Whisky opinions, articles, feature pieces, info and reviews.
With so many different special releases of Ardbeg that catch everyone’s attention each year (i.e. the annual Ardbeg Day releases such as Kelpie, Dark Cove, Perpetuum, Auriverdes, etc, or the limited release of the 21yo), it’s easily to forget that Ardbeg’s actual core range consists of just three bottlings: Uigeadail, Corryvreckan, and the 10yo. Ardbeg’s An Oa now changes that…
Continue reading “Ardbeg An Oa”
Glen Moray celebrates its 120th anniversary this year, having been founded way back in 1897. The distillery had humble beginnings and had already endured over a decade of silence and inactivity when it was bought by Macdonald & Muir (effectively Glenmorangie) in 1920. Glenmorangie held the reins for the next 88 years, during which time the distillery became a workhorse for the many supermarket blends that Macdonald & Muir were behind. If you believe the folklore, Glen Moray was also the playground for Dr Bill Lumsden, who would conduct all manner of trials and maturation experiments on Glen Moray spirit before transferring his more successful undertakings across to Glenmorangie.
Continue reading “Glen Moray Mastery”
[Updated April 2024] Yes, of all the things to do in Speyside, the most obvious is to visit the distilleries and drink whisky. But there’s so much more on offer if you look beyond the distilleries…
Continue reading “The Top Six things to do in Speyside”
(Or everything you wanted to know about Ardnamurchan but were afraid to ask!)
In this digital age of whisky websites and social media activity, there are very few secrets left in the whisky industry. Once upon a time, a new distillery would suddenly appear and no one knew much about it except for what might have been published in a subsequent book. Today, by the time a new distillery’s first release is bottled, it seems we’ve all followed the journey of the distillery breaking ground; building the stillhouse; installing the stills; starting production; and filling the casks. We’ve done the virtual tour of the distillery before the Visitor Centre has even opened its doors!
One of the primary reasons for this is simply because most of us will never get to make the journey to the distillery, and thus we live and drink vicariously through what we read and view online. Consider, also, that not all distilleries are blessed by geography: Auchentoshan and Glenkinchie, for example, are an easy bus ride from the big city centres of Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively, but things are trickier for the more remote distilleries that sit well off the tourist trail or are located on the fringes of Scotland’s reaches.
Ardnamurchan is one such distillery. If you’re looking to start up a new distillery, your choice of location is fairly critical. In addition to the most obvious requirement (i.e. a good water source), other considerations will be existing infrastructure, convenient access, shared resources, a ready-made tourist trail for visitors, and ease of transport for both the delivery of materials and the departure of spirit and filled casks. So – with all these essentials being key to a successful distillery venture – why would you choose to locate your distillery in one of the most far flung, remote, and inaccessible parts of Scotland? In the case of Ardnamurchan, the answer is pretty simple: Because they can.
Continue reading “Ardnamurchan – The western jewel of Scotland”
Thinking about climbing Ben Rinnes? If you love whisky and you’re visiting Speyside, then a hike up to the top of Ben Rinnes is a must.
Each year, thousands of whisky tourists make their way to Speyside to visit their own personal mecca. Each pilgrim no doubt has their own favourite distillery and plans their itinerary around getting a glimpse into the factory that produces their most revered malt.
Of course, no one travels all the way to Speyside to visit just one, single distillery and thus it’s not uncommon for we pilgrims to set up camp in one of the many hotels or B&B’s and use it as a base to explore multiple distilleries over several days.
Outside of the distilleries, however, your average whisky tourist quickly runs out of things to do in Speyside. The only other pursuits are the outdoors – golf, salmon fishing, and hiking. And it’s this last category that offers something pretty special to the whisky enthusiast.
Ben Rinnes is the highest mountain in the Speyside region. At 840m, it’s officially a “Corbett”, being 300 feet shy to qualify as a Munro. It towers above many of the distilleries, and the snow melt and water run-off from the hills goes a long way to supplying many of the surrounding distilleries in its foothills. Needless to say, the view from the summit is incredible, and distillery spotters can have fun trying to identify the many distilleries visible from the top. For the whisky enthusiast or jaded Speyside visitor looking for a new perspective, climbing Ben Rinnes is a highly recommended and rewarding journey. So here’s the whisky lover’s guide to climbing Ben Rinnes…
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With Ardbeg Day now an entrenched part of the whisky calendar, it seems unnecessary to go into great detail about the day itself and what it entails. Of course, whilst the day itself is a great hive of fun and activity, most people’s focus and attention is on the special release bottling. This year’s release, Ardbeg Kelpie, is a belter, and an Ardbeg to make the purists happy.
Continue reading “Ardbeg Kelpie – The 46% Retail Release”
You might think that sharing whisky samples or organising a bottle split between friends is a harmless undertaking. Arguably so. But there is another side to the equation…
Last week I walked into a fancy steakhouse – a restaurant that’s run by one of Australia’s leading and most well-known restauranteurs and celebrity chefs. I was shown to my table and handed the menu. Wow…it showcased an amazing selection of gourmet choices, although with price tags to make most of us squirm. There was one particular steak that stood out – it was a particular cut of wagyu that sounded out of this world. As was its price tag! I’d love to have treated myself to it, but it was more than what my budget could justify. Besides, there were much cheaper steaks that also looked pretty tempting, and I couldn’t order two meals now, could I? I resigned myself to the fact that I’d probably have to order one of the cheaper, more regular cuts.
As I pondered this situation, a waiter brought the main course out to the couple who were sitting at the table next to me. I couldn’t help but notice that the man had ordered the very wagyu steak I was lusting for. 20 minutes later, as they settled into their meal, I leaned across and said, “Excuse me – I was just wondering if you’d mind cutting off a piece of your steak and giving it to me so that I can try it?”
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It’s nonsense, isn’t it? You’d never have the temerity to do such a thing or to make such an undignified request. So why does this very situation play out in the whisky world? We wouldn’t do it with food at a restaurant (yes, for the record, the above story was a fictional allegory), yet plenty of people are quite happy to make similar requests when it comes to whisky. It’s the dark side of whisky samples.
Continue reading “The dark side of whisky samples and bottle splits”
It’s hardly shiny or earth-shattering news to write that new distilleries are popping up all over Scotland. In fact, such a statement is unlikely to pique any interest amongst the more learned whisky enthusiasts. However, what does become interesting is when you start to look at the geography of these new distilleries. Many are now re-populating the Lowlands, such as the Glasgow Distillery, or the wee-explosion of distilleries in Fife (e.g. Kingsbarns, Daftmill, etc). Others are adding to the spectrum of Speyside, such as Ballindalloch or Dalmunach.
When starting a new distillery in these current times, the owners will be looking for some key necessities when deciding upon the site of their distillery. In addition to the most obvious requirement (i.e. a good water source), other considerations will be existing infrastructure, convenient access, shared resources, a ready-made tourist trail for visitors, and ease of transport for both the delivery of raw materials and the departure of spirit and filled casks. So – with all these essentials being key to a successful distillery start-up, why would you choose to locate your distillery in one of the most far flung, remote, and inaccessible parts of Scotland? In the case of Ardnamurchan, the answer is pretty simple: Because they can.
Continue reading “Ardnamurchan 2016/AD”
Does the Diageo Special Releases 2016 range need an introduction? For anyone who’s entered the single malt whisky scene in recent years, the choice and array of bottlings, brands and releases can be overwhelming. Almost 30 years ago now, the situation was very different when Diageo launched “The Classic Malts” – first into travel retail in 1988, and then into the domestic market in 1989. Those six whiskies (Glenkinchie, Cragganmore, Oban, Dalwhinnie, Talisker, and Lagavulin) became the vehicle through which hundreds of thousands of people were introduced to malt whisky. For close to a decade they were almost the definitive collection and – notwithstanding the omnipresence of the likes of Glenfiddich and Glenlivet – it was only by the late 1990’s that other brands and recognisable labels started to consistently appear in regular retail outlets.
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For the review and tasting notes of the Ardbeg Kelpie Committee Edition, scroll further down.
With multi-tasking all the rage these days, this piece combines two distinct happenings involving Ardbeg. The second of these relates to Kelpie, this year’s new release to coincide with Ardbeg Day. But before we try and conquer that wee beastie, have you heard of Ardbeg Untamed?
Continue reading “Ardbeg Kelpie Committee Release & Ardbeg Untamed”
