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…)
Islay
Big Peat Christmas Edition 2019 & The Gauldrons Batch 05 (Review Flight)
Merry Christmas, dear BarleyMania readers! I hope you all have a good pour put aside for tonight. As in the years before, I will enjoy a dram of Big Peat’s annual Christmas Edition on December 24. After all, the holiest of nights would feel incomplete without a visit from my favorite Ileach. (more…)
3 Maritime Malts by Douglas Laing – Talisker, Orkney & Caol Ila (Review Flight)
“I traced the shorelines through a thousand histories / To remind me an island is my home / An island is my home…” – These beautiful words from Frank Turner’s song “Rivers” are not only true for the people living in Great Britain, but also for the distilleries located on the Scottish isles. (more…)
“Ho, ho, ho!” – Big Peat Christmas Edition 2019 coming down the chimney this month (News)
Spirit-wise, one of my favorite parts of the festive season is sipping the annual X-mas bottling from Big Peat. This year, Douglas Laing’s bearded Ileach will again delight us with a heavily peated blended malt encompassing some of Islay’s most popular distilleries. (more…)
Ovenbird Coffee aged for 10 Weeks in Whisky Barrels from Laphroaig (Review)
I had cast an eye on the Laphroaig expression of Ovenbird’s “Whisky Coffee Collection” for quite some time. The idea und story behind it sounded super-intriguing to me. However, there was one hurdle to take: as I am based in Germany, I had to purchase it from abroad. (more…)
Kilchoman STR Cask Matured (Review)
Big Peat Feis Ile 2019 (Review)
Caol Ila 14yo by Gordon & MacPhail (Review)
As a marketer by profession, I am quite susceptible to good storytelling and well-conceived ad campaigns. Still, I am also always happy when a whisky manages to catch my attention without supplementary hoo-ha. This 14-year-old Caol Ila from Gordon & MacPhail’s (more…)