Reviews

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.