At the end of each year, it becomes time for me to renew my membership to The Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Here, I always pay a little extra to get a mystery bottle along with the prolonged club affiliation. I find it really exciting to wait for the package, open it and take out a surprise (more…)
Recently, my favorite local dealer Weinquelle Lühmann launched its first indie bottling under the new label Weinquelle’s Whisky Choice. For this special occasion, they picked a classic dram from Caol Ila Distillery. It is 10 years old, matured in a hogshead and bottled at cask strength (more…)
Many people envison a classic Scotch distillery to be located in a picturesque valley at the foot of a towering mountain in the Highlands. And yes, when you travel Scotland you will indeed find several such units here and there. But you will also find many others (more…)
Whiskey is best enjoyed in good company. So I immediately agreed when my friend Aaron, who runs the Drams United blog, asked me if I wanted to try this 10-year-old Irish whiskey from Blackadder with him. Sniffing, sipping and dissecting the spirit together was good fun. (more…)
Two years ago, Douglas Laing expanded the core range of The Remarkable Regional Malts. As a follow-up to the regular NAS expressions, the Glasgow-based whisky makers also released permanent 10-year-old versions of Big Peat, Rock Island, Timorous Beastie and Scallywag. (more…)
The island of Helgoland is a popular holiday destination for German drammers. Since it is located in the open sea, the taxes on tobacco and alcohol are not as high there as they are on the mainland. Therefore, you can score all kinds of awesome bargains in Helgoland’s many liquor stores. (more…)
At the last Bottle Market in Bremen, the limited Vintage 2010 by Kilchoman was one of my favorite drams. I drank it at the booth of Vibrant Stills, who distribute Islay’s farm distillery here in Germany. Though I was deeply impressed by this multi-layered smokester’s clarity and refinement (more…)
“To be or not to be?” – In case of “Dramlet: the Dark Prince of Denmark!” there is but one reply to the great playwright William Shakespeare’s existential question. And that is “To be!” on all levels. To be the first Danish whisky in the portfolio of the renowned Scotch Malt Whisky Society. (more…)
In the context of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, the number 66 is a lot more than just two digits clinging to each other. In The Society’s distillery code system it refers to the Beam Suntory-owned Highlands unit Ardmore. And at least in my opinion, this busy production site is always worth checking out. Traditionally, The SMWS has a particularly good nose (more…)
