Tag Archives: Vatted Malt

Whisky Review – Wemyss Malts Kiln Embers

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Today we’ll have a review of a new whisky release targeted at the x-mas/new year holidays shoppers. This time it’s another special edition from Wemyess Malts, Kiln Embers. Kiln Embers release follows Velvet Fig, its very successful predecessor, which I liked a lot and so I had high hopes for this one as well.

This time, Wemyss Malts took different approach and direction, almost 180 degrees of Velvet Fig, going west toward Islay and peat. Yes, it’s true they already have a peated whisky in their portfolio (Peat chimney), but this special edition boast double amount of smoky Islay malt. Let’s check what we have in store here.

Wemyss Malts Kiln embers (46%, 12000 bottles, £32.92/€39.90)

Kiln Embers TPNose: A very malty nose, smoky but the main note for me here was real young, almost new make like, peated spirit. Citrus and lemon, very young and very soft. Continue reading →

Douglas Laing Rock Oyster Review and Notes – NAS the right way

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The NAS rage continues as more NAS whiskies are announced. Talisker Skye, Glenlivet Founders Reserve (which actually replaces the Glenlivet 12yo in some markets!) and more. The NAS topic was already discussed in length on Whisky Gospel and on other blogs but there’s one aspect I didn’t see covered – what about Independent bottlers?

As the demand to single malts soar, even in the current market climate, the stock of aged barrels dwindle down. Distilleries have access to their own warehouse and therefor release NAS whiskies so they can have flexible usage of their own stock and use more young casks instead of aged casks. But Independent bottlers don’t have such free access (unless they pay for it) and they too don’t want to overuse their aged casks which they bought when prices weren’t as high as nowadays. The solution? Vatted malt releases – stick with malts, mix different casks from different distilleries and release a new whisky to satisfy the market demands!

We’ve seen many Vatted malt releases over the last 2 years, with three of them coming from Douglas Laing with the latest one being an Islands themed malt named Rock Oyster.

Rock Oyster promise lots of maritime, sweet peat, smoke, honey and pepper. Shall we put it to the test?

Douglas Laing Rock Oyster (46.8%, £35.95/€43.49 )

Douglas Laing Rock OysterNose: Creamy malt, chimney smoke, peat, sweet lemon cheesecake, sea air. All in all very balanced and cheesy. Continue reading →

Whisky Review – Wemyss Malts Velvet Fig

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Today is Christmas and billions of people around the world celebrate the the holidays season with Christmas and New Year Eve in tow. So let’s go ahead and review a matching (in spirit) dram for the holidays season: Wemyss Malts Velvet Fig.

Velvet Fig is a NAS (no age statement) vatted malt, meaning it’s blended using only single malts, aged entirely in Oloroso Sherry casks. It’s a limited edition as only 6,000 bottles were produced.

happy holidays

Happy holidays to you!

Wemyss Malts Velvet Fig (NAS, 46%, £38.95)

velvet figNose: At first it’s malty and with some young spirit notes (almost new make). Then comes the sherry impact with light sweetness of dried fruits glazed with vanilla. After a minute or two, there are indeed sweet figs, dates, and the smell gets more sherried with cloves, dash of cinnamon and heavy concentrated nutmeg (almost bitter), then another wave of malt and vanilla (must be some active american oak casks in there) and chocolate. Continue reading →

Whisky Review – Compass Box The Lost Blend

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Xmas and new year is almost upon us and many new whiskies are being released to the market and even Compass Box and John Glaser joins the party with two new releases: The Lost Blend and The Great King st. Glasgow Blend so we’ll review them today and tomorrow, starting with The Lost Blend.

The Lost Blend name is inspired by the O. Henry story of the same name which features two business partners who try to recreate a blend of different spirits with close to supernatural properties. And what is the compass box blend which John Glaser was trying to recreate?

Here’s what John Glaser said on their own lost blend:

“In 2001, we created our first single malt blend which we called Eleuthera. It was an elegant marriage of approximately 80% unpeated Highland and 20% peaty Islay single malts. Alas, after 3 years, we were suddenly no longer able to obtain one of the key whiskies required for the recipe so, sadly, we retired Eleuthera in 2004. Quietly, I have been looking for whiskies that we could use to bring it back, even if temporarily, but without any luck. Until now.”

So John found what he was looking for and it was a combination of 80% of Clynelish and Allt-a-Bhainne and 20% Caol Ila. We don’t know how old are the spirits (no exact age was given) and what casks (although I guess it’s ex-bourbon casks judging by the whisky color) so lets hop directly to the tasting notes:

The Compass Box Lost Blend (46%, 12018 bottles, £77.54)

Continue reading →