North Star

Bottle Market 2021 – Whisky and Spirits Fair in Bremen (Fair)

Bottle Market 2021 in Bremen ("Taste the Spirit" Whisky Fair Festival Event Tasting BarleyMania)

Located at Hall 7 of Messe Bremen, Bottle Market is one of Northern Germany’s biggest whisky and spirits fairs. And at least in my humble opinion it is also one of the absolute best! The three-day event is centrally located in direct vicinity of Bremen’s main train station. (more…)

Glasgow Distillery 5yo Sherry Cask Finish by North Star (Review)

Glasgow Distillery 5yo Oloroso Sherry Finish by North Star Spirits (Single Malt Scotch Malt Whisky Lowlands Tasting Notes Blog)

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…)

North Star Whisky: Blind Tasting w/ @WhiskyGermany (Tasting)

North Star Spirits Virtual Whisky Tasting (Single Malt Independent Bottler Scotch Event BarleyMania)

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…)

1x Brandy by Whic & 1x Bourbon by North Star (Review Flight)

1x Brandy by Whic & 1x Bourbon by North Star (Single Malt Spirit Tasting Notes BarleyMania)

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…)

3x Scotch Whisky by Whic, Claxton’s and North Star (Review Flight)

3x Single Malt Scotch Whisky by Whic, Claxton's & North Star Spirits (Sherry Cask Hogshead Blog Review Notes BarleyMania)

Recently, Whic.de sent me a sample of part two of their Tarot series. The whisky in question is a 13-year-old Deanston called “The High Priestess”. Like its predecessor, it originates from the stock of indie bottling giant Signatory Vintage (more…)

3x Single Malt Whisky from North Star’s Series 009 (Review Flight)

North Star Spirits Series 009 (Single Malt Scotch English Whisky Review Flight Tating Notes)

To the center of Speyside, to the north-east coast of Islay and even south of the border to England – this sample flight from North Star Spirits takes me off and about. It consists of three single malt whisky bottlings, each of which got filled from a single cask (more…)

4 Single Malt Scotch Whiskies from North Star’s Series 008 (Review Flight)

4x Single Malt Scotch Whisky by North Star Spirits (Indepdendent Bottler Auchroisk Inchgower Glenglassaugh Glenturret Tasting Notes)

A few weeks ago, I introduced the three grain whiskies from North Star Spirits’ recent Series 008 here on my blog. Today, I follow up with the malts. All in all, company owner Iain Croucher bottled four exquisite casks that fall into this category. They are between 8 and 13 years old (more…)

3 old Grain Whiskies from North Star’s Series 008 (Review Flight)

3x Grain Whisky by North Star (Single Blend Scotch Cask Indpendent Bottler Tasting Notes)

No grain, no glory! With three out of seven expressions being made from other ingredients than malted barley, Series 008 of North Star Spirits grants grain whisky a prominent spot in the limelight. And the bottlings that Iain Croucher and his team picked for their latest line (more…)

4 Single Cask Whiskies from North Star’s Series 006 (Review Flight)

4x Single Cask Scotch Whisky by North Star Spirits (Bladnoch Glentauchers Miltonduff Tobermory Lowlands Speyside Scotland Malt Tasting Notes)

Last month, I reviewed the four members of North Star’s new Millennial Range here on my blog. Now, I follow up with four other bottlings from Series 006 – which will soon make way for Series 007 to become the most recent batch of North Star releases. (more…)