Reviews

Go Out Ride Find Happiness (GORFH) – that's the name of the three-years whiskey aged in pre-filled 600-liter White Burgundy oak casks at the Distillery in Merdingen. After a triple distillation of the corn-barley-mash and refinement in small, new 20-liter casks, the water of life was bottled and adorned with a label featuring a stag with magnificent antlers drinking from a spring. We had the privilege of tasting the first bottling from the first cask – Bottle number 24 out of a total of 56.

Scotch Universe is a German independent bottler based in Dülmen. In collaboration with their office in Glasgow, they offer special releases under various brands. The "The Old Friends" series showcases single cask bottlings at cask strength - unfiltered and with no added coloring. The marketing approach revolves around presenting these exceptional malts as gifts for old friends. Today, we have a Blair Athol in the glass, matured for 11 years in a red wine barrique cask.

The youngest release from Chivas Brothers, the Chivas Regal 12, is an indispensable component of any well-stocked spirits department. Since the early 20th century, this bottling has enjoyed widespread popularity, especially among non-experts who delight in savoring it on special occasions. The primary malt in the blend is notably sourced from the Strathisla Distillery on the Speyside. Today, we take the time to see how it presents itself from our perspective.

Some time ago, we had the pleasure of tasting the blended malt "Dumbarton Rock" from the Independent Bottler Dràm Mòr. The company's primary focus lies in bottling individual single malt casks. They showcase a seasonal selection of special releases quarterly – of course uncolored and unfiltered. Today, we savor a 10-years Ben Nevis from the Summer Collection 2023, featuring a finish of undisclosed duration in Palo Cortado Sherry Hogsheads.

The Pulteney distillery from the Scottish Highlands offers a relatively broad and high-quality core range at acceptable prices. In today's review, we have "The Maritime Malt", matured for 18 years in ex-bourbon casks and Spanish oak casks. Spoiler: A really nice Christmas whisky!

Buffalo Trace is undoubtedly one of the most respected distilleries in Kentucky, perhaps even in the entire USA. They present different variations of their Kentucky Straight Bourbon under various brand names. Today we're looking at Eagle Rare's 10-years whiskey, which is based on their secret "Mash Bill #1", which is thought to contain less than 10% rye.

When travelling to Scotland and visiting local distilleries, it is almost a must to fill at least one bottle yourself. This is usually offered on site. On our last trip to Scotland, we visited the Oban distillery, among others. As Oban does not have the wide range of core bottlings and is also rarely chosen by independent bottlers, it made sense to fill a bottle there ourselves at cask strength. The question is: Is it actually worth it? We take a closer look at the Oban Hand Filled Distillery Exclusive 11 Years Batch 1.

For several years now, a selection of longer-matured releases has enriched Glenmorangie's core range, including the Quinta Ruban. This single malt matures for a minimum of 10 years in former bourbon casks before undergoing additional maturation in port wine casks, elevating its total age to 14 years. It's noteworthy that this whisky is bottled without chill filtration. While the design of Glenmorangie's packaging recently underwent a complete overhaul, we still have a bottle from the older series, the contents of which are purportedly unchanged.

The Swiss from Freespirited have proclaimed the "Cheers Revolution" with their 0.0% Malt Blend, an initiative for alcohol-free alternatives to popular spirits, ideal for festive occasions when the desire for alcohol is lacking. This cutting-edge concept pursues absolute individual freedom in beverage selection. The noble aim of creating an alcohol-free option for "whisky-based long drinks" is intriguing, even though it's not a whisky but rather an innovative alternative with malt distillate.

The Gauldrons is bottled by independent bottler Douglas Laing and promises a journey through the Campbeltown region of Scotland. We take a closer look at the blend today.

High above Castle Rock, amidst the Scottish capital, majestically stands Edinburgh Castle. This historic landmark is cared for and preserved by Historic Environment Scotland (HES). It is there that Edinburgh Castle 10 was created, a single malt whisky paying homage to Scotland's most significant attraction. Today, we take the time to explore its taste.

The Glen Moray distillery is located in the vicinity of Elgin in the Speyside region of Scotland. In recent years, they have steadily expanded their production capacity. Today, Glen Moray offers an impressive variety of releases under their own name, with different age statements and cask finishes, all at highly competitive prices. In this review, we delve into the world of the 15-years expression from the Elgin Heritage Collection.

The independent bottler Dràm Mòr, run by Kenny and Viktorija Macdonald, is mainly known for its unique single cask bottlings. They regularly release not only single malts, but also rum and armagnac. Starting this year, they additionally offer the blended malt Dumbarton Rock. Today we take the time to taste this blend, which consists of five different single malts.

We've had Irish whiskeys with the iconic robin logo in our glasses time and time again in the past. And the Redbreast releases from the Middleton distillery have consistently won us over. As part of the Iberian Series, we now have the Redbreast Tawny Port, following a well-established recipe. This Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey aged in Bourbon and Oloroso casks, followed by a final 14-25 month finishing period in Tawny Port Hogsheads. The end product, however, is bottled without specifying its age.

The Midleton Distillery markets its most popular product under the name Jameson, a blended Irish whiskey that enjoys great popularity due to its quality and high demand. This unique whiskey is created by skillfully marrying a Single Pot Still whiskey (which also serves as the foundation for Redbreast whiskeys) and a Single Grain Irish whiskey. Over the years, Jameson has continually adjusted and expanded its range. Today, let's take a look at Jameson Black Barrel. The distinct difference from classic Jameson lies in its maturation in double-charred barrels.

The team at 82 Chapters to Newcastle introduced a series of three different Tormore Triple Wood Malts to the market last week. This gives us an opportunity to taste their previous Tormore bottling today. This bottling, lightly peated and aged for 14 years in Bourbon casks, is presented in rich cask strength as part of the Creatures of Cask Strength range.

In our previous report, we already delved into Buffalo Trace's entry-level offering in their portfolio. Without age statement and still extremely popular in the USA, little has changed in the characteristics mentioned since then. However, this time we have the "90 Proof" (45% alcohol by volume) version of Kentucky Straight Bourbon in front of us, which is always bottled at this strength in its country of origin.

Buffalo Trace is one of the epitomes of American whiskey culture. The Kentucky distillery bottles many different bourbons and ryes under a variety of brands. The baseline is the Kentucky Straight Bourbon. Bourbon without an age statement is bottled here at a very competitive price. This always leads to discussions about the age of the whiskey that is bottled. It is very popular in the USA and there are notorious shortages.

Sea Shepherd is a globally active environmental conservation organization, dedicated passionately to safeguarding the world's oceans and their inhabitants. In collaboration with Sea Shepherd, Kirsch introduces an Islay Single Malt prominently featuring the organization's emblem on its label. From a technical standpoint, Kirsch acts as an independent bottler and keeps the secret of the distillery of origin for this whisky. While Sea Shepherd is not actively involved in the production of this spirit, 10% of the proceeds from each bottle sold are donated to support their efforts.

In 2022 Talisker added a travel exclusive called Surge to its core range of bottlings. This malt is only available at airport duty free shops. Let's see how this Talisker, matured exclusively in ex-bourbon casks with no age statement, fares.

Bottled-in-Bond (BIB) is one of the legal regulations governing the production of American whiskey, alongside the designation 'straight.' To be labeled as BIB, the whiskey must have been distilled by a distillery within a single distilling season. Subsequently, it must have matured for at least 4 years in a bonded warehouse and be bottled at 100 Proof (50% ABV). Jack Daniel's has recently introduced a Bonded release that we are tasting today.

Douglas Laing offers an array of blended malts from all the regions of Scotland in its Regional Malts range. The well known Scallywag - representing Speyside - has been extended with a 10 years bottling. A blend of Speyside malts matured in Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez ex-sherry casks. Today we find out if the age statement improves the already excellent Scallywag.

The Highland malt AnCnoc is produced by the Knockdhu distillery. Supposedly they do not bottle under their own name to avoid confusion with Knockando. Today we have the 12 years and youngest bottling of the core range in the glass.

Glengyle Distillery is one of the few distilleries in Campbeltown. After a long period of closure, it was reopened by Springbank at the beginning of the 21st century. Although Springbank and Glengyle are run as separate companies, in some ways they belong together. Glengyle bottles single malt whiskies under the Kilkerran brand. The 12-years, non-chill-filtered and non-coloured whisky is the current core range.