One thing I really love about whisky is this: It’s one helluva complex and versatile drink; and no matter what a dram’s characteristics are – old or young, strong or mild, peaty or fruity, and so on – it always has the potential to blow you right out of your socks! (more…)
When Loch Lomond Distillery’s local importer Wein Wolf released this single cask bottling on the German market in late 2021, I learned two things from it: First, I discovered that Pineau des Charentes casks can be really well-suited for whisky maturation. (more…)
Gruesome greetings, everybody! Today is October 31, which means that the ghosts of All Hallow’s Eve will pay us a visit and demand a tribute. Against contrary believe, the best gift you can get them is neither a chocolate bar nor a bag of sweets. It is a whisky! (more…)
The first-ever independent bottling from tiny Dutch craft distillery Cley is absolutely brilliant. The company responsible for it, The Barrel Baron, picked a top-notch cask and presented it in a very classy way! (more…)
The driving forces behind the new indie bottler The Liquid Madness are two well-known whisky mavens from Germany, namely Tilo “The Caskhound” Schnabel and Sebastian “The Spirits Alchemist” Büssing. The two self-proclaimed “spirit adventurers” have joint forces (more…)
Earlier this year, Glaswegian indie bottler North Star celebrated its fifth anniversary. So, before I continue, here is a little insert: “Happy Birthday, Iain and team! Keep up the stellar work!” And now, on with the text … For my latest review here at BarleyMania, I have spent some quality time (more…)
In recent months, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society released a couple of bottles with the identifier 24 on the label. All of ’em got sold out within minutes, if not seconds. The reason for this: In the bottle code system of The SMWS, the number 24 stands for The Macallan (more…)
Over the years, Burg Scharfenstein – a medieval castle in the federal state of Thuringia in Germany – had many owners. Since most of them did not really know what to do with the place, they did not give it the attention it needed and deserved. Luckily, this changed in recent years (more…)
When I met Fary Lochan’s CCO and Chairman Thomas Smidt-Kjærby in Hamburg last Saturday, he told me something that really lightened up my heart: After a lengthy corona break, the distillery has meanwhile opened its doors to visitors again. And the drammers in Denmark (more…)
The Isle of Raasay is located in the northwest of Scotland, adjacent to the Isle of Skye. It is also from there that the only ferry to Raasay departs; it starts in Sconser and lands in Inverarish about half and hour later. Whereas the island has a long history of illicit distilling, (more…)
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