Reviews

The Sicilian Fruitcake from The Cask Wizard is a fascinating whisky matured in the rare White Marsala Cask. The cask was pre-aged for 15 long years with the Sicilian liqueur wine Marsala.

LIDL's The Targe 1994 is an interesting grain whisky that takes the limelight thanks to its maturation and attractive competitive price. This whisky offers a wealth of aromas and flavours that make it a remarkable offering in the LIDL whisky range.

We speak for ourselves and probably for many others: We didn't realise that whisky comes from South Africa. And we were even less aware that this single malt whisky is smoky and yes - small spoiler - it's really not bad!

In the limited Wood Collection, GlenAllachie showcases the effect that different types of sherry can have on whisky maturation. They transferred their Single Malt, aged for 6.5 years in ex-bourbon casks, into casks previously filled with different sherries: Fino, Amontillado, and Oloroso. After a total maturation period of 9 years, all three variants were bottled at 48%, without coloring or chill filtration. On invitation from Kirsch Import and Billy Walker himself, we had the pleasure of comparing these three bottlings side by side, focusing on how cask management and selection influence the aroma.

In the limited Wood Collection, GlenAllachie showcases the effect that different types of sherry can have on whisky maturation. They transferred their Single Malt, aged for 6.5 years in ex-bourbon casks, into casks previously filled with different sherries: Fino, Amontillado, and Oloroso. After a total maturation period of 9 years, all three variants were bottled at 48%, without coloring or chill filtration. On invitation from Kirsch Import and Billy Walker himself, we had the pleasure of comparing these three bottlings side by side, focusing on how cask management and selection influence the aroma.

In the limited Wood Collection, GlenAllachie showcases the effect that different types of sherry can have on whisky maturation. They transferred their Single Malt, aged for 6.5 years in ex-bourbon casks, into casks previously filled with different sherries: Fino, Amontillado, and Oloroso. After a total maturation period of 9 years, all three variants were bottled at 48%, without coloring or chill filtration. On invitation from Kirsch Import and Billy Walker himself, we had the pleasure of comparing these three bottlings side by side, focusing on how cask management and selection influence the aroma.

The Agitator distillery from Sweden describes itself as a modern whisky producer. Their stated goal is to break with traditions and use new and unconventional methods to produce high-quality single malt. This includes vacuum distillation, which is supposed to be gentler due to the lower boiling point. Today, we get to try one of their core-range releases: full maturation in a chestnut cask.

Malts from three German distilleries (Swabian Alp, Black Forest, Lake Constance) were married together. Some of these were previously matured in former Islay casks and the oldest of the three components was allowed to mature for over 12 years in bourbon casks. The malt was then finished in ex-Tawny port casks.

It's that time of year again. On the last Saturday in June, we celebrate the Day of the German Whisky. The St. Kilian Distillery is hosting its Whisky Festival for the second time. With great anticipation, we take this opportunity to closely examine the special edition from last year's festival. This time, it's the popular Hungarian oak from St. Kilian. The relatively small 95-liter casks impart a very rich color to this single malt, despite an aging period of just under five years.

The Glentauchers distillery in Speyside is one of the lesser-known but not exactly small distilleries. This is primarily because there is no visitor center, and most of the production is used in blended whiskies. Besides its own core range bottling, there are occasionally independently bottled Glentauchers malts. Today, we sampled the 11-years from the 100 Proof series by Signatory Vintage. The latter is very popular with us, and we were looking forward to this dram.

The Mac-Talla Red Wine Barriques is a limited edition, bottled at 53.8% by Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers. It is a single malt from an unnamed distillery on the Scottish island of Islay. The 24 married casks were pre-filled with wines from the Bordeaux region in France.

Our dear neighbors from the Netherlands typically favor genever, often aged, over whisky. While genever shares the idea of using malted barley in its production, the additional distillation with juniper drastically alters its character. However, today we're trying a genuine Dutch whisky. Unchill-filtered and aged in ex-Bourbon and ex-Port wine casks.