Though I only discovered Dutch whisky company The Barrel Baron recently, I am already a fan. After all, co-founder Marcel Kip and his partners are total malt maniacs offering both top-quality indie bottlings and exclusive cask shares. (more…)
Independent
North Star Whisky: Blind Tasting w/ @WhiskyGermany (Tasting)
For Iain Croucher, the founder and mainman of Scottish indie bottler North Star Spirits, whisky is a pretty simple thing. At the end of the day, he claims, a good bottling must only meet four criteria: It must be honest. It must be fun. It must be tasty. And it must be opened and shared. (more…)
Douglas Laing’s “Whisky Discovery” Tasting – Remarkable Malts (Tasting)
The recent “Whisky Discovery” tasting by Douglas Laing marked a novelty in the company’s 70-plus-year history: This was the first time that the Glasgow-based malt mavens gave their fans the chance to taste a new selection of drams exclusively before the official release. (more…)
Glen Moray 10 Years Old by Claxton’s (Review)
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…)
BenRiach 10yo “12.48 – Hoppy madness” by The SMWS (Review)
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…)
1x Brandy by Whic & 1x Bourbon by North Star (Review Flight)
In their capacity as indie bottlers, Whic.de are known and respected for their high-quality whisky releases. Recently, they have strayed from that path a bit and – for the first time – launched another kind of spirit under their name: a Late Bottled Brandy from Thompson Bros. (more…)
Starward 3yo by Berry Bros & Rudd for Kirsch Whisky (Review)
This is a rather special bottling: After all, Starward from Australia is the first distillery outside of Scotland from which renowned indie bottlers Berry Bros & Rudd have released a whisky. That is all the more remarkable if you consider that Berry Bros & Rudd look back at a rich history, (more…)
Imperial 22yo Single Cask by Chapter 7 Whisky (Review)
From Scotland’s various ghost distilleries, Imperial in Speyside still ranks among the more accessible ones. Sure, new Imperial bottlings do not exactly pop up twice or thrice a week. And when they do, they do not sell for bargain prices. Yet, it is much easier and cheaper (more…)
3x Single Cask Scotch Whisky from DeinWhisky.de – Ben Nevis, Tomatin & Secret Speyside (Review Flight)
For his latest batch of exclusives, Sebastian of DeinWhisky.de has joined forces with two very renowned indie bottlers: Sansibar Whisky from Germany and Hart Brothers from Scotland. From these two companies, Sebastian sourced three really special drops: (more…)
