Archive For July 15, 2014
Highland Park has some pretty high end whisky, but I actually want to talk about the other end of the spectrum here: the Highland Park Svein. Highland Park introduced a series of NAS (no age statement) expressions for travel retail, and the Svein is the entry level expression in this, the Warrior, series. Now, I…
Sauternes casks are just about as expensive as casks get. Thus, whisky maturing in Sauternes casks is both relatively rare (compared to bourbon, sherry or other wine finishes) and fairly expensive. Full maturation in Sauternes casks is almost unheard of, with only a few examples around (the Ballechin #8 Sauternes Cask comes to mind), and of…
The casks composing this expression were personally chosen Springbank’s Director of Production at the time, Frank McHardy, and Distillery Manager Stuart Robertson. Frank McHardy is one of the most highly respected master distillers in the industry, who retired last year after a long and fruitful career in the industry spanning almost four decades. He started working…
Barolo is an Italian red wine, name specific to a region of Piedmont around the commune of Barolo. It’s produced form the Nebbiolo grape in the province of Cuneo and is a bright red, with darkening hues as it ages. Interestingly, a “purist” war is also waging in the Barolo community over the use of smaller barrique…
Today’s post brings us to the Springbank 18. To be fair, I got to the 18 after the very interesting Vintage 1997 and the Gaja Barolo finish, and must admit that it came a bit short of its younger brethren, which is very surprising. There is sherry on the nose, but a good deal of vanilla…