry) in the nose, but also minerals and both an earthy and vegetal note are present here. Yep, I will definitely enjoy this for a while. Delicious stuff!

The Ardbeg Distillery, well, their famous warehous

The Ardbeg Distillery, well, their famous warehouse actually. :-) ⁠
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Had a really nice tour there a few years ago and I'm actually planning a trip to Islay for next year. I want to go there with my dad because he is a real Islay fan but has never been there. Of course, Ardbeg is on the list and since everything started with Laphroaig (for us), we have to go there too. But I've been to both so I'd like to visit a few more. Does anyone have an idea which other Islay distilleries are the best to visit and which are nice places to stay?
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Bought a new Ardmore from Elixir Distillers and I

Bought a new Ardmore from Elixir Distillers and I am very curious about this one. I really appreciate a good Ardmore as it's often just very tasty stuff, whether it's young or a bit older, it both works quite well. This will be opened during the tasting with my family next week. None of them is really that familiar with Ardmore so I think this could be a nice surprise for them. In the meantime, I still need two more bottles and then the line-up is finally complete... 🧐 (A review will follow soon).

Tomintoul Seiridh has been on the market since 201

Tomintoul Seiridh has been on the market since 2019 and is yearly released as a new batch. The first batch was 6000 copies, but in the meantime, this number has doubled. A good sign, I think, and since I’m not very familiar with Tomintoul and haven’t reviewed much, except for these two old indie bottlings, it’s time to get acquainted with an original bottling.⁠
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The name Seiridh means Sherry in Gaelic, but it hasn’t completely matured in sherry casks. It only has had a finish in 1st fill Oloroso sherry casks after it has matured in ex-bourbon casks for a certain time. Bottled at 40% strength, like most in Tomintoul’s core range.⁠
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NOSE: a few sherry tones at first. Dried fruits, such as raisins. A note of black cherries and a little bit of honey. But it’s not very pronounced. There’s a touch of vanilla and a floral note in the back. Nutmeg too.⁠
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TASTE: quite watery and flat. Honey and cherry candies and a faint hint of blueberries. Milk chocolate. Caramel fudge and vanilla. Nutmeg and a touch of cinnamon.⁠
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FINISH: short and a little bit dry, with notes of nutmeg, cherry candies and blueberries.⁠
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The title The Gentle Dram really does justice to this Tomintoul, because gentle it certainly is. Maybe a little too gentle because there isn’t much in it. I was hoping to get a little more out of it. The nose itself is rather ok, but in the taste and finish it becomes rather one-dimensional and flat. It’s very drinkable though, that’s for sure but it’s not something for me, unfortunately. It just misses something, I think. ⁠
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Bottle provided by @monnikdranken

Finally, we will have another tasting with the fam

Finally, we will have another tasting with the family soon! We normally do this about twice a year, but now it has been well over a year since we had one. The theme this time: Highlands. And this Ardnamurchan is the first to be added to the lineup. For the others the first time to taste something from this distillery and for me the second time and therefore a great opportunity to see how it compares to the first release. I also found an Ardmore and now I'm looking for two other nice affordable bottles. So all tips are welcome!😉

The 3 Springbank Stills looking good. 🖤 Wish I

The 3 Springbank Stills looking good. 🖤 Wish I could go back there, it's been way too long!

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Fettercairn 2008, Lady Of The Glen
Mortlach 14 year old – Sestante
Berry Bros & Rudd: The Nordic Casks #1
Tomintoul Seiridh, batch 2
Highland Single Malt 2010, Thompson Bros
Arran 17 year old, Netherlands Exclusive
Mortlach 1997, My Name Is Whisky
Caol Ila 2008, Single Note
Daftmill 2008, winter batch release (2020)
3x Glenlivet, Gordon & MacPhail

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