Archive For The “Whisky Tasting Notes” Category

I have a lot of respect for Burn Stewart Distillers. Taking all their whiskies to 46% (or 46.3%) with no chill filtration or coloring is a move that shows their commitment to quality and transparency, and above all, to the whisky drinking community. It is also no secret that one of their entry level whiskies…

As my readers know, I’m intrigued by malt blends (vatted malts), and you really don’t get to see too many of them that were aged for 20 years. Douglas Laing has started a series of three very limited expressions of Island malts. This blend is made of paeated Island malts and is the first in…

Three distilleries got the distinction of being “royal”. You’d think that that would be a guarantee of longevity for a business, but it isn’t. Glenury Royal was located in the town of Stonehaven in the Eastern Highlands, south of Aberdeen and near other closed distilleries such as Glenesk, Lochside and North Port, in the vicinity of Fettercairn…

Convalmore is a fascinating distillery, albeit one you don’t hear much about. The distillery never had its own bottlings, although Gordon and MacPhail regularly bottled whisky from the distillery in the Connoisseur’s Choice series. There’s a saying that “Rome was built on seven hills, and Dufftown built on seven stills”. Two of the seven are no…

The Brora was the only peated whisky in the Gone But Never Forgotten tasting, and was the anchor against which all other whiskies were nosed. Diageo’s Colin Dunn is not one to do things by the book, and his tastings leap all over the place between the whiskies in the glasses. There’s method to the…