Archive For August 31, 2014
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We whisky bloggers have been looking at the Ardbeg mania with some bemused wonder. One must hand it to the Glenmorangie marketing department for creating this craze, much of it reminiscent of the Tulipmania which gripped the Netherlands in 1637. Two recent incidents come to mind, the first this past April surrounding the Ardbeg Auriverdes…
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This is a youngish 10 year old, fully matured in chardonnay wine casks, offering a very high value for money. Glen Moray is La Martiniquaise’s sole malt distillery (they own a grain distillery at Bathgate, halfway between Edinburgh and Glasgow ), providing single malt whisky for the Glen Turner and the Label 5 blends. Incidentally, Label 5 is one of…
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I previously wrote that the Bacardi’s Dewar’s corporation seemed to have little interest in the single malt market, thus leaving all of the group’s single malt distilleries (Aultmore, Craigellachie, Macduff, Aberfeldy and Royal Brackla) with no regularly sold core expressions except for Aberfeldy. While Aultmore was still owned by Guiness (before the formation of Diageo, which…
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Blended Scotch whisky is not my thing. I’m not a snob, I’ve had quite a few, and will drink blends, but I just don’t really find them all that interesting. Apparently, whereas blends shoot for smoothness, I like the distinct flavors and rough edges single malts and well made vatted malts offer (there’s only one exception…
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Cask strength sherry bombs have become quite the bon-ton in recent years, as a plethora of lovely expressions have become perennial favorites of maltheads. The Glenfarclas 105 (with 20 and 40 year old variants), Aberlour a’Bundha (going on its 50th batch), Glengoyne Cask Strength (currently on its second batch) and the GlenDronach Cask Strength (the…