Reviews

Often, the celebrities who give their names to spirits have nothing to do with it - this is not the case here. The drummer Shawn Crahan has blended the two varieties No. 9 and No. 9 Reserve. We have the No. 9 in the tasting.No. 9 was developed in collaboration with the Cedar Ridge distillery in Iowa and has become the distillery's best-seller nationwide. Cedar Ridge uses locally grown Iowa corn (51%) for their whiskeys, plus 35% malted rye and 14% malted barley.

The German distillery St. Kilian regularly releases its Signature Edition. Behind this 3-year matured single malt whisky is an exciting cask combination that can lead to an interesting result.The German Whisky from Upper Franconia was matured in bourbon barrels (62%), Sauternes barrels (27%) and casks made of Palatinate oak (11%). The Signature Edition is delivered in the usual pot-still bottle shape, which by now has a high recognition value.

Under the name Bulleit Diageo distributes a bourbon brand whose exact origin was unclear for a long time. With the 10-years bottling they offer one of the few core range Bourbons with an age statement.Until 2013, Bulleit was (allegedly) distilled by Four Roses for Diageo. Then in 2017, a Bulleit distillery was built in Kentucky. In between, there was also a Bulleit visitor center at the former Stitzel-Weller Distiller. What is no secret is the recipe for Bulleit: 68% corn, 28% rye and 4% malted barley.

The discounter LIDL has several single malts in its range, including the Ben Bracken Highland Peated, which is described as powerful and intense. We took a closer look at the whisky.LIDL does not reveal which distillery is behind Ben Bracken. All we know is that we have a whisky from the Highlands at a bargain price in our glass. The packaging is brown, which distinguishes it from the other whiskies in the series. There is also a Highland whisky, an Islay Scotch and a bottling from Speyside.

Glen Elgin, one of Scotland's lesser-known distilleries, has been distilling whisky since around 1900. After being closed several times, the distillery has been producing its own bottlings since its reopening in 1998, in addition to a lion's share which is processed in blends.Apart from special releases and anniversary bottlings, the 12-years single malt is the only permanently available bottling of the distillery. A reason to try it.

From the Yamazaki distillery, pioneer of Japanese whisky, there are some high-priced bottlings. Named after the region, the Suntory Yamazaki distillery is both the best known among Japanese whisky distilleries and number one in production volume and exports.The blended Suntory Hibiki Harmony comes in a wonderful bottle. The 24 indentations each represent an hour of the day and each month of the Japanese lunar calendar. The bottle label is made of handmade paper and radiates an especially high quality. We are curious about the content.

The discounter LIDL has several single malts in its range, including the Ben Bracken Speyside, which is described as light and fruity. We took a closer look at the whisky.LIDL does not reveal which distillery is behind Ben Bracken. All we know is that we have a whisky from the Scottish Speyside at a bargain price in our glass. The packaging is dark red, which distinguishes it from the other whiskies in the series. There is also a Highland peated, a Highland unpeated and an Islay Scotch.

In addition to all the single malts, every now and then there is a single grain Scotch whisky that wants to be tasted. Mossburn, a relatively unknown brand in Germany, bottles Whiskys from all regions of Scotland.This bottling No. 24 is from a grain distillery in Edinburgh - North British. This distillery produces primarily for blends and is the main component of many of the world's best-known brands of blended Scotch whisky. Reason enough to try the raw material.

The Oban distillery is one of the oldest, one of the smaller and one of the few distilleries in Scotland that produces whisky close to the coast. The Oban 14 is, apart from a special release and a limited edition, the only Oban with an age statement.As you would expect with an age of almost a quarter of a millenium, the distillery has had several owners and has had to be foreclosed on twice. For a time it even belonged to the Patterson brothers, the perpetrators of the eponymous catastrophic collapse of the whisky industry in the late 1800s.

In a sitcom, Nick Offerman plays the director of a parks department who also idolises whisky from the Lagavulin distillery. At the same time, Nick Offerman is the one who is supposed to introduce Americans to the peaty Islay malt that is so popular in Europe.The special aspect of this limited and meanwhile highly sought-after bottling among collectors is a four-month finish in Guinness casks. The goal is to enhance the Scotch with the spicy stout-beer flavours. Sad fact: Instead of being made in Ireland, Guinness barrels come from Maryland in the USA and are transported to Scotland by ship. A horrible eco-footprint.

Personally handed over by Richard Jansson, the whisky from the small distillery Norrtelje in Sweden was previously produced entirely organically. Organically grown barley from Östergötland is malted at Viking Malt in Halmstad. The unsmoked malt is mashed with yeast and water from the farm's own well and gently distilled in the distillery's copper pot stills. A sign of quality?When we see that this whisky was aged for seven years in 30-litre ex-Oloroso casks, the question inevitably arises: Why is the content of the bottle golden yellow?The question remains unanswered - perhaps also because everything is somehow not round, what we have here in the glass.

The Lochlea distillery plans four special bottlings a year. The Harvest Edition follows the Lochlea Sowing Edition and is intended to embody a fruity, autumnal profile.A trio of casks, namely port, first-fill Oloroso sherry and first-fill bourbon lend the whisky its golden colour. We find the package design in the style of the distillery's other releases, as well as the bottle design, outstanding.

Everyone knows it or has at least seen it in the spirits section of a well-stocked supermarket. Regular offers invite you to buy the Talisker 10 and we like to buy it and contribute to it being the best-selling whisky of the Talisker distillery.On the bottle in the new design, the Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland can be found in overdramatic images. The look runs like a red leitmotif through the other bottlings of the distillery, such as the magnificent Talisker 18 Years.

Caol Ila is one of the ten largest distilleries in Scotland and by far the largest on the island of Islay. Nevertheless, a permanently available series of standard bottlings has only been on the market since the early 2000s. We taste the classic.Actually, a large part of Caol Ila’s production ends up in blends, such as the Black Bottle or Johnnie Walker. The own bottlings have become more and more popular in recent years. With good reason?

Royal Lochnagar is one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland. In addition to the 12-years single malt, the distillery's two pot stills also produce a large amount which is used in the Johnnie Walker Blue Label.Royal Whisky? The story told is that shortly after the opening of the distillery, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were invited by the owner at the time. The British royal family had just bought nearby Balmoral Castle (1848). Later, the distillery became a purveyor to the court and was allowed to bear the suffix Royal, which was even confirmed again in 2021 by a Royal Warrant of Appointment.

Cragganmore focuses on the production of single malt whisky for blends. Some of the whisky from the Speysider distillery can be found, for example, in the Johnnie Walker Green Label and the Johnnie Walker Blue Label. So are the distillery's own bottlings to be enjoyed at all?The Cragganmore 12 belongs to the Classic Malts of Scotland. The distillery regularly bottles a Distillers Edition of the same. Unless a special release or a rare 25-years bottling is released, we have to be satisfied with the first two.

Glenkinchie 12 is one of only three bottlings offered by the distillery. Besides this, only the Distillers Edition and a variant of the 12-years in cask strength are available. The latter can only be purchased at the distillery itself.Glenkichie, also called the Edinburgh Malt, is produced in the immediate vicinity of the Scottish capital. The 12-years bottling is the only Lowlands representative among the Classic Malts. Some of the distillery's buildings are under the protection of historical buildings.

This blend of the famous independent bottler Douglas Laing offers us a composition of the characteristic and absolutely unmistakable aromas of the Hebrides.Douglas Laing provides us with independently bottled blends. Founded back in the 1940s, Douglas Laing distributes a variety of different series in which single malts are blended and thematically ordered. Within the Remarkable Regional Malts, Rock Island represents the Scottish islands. Fun Fact: Originally distributed as Rock Oyster, the bottling was renamed to Rock Island, as oysters had a negative connotation for many customers.

The Singleton of Dufftown 12 year is one of the few bottlings with an age statement of more than 10 years that can be purchased for under 30€. It is part of the core range (12, 15 and 18 years) of the Dufftown distillery.The three distilleries Dufftown, Glen Ord, and Glendullan produce whiskies under the label The Singleton. While The Singleton of Glen Ord is intended for the Asian market, The Singleton of Glendullan targets the North American market and The Singleton of Dufftown belongs to the European market.

To celebrate their 40th birthday the King Car Group, the owner of the Kavalan Distillery, bottled as a Single Cask Limited Edition Whisky matured in exclusive red wine casks. The bottling has no age statement.The bottle comes in a 1.5 litre size and has a cap studded with Swarovski crystals, which is shaped like a crown to emphasise the exclusivity. The whole thing is packed in a high-quality wooden box. The presentation is actually quite impressive.

The discounter LIDL has some single malts in its range, including the Ben Bracken Highland, which is described as light and elegant. We took a closer look at the Whisky.LIDL does not reveal which distillery is behind Ben Bracken. All we know is that we have a Whisky from the Highlands at a bargain price in our glass. The packaging is blue, which distinguishes it from the other Whiskys in the series. There is also an Islay Whisky, an Highland peated and a bottling from Speyside.

The family business Berry Bros & Rudd is considered to be Britain's oldest wine and spirits merchant and is also said to have stocked the Titanic with spirits. Today, the company is known among whisky lovers for its excellent blends.We have a blended malt from the Classic Range by Berry Bros & Rudd in our glass. The Classic Range includes Whiskys from the different regions of Scotland, in this case from Speyside. Of course, the company does not reveal which distilleries the different Whiskys come from.

Named after the Oa Peninsula on the Isle of Islay, Ardbeg An Oa was the first addition to the standard range ten years after the Ardbeg Corryvreckan, having previously focused entirely on limited bottlings.Once again without an age statement, Ardbeg presents us with a Whisky that is even available in a limited barbecue smoker edition. A very good idea, we think, because this way you get the desired smoky flavour even without spices on the barbecue peppers.

Older Whiskys from the Ardmore distillery are rarely found. Among the younger standards is the Ardmore Legacy, as well as the Ardmore Port Wood Finish 12 years, reviewed here.A special characteristic of the distillery from the Scottish Highlands is that, unlike its neighbours, it uses peated barley and thus a fruity-smoky note can be found in the spirits.