Whisky Posts & Articles

Ardbeg Twenty One

Ardbeg. That wonderful Islay distillery with a cult following so devoted, over 120,000 fans from over 130 countries have pledged their allegiance to ensure the distillery never closes its doors again.  Again?  Yes, Ardbeg has quite a tale to tell…

Ardbeg has a weight, a brand, a persona, that is bigger than itself. It has a reputation for huge, bold, peaty whiskies, and its name travels so far and with such reverence that you could be forgiven for thinking it’s the biggest distillery on Islay.  In truth, it’s actually the second smallest!  With just one pair of stills churning away, its potential annual production capacity is just a trickle over 1.1 million litres.

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The pioneers of Australia’s whisky appreciation community

Interested in Australian whisky history?  Who were the pioneers of the Australian whisky appreciation scene?  Read on…

“The whisky appreciation scene and the whisky enthusiasts’ community is booming.”

Captain Obvious

For anyone who’s climbed aboard the hurtling whisky juggernaut in the last five years or so, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was always this way.  Here, in Australia, we have brand ambassadors flying around the country and presenting whiskies to established fan bases and new audiences.  We have multiple whisky bars operating in the capital cities and out in the suburbs.  We have countless whisky clubs that meet regularly.  We have online whisky clubs and groups that exist in various Facebook spheres.  We have a selection of 40 to 50 different whiskies to choose from in the supermarket chain retailers.  We have online whisky stores that ship the latest and greatest releases to your doorstep.  We have whisky expos in each of the capital cities.  We have distilleries opening up or establishing all across the country.   Australian whisky history has not seen anything like it. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  We ain’t never had it this good before.

But it wasn’t always this way.   Hard as it might seem to believe, there was a time when life for the Australian whisky enthusiast was the polar opposite.   Imagine being a whisky fan in the mid-1970’s when less than a handful of single malt brands were available.  Imagine going into a bottle shop in the late 1990’s and having a selection of no more than six different bottlings to select from.  Imagine no whisky bars.   Imagine no online whisky resources or communications.  In fact, imagine no internet!

It was in those seemingly primitive times that the first pioneers and members of the whisky enthusiasts’ community of Australia set out trying to (a) source malt whisky, (b) share their enthusiasm with other people, and (c) gather together a community of like-minded souls around them.

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Lagavulin 8yo Launch

As is widely known across the whiskysphere, 2016 sees the Lagavulin distillery celebrate its 200th Anniversary. No one celebrates a 200th birthday lightly, and Lagavulin has been widely praised for the release of its limited edition (but widely accessible and affordable) celebratory 8yo in honour of the occasion.  Whisky & Wisdom had an early taste of this, and wrote up a piece about the distillery and the whisky back in April.   You can read that piece and the review on the 8yo here.

However, more recently – and closer to home – the 8yo had its local launch in Australia just a few weeks ago. Held at The Wild Rover in Sydney’s Surry Hills, the launch was not just the unveiling and tasting of the whisky, but it was also an incredible virtual reality (VR) tour of the distillery.

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Johnnie Walker Select Casks – Rye Cask Finish

Keen to learn more about Johnnie Walker’s Select Casks range and the new Rye Cask Finish?  Read on…

Keen observers of the malt whisky industry will have noted the kaleidoscope of ever-expanding and diversifying product portfolios amongst the various brands.   The days of a distillery featuring just a 12yo and an 18yo bottling are long gone…today it is de rigueur for serious distilleries to offer an entry-level NAS, a peated NAS, a 10yo with a wood finish, a 12yo, a 14yo port wood, a 15yo cask-strength, an 18yo sherry wood, a 21yo, a 25yo that no one can afford, and finally a release with a fancy gaelic name that will be mispronounced around the world.

Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is subjective, and there are pros and cons on both sides of the argument.  The marketing departments argue that they need more bottles on the shelf of liquor stores and bars so that the brand stands out.  It also gives the warehouses and blenders flexibility with stock.  And, for the consumer, the range of choice, variance, and price points forever increases.  My personal view is that the industry is self-generating a consumer base that becomes increasingly fickle and with a shorter and shorter attention span, but that’s a piece for another day.

In the meantime, it’s been interesting to observe that the same pressures and marketing ideals have extended to the blends.  Even the most traditional blends are having to come out with variations and new expressions to maintain interest and keep up with the Joneses.  Or, in this case, the Johnnies.

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Westland Whiskey – an American game changer?

It’s no secret that America is in the grip of a craft distillery boom right now.   According to the American Craft Spirits Association, there are over 770 craft distilleries in action across the US!  Of course, many of these distilleries are producing brandies, eau de vies, vodkas and so forth, and so we shouldn’t instantly assume that it’s all whisky/whiskey.  However, the number of distilleries that are actually profitable and creating more than a blip on the radar with consistent product is much, much smaller.   Look at the distilleries making a whisk(e)y, much less a malt whisky, and the number is smaller still.  Enter Westland whiskey…

When it comes to craft distilleries that are making a malt whisky on a scale that is garnering international attention, few rise above the pack more than Westland Distillery.  Located in Seattle, Washington (right up in the very north-west corner of the USA), the distillery has been in production since June 2011.

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The Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Championship, 2016

{This is an older post from the 2016 Championship.  See our newer post following the 2022 event}

The Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Championship is a bit like the internet.  It’s something you might think is a relatively “new” thing, when the reality is that it’s been around for decades longer than you gave it credit for.

In actual fact, the Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Championship has been around since 1989!  As the name suggests, it is a tasting competition, and had its origins in Adelaide, South Australia.  The competition’s principal format and structure has remained largely unchanged over the years: Competitors are presented with eight whiskies pre-poured before them, and supplied with a list of nine possible whiskies – in other words, the eight whiskies that are on the table, plus one red herring.   Competitors are then given 30 minutes to identify which whisky is which and to write their answers on the answer sheet.  Of course, having a list with all of the possible contenders in front of you makes the exercise seem a little easier, but the challenge is also in establishing which whisky of the nine on the list is not on the table!

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Eight ways that whisky tells you you’re getting older

In many of life’s pursuits, there are often tell-tale signs along the way that you’re getting older.   For example, that radio station you used to love listening to in your teens no longer does it for you.  Certain drinks you used to enjoy no longer agree with you.  Or you discover your favourite bands that you grew up with are now referred to as vintage or classic rock.  Or that 5km jog you used to do in 25 minutes now takes you 40 minutes to complete.   You get the idea.

Whisky is another such medium that delivers the not-so-subtle message to you that – just like a perfectly balanced Glenfarclas – you’ve been maturing for quite a few years now.   Whilst the whisky industry seems to be hurtling you down a steep path towards a No Age Statement retirement, there are…particularly if you’re older than 40 and have been drinking whisky since the 1990’s…plenty of signs that you, personally, are carrying an age statement.

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An audience with Balvenie and David Stewart

Want to know about David Stewart and his role with Balvenie / William Grant and Sons?  Read on….

If you’re an employer or in charge of Human Resources, you’ll be aware of the dynamic and shifting nature of your workforce in recent years.  Being Generation X myself, it was drummed into me that you should show loyalty to your employer and stick around.  We were constantly told by the Baby Boomer generation above us that “your CV will look more impressive and you’ll be rewarded if you’ve demonstrated that you stay at the one place for five to ten years.”

This is in stark contrast to the Gen Y and Millenial approach, where the thinking seems to be that a CV littered with multiple positions and experience gained across a many different roles and jobs is the more attractive pursuit.

So with that as context, what do we make of an employee who sticks with his boss for 54 years?  What do we make of a role and a career that has outlasted many people’s lives, let alone most people’s professional undertakings?  Such is the story and the appeal of Mr David Stewart of Balvenie.

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Teeling “The Revival” 15yo

Teeling Whiskey, the new Irish brand (and new Irish distillery!) continues to make waves and inroads since announcing itself on the world stage.  Whisky & Wisdom has written much about this in the past, but rather than repeating the history in this little piece, you can read our previous article here. With the Teeling Distillery opening in Dublin in 2015, there is a true sense of revival, and so what better name than Revival to give the first of the updated Vintage Reserve Collection.   (Revival – a 15yo release – will be followed by a 24yo and 33yo release).

The new Teeling 15yo Revival – limited to 10,000 bottles – consists of whiskey distilled in 1999 and matured exclusively in ex-rum casks.  Bottled at 46% and non-chillfiltered, it’s a juicy whiskey that provides an interesting mix of both spirit and wood-driven characteristics.

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Macallan – The past, present, and future collide

In France, they timestamp their modern history into pre and post The Revolution.  In countries like Germany & Japan, the split point is pre and post World War II.  In the computing world, Apple has come to be referenced as pre and post Steve Jobs.  And for fans of Macallan, life is pre and post 2004.

This is a topic close to home, and much has been written about this previously.  For a more detailed rundown and perspective on Macallan and how its whiskies have changed since the mid-2000s, I encourage you to read this piece The highs and lows of Macallan.

But for now, suffice it to say that 2004 was the year Macallan made the momentous decision to introduce bourbon cask-matured spirit into their official bottlings.  It started with the Elegancia release, followed by the launch of the Fine Oak range.  By 2005, as a result of growing markets and increased demand (which had a flow-on effect to cask procurement, cask management, and the recipes/vattings for the various releases), many regular Macallan drinkers felt the brand’s whiskies changed in style, character, and quality – even the releases that remained purely sherry cask-matured.  After decades of 100% exclusive sherry maturation releases and undisputed quality, suddenly, Macallan drinkers across the world fell into one of two camps:  Those that liked Macallan, and those that liked what it used to be like.

But that was then.  This is now.  What about the new generation of Macallan drinkers being introduced to the brand today?  Now that the dust has settled and the apocalyptic events of 2004/5 are a blissfully unknown chapter in an unknown whisky history book, how do today’s twenty-somethings approach a distillery they’ve heard so much about, when so many of the celebrated bottlings are either unavailable in their country, or priced at a point that is beyond what most can afford?

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