Scotch Whisky reviews

When I first tried the Finlaggan Cask Strength, I was quite satisfied. So when my whisky buddy Pat offered me a sample of a recent release – 18th May 2015 – I gladly took and will try that today.Soot,…

I quite liked the Finlaggan Sherry finish. That, to me, is more than enough reason to try their Port finish as well.The nose shows lots of earth, grapefruit, lacquered bacon and rhubarb. A hint of mashed…

We know that Finlaggan is a single malt from Islay, but which one? I have been told that they have already bottled Lagavulin, Laphroaig and Caol Ila. I wonder what this Eilean Mor has on offer. Does…

Big Peat is very popular, something Douglas Laing understands very well. That explains why there are so many ‘limited releases’ like the Belgian Edition, London Edition, Edinburgh Edition, Swiss Edition…

There is this strange, quite folkloric legend about Christmas in the north of France and in Belgium. It involves an anti-character called "Père Fouettard" (or Black Peter for the Flemishs). He is a total…

If the genie in the bottle were a spirit, it could live in one of these 50 cl bottles, which seem to come straight from an old alchemist. It's a vatted (or blended) malt from different Islay malts,…

When on Islay, be sure to bring home a bottle that you cannot find anywhere else, like this Distillery Exclusive 2017 from Lagavulin. I brough a bottle for my buddy Manny, who opened it immediately and…

Apart from the famous Feis Ile, there is another whisky and music festival on Islay: Islay Jazz. Lagavulin is one of the sponsors of Islay Jazz, so every year they also have a special release for this…

Valinch & Mallet, the young independent bottler with Italian roots, but founded in London, released this South Shore Islay Malt in 2016. It is a single bourbon cask of very young and pale Lagavulin.…

While the label proudly states ‘The Secret Islay’, I think we can all agree this is Lagavulin. After all, Lagavulin is derived from 'Laggan Mhouillin', meaning the ‘undeep valley of the mill’. ‘Nuff said…