Category Archives: Whisky Reviews

Whisky Review – Benriach 12 Year Old Arumaticus Fumosus (Peated / Dark Rum Cask)

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Seems like lately I’m on a Rum roll and finding different excuses to try and report back to you about Rum or Rum finished whiskies. In another gathering not so long ago we started our drinking with yet another Peated/Rum combo whisky – The BenRiach 12yo Arumaticus Fumosus Peated/Rum. I was curious as I tasted another Rum/Peat whisky few days before that (Chieftain’s Caol Ila), but this one is an official bottling and not from Islay. Let’s dive in:

Benriach 12 Year Old Arumaticus Fumosus / Peated / Dark Rum Cask (46%, buy for £34.95 here)

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Whisky Review – Balvenie 30 Year Old

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I’ve tasted many of the Balvenie core range whiskies: from the 12yo Double Wood to the 21yo PortWood and some indies (spooned Balvenies). I even had a fabulous tour at the distillery (read my recap here). But how about aiming high and try the one high-end OB Balvenie we mortals can have (without going bankrupt)?

No, it’s not the Tun 1041 as I don’t think we can consider the Tun 1041 as core range OB, I’m talking on the Balvenie 30 years old. It’s a cask strength Balvenie, although the ABV may be misleading at 47.3%. The 30 yo Balvenie was matured in a combination of American oak and Oloroso sherry casks.

I’m fortunate having good friends who share the passion and one of the local friends who is a big Balvenie fan, actually went ahead, bought a bottle and invited me over for a dram. I didn’t say no 🙂 (Thanks O. !)

balvenie 30

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Whisky Review – Caol Ila 12

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Distillery_caol-ila

Caol Ila Distillery (from wikimedia commons)

Last week I’ve finished another whisky bottle which accompanied me for a while – a staple one, the Caol Ila 12. It was one of my earliest purchases when I was concentrating mainly on peated Islay whiskies. I looked at my tasting notes and much to my big surprise I found out I never wrote down proper notes on it, so immediately I ‘exerted myself’ and finished the bottle while writing down the tasting notes – all for you, my readers! Continue reading →

Whisky Review – Chieftain’s 1997 Caol Ila 13 year old Jamaican rum cask finish

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I have some affinity to rum as it’s my second favorite spirit so whisky matured or finished in rum is always something I’m happy to drink and enjoy. Few weeks ago I shared some Rum and Rum finished whisky with friends and the line up included this one – a relatively unique combo of peated whisky and rum.

Chieftains 1997 Caol Ila 13 year old Jamaican rum cask finish (43%, 1010 bottles)

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Reviewing AnCnoc peated whiskies – Rutter, Flaughter & Tushkar #LightOnDark

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A few weeks ago Knockdhu Distillery released their first ever AnCnoc peated whiskies to the world with three expressions in the series. All named on peat cutting tools – quite a refreshing change from non-whisky names given to most NAS expressions in the last few years.

The whiskies are bottled at 46%, all non chill-filtered and not coloured (should be mandatory for all whiskies if you ask me!). All were composed from casks laid down between 2004 and 2006, so formal whisky age is ~8 years old although it doesn’t appear on the label but kudos for publicly revealing the age -full disclosure is the way to go and what we customers want – give us the information so we can make a rational decision (or not ;)) if to buy it or leave it on the shelf.

ancnoc peated

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Whisky Review – Jura Delme Evans

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This one is part of a samples package used in Jura 50th Anniversary Tweet Tasting from last year. I really wanted to be part of it but failed but luckily my friend Gal (of the Whisky Israel fame) was generous enough to keep me some of his samples leftovers, so thanks a lot Gal!

This is a single cask (ex-sherry) bottled couple of years ago in 2007 to celebrate William Delme Evans, a former distillery manager who designed the new Jura distillery back in 1958.

Jura 1998 – Delme Evans Select (59.98%, 586 bottles, buy for £148 here)

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Whisky Review – Glen Garioch #GGDrambassador Mystery Dram

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A few weeks ago Glen Garioch posted a public broadcast call to whisky bloggers offering them to register for a chance to taste an upcoming  new Glen Garioch whisky. This is quite the reverse of the standard situation where it’s usually us the bloggers who chase the distilleries for samples 🙂

I registered of course and completely forgot about it until a package showed up at my door few days ago:  Continue reading →

Whisky Review – Caskstrength and Carry On 3D Whisky

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It’s been a while, yeah I know. But it was because of Passover, the Jewish holiday that last 7 days and observant Jews are forbidden to consume most grains and derived products – like Whisky. But now it’s behind us and I’ve consumed my share of drams since then so let’s get back to normal regular posting schedule And today – the forth instalment in the A-Z of whisky series by the genius folks of Caskstrength.net – 3D whisky.

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Whisky Review – Ardbeg 10 Year Old 1996 Old Malt Cask #3058

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I visited a good friend a while ago and while we chatted on whisky (as expected), we also had a couple of drams from his rich ‘library’. Since we were on a peat strike he pulled out this whisky bottle – a bit older Ardbeg indie bottling. This one was distilled before Ardbeg went through the last owner change and overhaul so it’s interesting to see what is the whisky character of this one comparing to older Ardbegs I tasted in the past.

Ardbeg 10 Year Old 1996 Old Malt Cask #3058 (50%)

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Whisky Review – Bunnahabhain Darach Ur Batch 9

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Another whisky I tasted last month during a local whisky tasting charity event was the Bunnahabhain Darach Ur. I love the Bunnahabhain 12 (which I tasted blind. review is here), and I need to open and taste some of their older stuff I have here. But it was a nice surprise to encounter and taste their NAS offering.

Darach Ur was launched for travel retail and the name “Darach Ur” is Gaelic for “New Oak” – a reference to the fact that this whisky is matured exclusively in new American oak casks. Darach Ur is a very successful expression and reached Batch #10 already despite being available only at airports and other travel retail shops. Continue reading →