Often when I utter the term “fruit bomb”, I use it to describe a slightly older dram that has spent – let’s say – 16 or more years in the cask. That is because it usually takes a certain amount of time before those full-on fruit notes reached the climax of their development. (more…)
I love whisky, I love craft beer. And I love it when the two intertwine. One bottling, in which this happens, is the 10-years-old BenRiach from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society called “Hoppy madness”. After an initial maturation in ex-bourbon barrels, this crisp Speysider (more…)
On New Year’s Eve I am all for smoke – albeit in the glass and not in the air! One whisky brand that you can always count on in this regard is Octomore by Bruichladdich. Whenever a malt gets released under the Octomore banner, you can be sure that it is packed to the brim (more…)
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…)
For this year’s Burns Night celebrations,
Our little mouse had special plans.
He sent out lots of invitations, (more…)
