Reviews

After the No Age Statement (NAS) Whiskys (legitimately) earned some criticism in recent years, the Islay distillery Ardbeg dared to take the bold step of releasing a young single malt with an age statement and including it in the standard bottlings.The Ardbeg Wee Beastie is intended as a young, wild and untamed bottling to expand the standard range. After a maturation period of 5 years, it is to be expected that some flavours will not be quite round yet. Incidentally, the Wee replaces the Ardbeg Corryvreckan as Ardbeg's most peated Scotch.

The casks in which the New Make was later to mature took an exciting route. If Annandale's single malt whisky tastes anywhere near as complex as the Shaved Toasting and Recharring (STR) cask-burning process was, then we have a unique single cask bottling here.Originally, the barrels were filled with French Burgundy for up to seven years. The staves of the barrels were planed and toasted over fire with oak chips. This process is supposed to caramelise sugar and vanillin - exposed by the planing process. Finally, the casks were burnt out again and transported from Spain to Scotland. During the transport, the barrels were filled with Oloroso sherry. This ensured that the barrels remained hydrated.

Bunnahabhain Stiuireadair was created as a tribute to the sea and sailors, because without the sea and without a ship it is almost impossible to get from the island to the mainland. So we expect something very maritime.As the first NAS (No Age Statement) Whisky from Bunnahabhain, the Stiuireadair was chosen as the entry point. Matured in first- and second-fill sherry casks, we would not be surprised if there was a strong resemblance to the Bunnahabhain 12 Years.

The single malt whisky Lagavulin 16 Years is the best-selling bottling of the Islay distillery. Every now and then, there are even supply bottlenecks, which is rather unusual for a classic malt. Is the Scotch really that good?We can no longer count how many bottles it is now. It may even be the 6th or 7th. We often hear that Lagavulin 16 has lost some of its quality. We absolutely do not see it that way. We have had at least consistent quality over the last 12 or 13 years. But perhaps the competition has become stronger, so that the Islay malt no longer stands out so much?

Mackmyra Intelligens AI:01 is a single malt whisky from Sweden whose recipe was created with the help of artificial intelligence. Since both of us (Marcel & Sascha) come from a computer science background, we are more than excited to see what awaits us here.Combine customer preferences with sales data and existing recipes, throw a bit of statistics into the pot and then run the learning model on a Microsoft cloud and you magically get a whisky of the highest order. At least that's the idea.

In 2008, just under 15 years ago, the first bottlings of the Taiwanese distillery appeared and only four years later conquered the world market within a very short time. Rightly so?The Whiskys of the Kavalan distillery mature in a subtropical climate. Unlike European or Scottish Whiskys, an intense flavor can be achieved even in much shorter storage time. In principle, Kavalan Whiskys are delivered without age indication. Presumably, this is usually a maximum of 5 years, rather less.

Little black hill is roughly the translation of Knockando from the Gaelic. The distillery is located near Tamdhu and Cardhu. However, the geographical proximity has nothing to do with the taste profiles. These are in fact very different.Knockando actually focuses on the production of blended malts. However, there are a few bottlings of their own, such as the 12-years Classic Malt and the 15-years Richly Matured. We have the older of the two in our glass.

Glenmorangie 10 Years is one of the best-selling single malts in Scotland and is now available in a wide variety of editions, such as the giraffe edition. This is supposed to stand for the particularly high stills of the distillery located in the Highlands.The malt was matured in first and refill bourbon casks, which Glenmorangie fills no more than twice. The soft character of the single malt whisky is supported by the 8-metre-high stills.

"Dingle. Hand-made character. Unique Whiskey." - This is the slogan under which the still small distillery has been producing its whiskey by hand since 2012. Distillery young, whiskey young. Can that work?Dingle Single Malt Irish Whiskey from 2021 is mainly a 6-7 years spirit matured in first-fill bourbon casks and PX sherry casks and first bottling. Dingle is one of the few Irish distilleries that exclusively produce their own spirit.

Statistically, Octomore is all about the degree of peatiness. Despite its young age, however, we have an incredibly complex whisky in the glass.Why 10.3? There is a simple system behind the numbering. The 10 stands for the series, the 3 for a specific characteristic. In this case, it is the maturation in exclusively ex-American oak barrels. In the 10.3 we have a peat content of 114PPM (phenol parts per million).

The Glenfiddich 12 year is perhaps the best known classic and Scotch for beginners. However, there are also alternatives in this price range.A golden stag proudly presents its antlers on the bottle. In dark green and gold, the bottle and outer packaging look very noble. A successful and harmonious design.

Blended from over 40 different Scotch whiskies and grains, Johnnie Walker is the most widely used whisky for cocktails in bars. We take a look at whether it also delivers what it promises when neat.First bottled in 1909, the Black Label has been with us for over 100 years and has become the world's most famous Scotch blend. Over the years, the whisky, against which everyone had to measure themselves at the time, has won countless awards.