Reviews

The Fettercairn Warehouse Releases are small batches from the distillery's traditional warehouses in the Scottish Highlands. In the third batch from Warehouse 2, 'Ex-bourbon casks (57%), rum casks (16%) and French red wine barriques (27%) were married together.

The fired oak in the Glen Moray Fired Oak 10 years represents a maturation in heavily burnt barrels made from fresh American white oak. The single malt matured for 10 years in ex-bourbon casks before being given a 10-month finish in the fired oak casks.

Glen Scotia 10 Years Unpeated focuses on the aromas and flavour profiles created by maturation in bourbon casks. The bottling has been part of the Campbeltown distillery's Core Range since 2021.

The Tamdhu distillery is committed to both naturalness and the use of Oloroso sherry casks. The 12, 15 and 18-years standards are released at over 46% strength, uncoloured and non-chill-filtered. Today we have the 18-years Tamdhu in our glass.

Our friends at The Westfalian have consistently surprised and delighted us in the past. We've often discussed their fantastic approach to whisky: using local ingredients, distillery expertise, and an honest bottling of individual casks, which combines German whisky with a Scottish soul. Barrel 181 promises a lot right from the label: a roughly 7-years full maturation in a first-fill Ruby Port wine cask.

Not so long ago, Glenrothes could only be found in blends such as the Cutty Sark or the Famous Grouse. Fortunately, there is now a good standard range with a wide variety of bottlings, as well as a large number of independently bottled single malts.

The Balcones Pot Still Bourbon comes from Texas and is characterised by its unique composition of roasted blue corn, wheat, rye and malt. This whisky is produced entirely on site, from the milling of the grains to storage and distillation.

Billy Walker, the master blender at GlenAllachie, describes the 2022 bottling as follows: "From the outset, it has been my aim to release quality whiskies at fair and accessible price points. This can be a significant challenge when you also choose to deploy an extensive and costly wood management policy, however, I believe The GlenAllachie 8-years fits the bill without any compromises or corner-cutting." By the way, the GlenAllachie 8 years follows the same recipe as the highly acclaimed GlenAllachie Cask Strength series. The casks are Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry puncheons, as well as virgin oak casks and red wine barriques.

Balmenach does not have a core range. If you want to taste such a whisky, you have to resort to independent bottlings. Michel Reick - one of the best-known German independent bottlers of single malt whisky - has bottled a Balmenach with a 1st fill Banyuls barrique finish in the "Best Dram" series.

Cardhu is part of the core range of spirits giant Diageo. While the Cardhu 12 years is one of the Classic Malts of Scotland, the 18 years is rarely seen. Cardhu single malts are traditionally matured in ex-bourbon barrels and ex-sherry casks. By the way: the barley is said to be slightly peated.

We have chosen the Longrow Peated from 2021, a smoky variant from Springbank in Campbeltown. This bottling promises a robust and characterful experience.

Within the German whisky community, Horst Lüning from Whisky.de is an unavoidable figure. Somewhere between meme and true expertise, he has succeeded in living his great passion for whisky with tremendous success. Authentically and skillfully staged are his YouTube reviews, which he has been regularly publishing with his son Ben for quite some time now. Great success naturally brings its own advantages. In addition to exclusive bottlings, he has, according to his own statements, fulfilled a long-cherished dream and created his own blended malt. Today, we have the second batch of his blends in the glass.

It's hard to believe, but at 8 years old, this single cask single malt whisky from cask 57 is currently one of the older bottlings from Paderborn. Once again, we are excited to see what has been conjured up in our glass.

Bottles from the independent bottler Drám Mór have been discussed on this page several times before. With great dedication and expertise, Drám Mór strives to preserve the tradition of Scotch whisky. They describe their cask selection process as open and open-minded. From the summer selection of 2023, today we have a 12-years Ruadh Maor. Behind this name, which is probably completely unknown to the mass market, lies the smoky distillate of the Glenturret distillery. This cask, with the number #9002123, received additional maturation in a First Fill Bourbon Hogshead.

Sebastian Büssing aka The Spirits Alchemist is known for his experimental barrels. Here - for the first time? - a sugar beet barrel was used for the 12-month finish after the single malt was allowed to mature for four years in an ex-bourbon barrel. We are more than excited!

The Welsh Penderyn whisky called Myth from the Dragon series was matured in ex-Buffalo Trace casks and finished in ex-red wine casks. Seems very promising.

The Welsh Penderyn whisky called Legend from the Dragon series was matured in ex-Buffalo Trace casks and finished in Madeira casks. An exciting fusion of two worlds of flavour.

The Welsh Penderyn whisky named Celt from the Dragon series was matured in ex-Buffalo Trace casks and finished in ex-Laphroaig casks. An exciting combination.

The German Independent Bottler Anam na h-Alba from Oberhausen proudly labels itself as "The Soul of Scotland." Hence, it was quite surprising when we stumbled upon a Kentucky Straight Bourbon bottled by them. The label promises a just shy of four years old Single Barrel bottling from Owensboro, seemingly distilled by Green River Distilling from Owensboro, Kentucky. Let's dive into what this cask-strength whiskey has to offer.

Balcones use several types of rye in the mash for their Texas Rye. These include Elbon rye from the north-west of Texas as well as crystal, chocolate and roasted rye.

Founded in 2017, Torabhaig is only the second distillery on the Isle of Skye, alongside the famous Talisker distillery. Built by the independent bottler Mossburn, it produces peaty single malt whiskies. Since 2021, small batches have been released as part of the Legacy Series. The Allt Gleann Legacy Series is only the second of these bottlings. Torabhaig demonstrates its integrity here: no filtration, no coloring, and a wonderful 46% ABV.

The Gutshofbrennerei Begatal has been producing whisky hyperlocally since 2016. Only raw materials from the Lippe region are used. The family tree of the family business can be traced back to 1284 - the building in which the distillery was built has been standing since 1535.

The distillery Loch Lomond, named after the famous lake it resides by, is nestled in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. Renowned for its versatility, it produces a wide range of whiskies: from smoky single malts distilled in pot stills, grain whiskies produced on Coffey stills, to even the "Glen's Vodka". Today, we sample the Loch Lomond 18 Year Single Malt, one of their flagship releases.

The distillery Springbank is one of the few remaining Scottish distilleries that have not been acquired by any major corporation. Additionally, it is one of the few distilleries in the historic region of Campbeltown. Known for its traditional production methods and its distinctive, artisanal heritage, Springbank has been hard to overlook recently. Today, we're tasting the 15-years expression.