When a superstar of the whisky world, such as Douglas Laing’s Islay-born Big Peat, celebrates his birthday, the guestlist looks exquisite. Today, I am happy to introduce you to three high-percentage party animals that came together to celebrate the afore-mentioned occasion. (more…)
When The Double Single by Compass Box launched two years ago, I was an instant fan. Its concept, story and design hit all the right notes with me. Thus I went on to ask CB’s whisky maker Jill Boyd for an interview. (more…)
Sometimes you don’t have to stand very tall,
To be the strongest and greatest of all,
If your heart is good and your soul is pure, (more…)
When I read on the internet that Douglas Laing was about to release a limited edition of their Lowlands blended malt The Epicurean, a huge smile formed on my face. As a dedicated fan of this moustached muchacho, I could not wait to find out what this special bottling (more…)
Born in Glasgow but at home in cities big and small around the globe, The Epicurean is the Lowlands expression of Douglas Laing’s popular Remarkable Regional Malts range. It is the second-to-last member of the pack (only to be succeeded by the annual limited edition bottling (more…)
Having started as an independent bottler of high-quality single malt whiskies (plus the occasional grain or bourbon thrown in between), North Star has recently also made a name for itself as a blender. Their first such bottling, Vega 23yo, took the whisky community by storm (more…)
Usually, I either buy the whiskies I introduce on BarleyMania myself or borrow them from friends. But every now and then, I also receive a sample from a distillery or from an independent bottler. Although I understand that some of you might question the impartiality (more…)
Japanese oak, also referred to as Mizunara oak, is probably the rarest component from which whisky barrels can be made. Due to the slow growth and knotted stature of the respective trees, the processing of this kind of wood requires excellent craftmanship (more…)
