Just because a label reads “Japanese whisky”, the spirit inside the bottle must not necessarily come from Japan – at least not entirely. Since the land of the rising sun has rather loose regulations in this regard, nothing hinders local producers to add imported malt or grain to their distillate (more…)
A couple of days ago, I spoke with a whisky buddy of mine, who named Teaninich as his favorite distillery. This was a first for me. Usually, people drop other names during such a conversation: The Macallan, Springbank, Bruichladdich or Tobermory, for example. (more…)
Recently, Whic.de released Batch 2 of its “Nymphs of Whisky” series. It consists of four single cask releases from Scotland, namely a Glen Moray 11yo, an Arran 13yo, a Craigellachie 12yo and a Secret Speyside 14yo. The Glen Moray, I already introduced here on BarleyMania (more…)
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…)
In the last few years, Denmark has emerged to become one of my favorite whisky countries. I just love the attitude, the approach and, of course, the products of our neighbouring distillers in the north. Three Danish production sites I enjoy a lot are Fary Lochan, Mosgaard and Stauning. (more…)
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…)
I am always happy when I get to try a new single cask bottling from Whic. Over the last couple of years, the Munich-based company released quite a lot of whiskies that left a big impression on me. Here’s another two: an 11-year-old single malt from Glen Moray distillery (more…)
Whisky-wise and beyond, the year was really awesome! So it deserves to be ended with a bang. Therefore, I have chosen a special whisky triple for my last blog post in 2019, namely three blended malts from Glasgow’s North Star Spirits. (more…)
Grain-based spirit is awesome. And so is grape-based spirit! The Imperial XO by Carlos I Brandy falls into the latter category. It originates from Spain’s famous sherry region Jerez and is made exclusively from so-called holandas (more…)
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…)
