Archive For September 14, 2014

Organic Scottish Barley – Not Bruichladdich’s Finest Hour

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Organic Scottish Barley – Not Bruichladdich’s Finest Hour

In the last post, I touted the lovely Black Art from Bruichladdich, mentioning that for me, once you move away from the “regular Bruichladdich” and get into the special editions or the peated ones, the lactic notes disappear and they become palatable. This post, however, visits the dark side of the distillery, which is a shame,…

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Black Art, Ninja Whisky and an Islay That Isn’t

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Black Art, Ninja Whisky and an Islay That Isn’t

I admit that I have a problem with Bruichladdich. On the one hand, this is a very prolific distillery with a large fandom, even among my close whisky friends. On the other hand, I can’t stomach (or nose, actually) the lactic baby spit-up aroma so characteristic of their “regular” products. Yet, I always am willing…

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Clynelish at its Full Glory – Who Let The Candle Maker Out? Who? Who? Who?

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Clynelish at its Full Glory – Who Let The Candle Maker Out? Who? Who? Who?

Clynelish has one of the saddest human tragedy whisky stories associated with its founding and its founder, the 2nd Marquess of Strafford (later to be created the 1st Duke of Sutherland). During the early 19th century, the Highlands were essentially forced the eviction of all the farmers and crofters traditionally working the land to allow…

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Seven Stunning Sherry Bombs – The Longmorn Sister Casks 1996

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Seven Stunning Sherry Bombs – The Longmorn Sister Casks 1996

The Ultimate (van Wees) hits another home run. Like the Laphoroaig Sherry matured single cask I previously reviewed, these seven sherry cask Longmorns are real treats. I have a sample of cask 105091, and a real beauty it is. Longmorn was founded in 1894 and is now part of the Chivas Group at Pernod Ricard….

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How High Can You Get? The Highlands “Classic Malt”

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How High Can You Get? The Highlands “Classic Malt”

Diageo sure knows marketing, and the six “Classic Malts” were meant to display the six whisky making regions of Scotland and to draw visitors, and awareness, for the distilleries. However, Diageo lacks a presence in Campbeltown, so Oban – a Western coastal Highlands distillery 140 km (86 miles) away- got the nod to represent “the…

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