Whisky Ramblings on YouTube

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 186: Ledaig 9 Year Old 2007 for MMM

The fourth and final release for 2017 in MMM's series of single casks is a young and dirty peated whisky from the Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull. Mark and Manny selected a Ledaig 2007 as the conclusion of their bespoke Galaxy Series. It is bourbon cask matured and bottled at 52.3% ABV. The release is limited to only 50 bottles.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 187: Auchentoshan Solera

Introduced in 2012 in the duty free range, the Auchentoshan Solera is a triple distilled Lowlander that cannot hide its Pedro Ximenez sherry cask finish. It offers up a nose and palate that exhibits an incredible complexity, making this liquid dessert the near perfect dram.

@markjedi1 Great review. I really enjoy your style...very engaging.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 188 : Craigellachie 21 Year Old 1994 Sauternes Wine Cask Finish

Craigellachie Distillery in the heart of Speyside produces primarily for the blending industry, so official bottlings are few and far between. Independents, however, have plenty to go around. Cadenhead released this 21 Year Old 1994 Sauternes Wine Cask Finish in 2015. Turns out to be one of my favorite Craigellachie malts to date.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 189: Caol Ila 15 Year Old 2002 Valinch & Mallet

I love Caol Ila, so allow me to introduce this independently bottled Caol Ila from 2002. Valinch & Mallet was founded in 2015 and has thus not yet appeared on everyone’s radar. I want to correct this as I feel they have bottled quite a few gems so far. This Caol Ila matured on a sherry cask that yielded only 319 bottles at cask strength.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 190: Caol Ila 2017 Distillery Exclusive

When I visited the Caol Ila Distillery in September 2017, the new Distillery Exclusive was poured. It is the first time that Caol Ila used whisky that has matured on red wine casks. ‘Wanna try?’ the visitor center manager asked. ‘Is that a trick question?’ was my reply. And yes, after trying this one, a bottle disappeared into the hand luggage. This one is very, very good indeed!

An excellent and festive review, thanks - and a belated Merry Christmas!

I tried the CI DE and wasn't that impressed; and I'm generally a fan of all CI, agreeing with your sentiment expressed here.

This sounds lovely though . . . time for a dram, methinks!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 191: Laphroaig PX Cask

This Laphroaig is triple cask matured: bourbon, quarter casks and PX, so why it is simply called PX Cask is a bit beyond me, but there you have it. Originally for the duty free range – it’s a 1 liter bottle – it is widely available now. And while it seems to work, it is not my favorite Laffie, to be honest.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 192: Lagavulin Jazz 2017

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 event. This is the Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival 2017 bottling, only available at the distillery.

Nice

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 193: Caol Ila 17 Year Old Unpeated Style

Caol Ila – which means 'Sound of Islay' in Gaelic and thus refers to the straight between Islay and the Isle of Jura – has a so-called Unpeated Style on the market since 2008. That is to be taken quite literally. This Caol Ila – which appeared as an 8 years old at first, but is now already at 18 years – is made from unpeated malt. I will try the 2015 bottling, the Unpeated Style 17 Year Old.

@markjedi1 This is a great video review. I think it sums up the whisky nicely.

At about $65 a bottle this was a total steal.

(of course, it retailed for about $170)

@markjedi1, thanks for your nice video review, part of your "wind-storm" review series, I guess.

As for peat flavour in the Caol Ila 'unpeated' release, where are they sourcing their water for the whisky? Bruichladdich's The Laddie Ten, first release, is labeled "unpeated", but has very noticeable peat flavour, apparently from their water source. This Caol Ila unpeated whisky might have peat flavour from the same sort of origin.

I don't know nuthin' 'bout nuthin', but I've heard plenty of people vociferously assert that peatiness cannot come from the water source.

And as long as I'm passing on questionable secondhand wisdom, I'll add that most people attribute the slight peat in Unpeated Style Caol Ila to residual phenols left in all the equipment from the regular peated runs.

@Victor Caol Ila takes its water from the nearby Loch Nam Bam.

@MadSingleMalt That is my impression also.

@markjedi1 Excellent video! I can’t wait to try some of this whisky.

@OdysseusUnbound I look forward to your impressions. I was told by @paddockjudge that this is a "must try whisky".

Maybe when the three of us are in Toronto at the same time, we can put it H2H with the 15 YO I picked up in Calgary.

@Nozinan I'd be interested to get your impressions of the 15. It's 61.5% and available here in BC for $155.

@BlueNote it was near that in Calgary, but discounted to $100.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 194: Bunnahabhain 2013 for Smoking Buffalo

The adventure of the Smoking Buffalo started in 2011 and now the 9th edition has appeared in this series of peaty malts in honor of Belgium’s first class football club AA Gent (in my neck of the woods). It is a very young and heavily peated Bunna from 2013 that was dubbed Staoisha. It is an absolute monsters and comes highly recommended.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 195: Compass Box Double Single

Compass Box is not a distillery, not a bottler, but a blender. And even that is a bit of a misnomer, as I consider them to be blending artists. After all, their blends are somewhat atypical, sometimes even provocative, but almost always very interesting. Take this Double Single, for example. It is created with 1 single malt (72% Glen Elgin of 24 years old) and 1 single grain (28% of Girvan said to be even older). Hence the name. Let’s see if ‘enfant terrible’ of the whisky industry John Glaser can surprise us once again.

@markjedi1 Nice review, as usual.

Ralfy could take some lessons...

Wonderful review! 2,300 reviews later the whisky enthusiasm is still there.

Thanks Mark!

@markjedi1 I second the comments of @Nozinan and @Victor and I commend you for your concise, brief, honest, non-lecturing style reviews. Keep up the good work Mark.

And I love the graphics on the box and bottle.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 196: Aultmore 14 Year Old 2002 for MMM.

Under the MMM-banner – short for Mark & Manny’s Malts – I have again had the pleasure of seeking out a special cask. We turned to lesser known Aultmore and found a bourbon cask from 2002 that hit all the right spots for us. It is the first release in our Antarctica Series, where the labels show fantastic photos of the cold continent taken by Belgian photographer Ilse Everaert. Enjoy!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 197: Macallan Edition No 3.

My first Rambling on Macallan, it seems! Three years ago Macallan launched the so-called Edition Series. No 1 is all but sold out (or very expensive on the secondary market), while No 2 is getting there. No 3 – the one I will be trying now – was recently released and can still be found. Bob Delgarno, Macallan’s whisky maker, worked together with Master Perfumer Roja Dove – who previously helped Macallan create their aroma kit. It is composed of no less than 6 cask types, most of them first fill sherry for which Macallan is known. It is cut down to 48.3% ABV. And yes, it is outstanding!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 198: Redbreast Lustau Edition

Redbreast, the Irish single pot still, is loved by many and rightfully so. But for their Lustau Edition, they even went a step further and collaborated with the highly praised Lustau bodega in Jerez, Spain. Lustau created casks specifically for this Redbreast release. After 9 to 12 years of maturation on bourbon and oloroso sherry casks, the whiskey was finished for 12 months in the bespoke Lustau casks. The result is atypical, but delicious.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 199: Benromach 10 Year Old

When Gordon & Macphail – owners of – released their very own Benromach 10 Year Old in 2009, it was not an immediate success. But when they relaunched it in new livery in 2014, suddenly it was on everyone’s radar. Rightfully so. This is a fantastic old school malt whisky!