Whisky Ramblings on YouTube

I agree, @markjedi1, it's lovely stuff. BTW, is that the McDermul tartan you're sporting there at around 1:47? I assume you are not wearing anything under.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 200: Caol Ila 30 Year Old

This is already my 200th whisky rambling, so I wanted to do something special. The Caol Ila 30 Year Old is the oldest official bottling of this Islay distillery and was released by Diageo in 2014 in their yearly Special Release. With a price tag of around 600 EUR, it is not exactly a cheap bottle, but once you have tried it, you’ll want to save up for one, believe me.

@markjedi1 Great video! I tasted this in 2015 at a Spirit of Toronto masterclass. Unfortunately such venues don't allow for examination in minute detail but I do recall it tasting delicious.

@Nozinan I'll be trying for a taste when I am on Islay in September.

@markjedi1 Fun review... Oh for a taste!

@markjedi1 - Those views certainly seem to do the whisky justice! Would love to try this.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 201: Tennessee 13 Year Old 2003 for MMM

Under the MMM-banner – short for Mark & Manny’s Malts – we try to have something special in every series. For this year’s Antarctica Series second release, we found a great single barrel of Tennessee Whiskey. But we had to promise to keep the distillery top secret. While we are not fond of this, the whiskey does speak for itself and we did not hesitate. Once we had tried it, we knew we definitely wanted it.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 202: Cowal Highland Gathering

The Cowal Highland Gathering is one of Scotland’s biggest Highland Games competitions with athletes, dancers and pipe bands. In the recent past, a special blend was created for these games, by the good people of the Springbank distillery. Is it safe to assume that a good portion of this Campbeltowner went into the mix? Hard to say.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 203: Wolfburn Aurora

In Thurso, a town with only 9000 inhabitants in the north of Scotland, the Wolfburn Distillery filled its very first cask with spirit in 2013, meaning that the first single malt appeared in 2016. After the initial release of their three year old malt, this Wolfburn Aurora appeared. It is a single malt that matured in three types of casks: 40% in second fill quarter casks, 40% on first fill bourbon casks and the remaining 20% on first fill oloroso sherry hogsheads.

@markjedi1 thanks for the review - I appreciate your no-nonsense approach. I haven't tried anything from Wolfburn yet but I've wondered about them. They certainly seem to have started well.

@markjedi1 Looks like natural colour. Is it chill filtered? It will be interesting to see if Wolfburn follows the same trajectory as their fellow youngsters, Kilchoman and Kilkerran.

@BlueNote It does not say, so my guess is that it is indeed (usually, when it's not, it's mentioned).

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 204: Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost & Rare

Johnnie Walker Blue Label is the epitome of luxury (in the affordable range at least). It is very popular as a gift, hence the endless stream of special editions. Luckily it is also very good. But in 2017 Johnnie Walker launched a new, limited edition of their Blue: the Johnnie Walker Ghost & Rare. The protagonist of the first release is Brora. But Pittyviach and Cambus – also closed distilleries – play an important part as well. The other whisky’s are Clynelish, Royal Lochnagar, Glenlossie, Glenkinchie and Cameronbridge. The result is a bottle of 250 EUR, albeit in an exquisite packaging. But is it worth it?

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 205: Interludium Gin Batch 03 - Scotland

Summer is here, so high time for a Gin & Tonic, right? After the successes of our very own Interludium Gin I (Holland) and II (Belgium), Mark & Manny are proud to present the third batch. This London Dry gin matured for 8 months on a Speyside whisky cask, giving it extra color and flavor. Bottled at 46%, this is a sippin’ gin, but also mixes well with a neutral tonic.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 206: Glenlivet 11 Year Old 2007 Signatory for Jan Vissers

When Jan Vissers selects a cask, you can buy blind. As soon as Jan announced that he had bottled a first fill sherry hogshead of Glenlivet 2007 from the stables of Signatory – at a whopping 67.0% ABV no less – I immediately ordered two bottles. These will be enjoyed for a long time to come! He bottled this Glenlivet is his ‘Italian Car Series’ – with magnificent labels – in which he had previously released a Bowmore 10, Speyside 21 and Glen Scotia 10 Year Old. The colour of this Glenlivet made me eager indeed.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 207: Auchentoshan 21 Year Old

At the high end of the range of Auchentoshan, you will find the 21 Year Old. While I have recently posted a rambling about an older 21 Year Old – from 1973 – this is a modern version. In my opinion still a cracker dram, but clearly more bourbon than sherry in the mix, while this seemed to be the other way around in the older releases.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 208: Auchentoshan Three Wood

Let’s try the popular Auchentoshan Three Wood. This triple distilled Lowlander is composed from spirit that matured on types of casks: bourbon, oloroso sherry and PX sherry. The result is a dark and succulent dram, while remaining accessible and affordable. No wonder it is one of their best sellers.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 209: Auchentoshan Sister Casks by Signatory

I tried three sister casks of Auchentoshan. All three are bottled in the so-called Un-Chillfiltered Collection by Signatory. With this little experiment, I tried to find the similarities or differences between sister casks. All three were bottled from Bourbon Barrels.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 210: Glenturret 8 Year Old 2009 B’s Choice

A new Belgian bottler has emerged! B’s Choice. B is none other than Bart Heggerick, better known as one of the strong men behind the Smoking Buffalo series. But now he has his own label. Time to make an entrance. Will he, with his first release? Glenturret is not exactly a very sexy name – or is it? The whisky is 8 years old, matured on a single sherry hogshead and is bottled at 63.3% ABV!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 211: Taketsuru Pure Malt

The famous whisky concerns Suntory and Nikka have taken their aged malts off the shelves and replaced them with NAS releases. Nikka no longer has its Taketsuru Pure Malt 12 Year Old, but a NAS-version now. This blended malt is made with mostly Miyagikyo, but a bit of Yoichi went in there as well. The result is a light malt that works wonderfully in a refreshing mizuwari.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 212: Yamazaki Limited Edition 2017

The Yamazaki Limited Edition 2017 is Suntory’s yearly returning NAS-whisky that showcases what Japanese whisky is all about. Beautifully layered, mouth coating and flavorsome, it is a liquid delight. Tasting it in the ancient French city of Avignon only adds to the experience.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 213: Allt-A-Bhainne 24 Year Old 1993 for MMM

For the third release in our Antarctica Series, photographer Ilse Everaert allowed us to use a magnificent photo of Paradise Bay. But with these hot temperatures, we also wanted to offer something of a summery whisky. In our (not so) humble opinion, we succeeded. Please meet our 24 years old Allt-A-Bhainne, a malt of which owner Chivas does not even have an official release. But Manny and I thought of you. You’re welcome. Remember: only 50 bottles as Mark & Manny are wont to do.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 214: Teaninich 10 Year Old 2006 Cadenheads

While this Highland distillery celebrated its 200th anniversary last year, and opened a whole new stillhouse this year, Teaninich is still largely unknown. This has everything to do that this is one of Diageo’s workhorses that produces almost exclusively for the blending industry with Johnnie Walker Red Label as biggest customer. There are hardly any official bottlings. I will taste a vatting of two bourbon hogsheads, bottled at drinking strength by Cadenheads in their Small Batch series.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 215: Kintra 9th Confidential Cask (Inchmurrin 2007)

Kintra has just bottled their 9th so-called Confidential Cask. These are single casks of which the name of the distillery is not revealed – hence the name. This one, however, has been unmasked a an Inchmurrin from 2007. I’m intrigued as Inchmurrin certainly is not in my top ten, but the last few months I hear much praise about this malt.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 216: Unnamed Orkney 13 Year Old 2005 Flander’s Finest Cask Selection

Let’s try a ‘naked’ Highland Park, selected by the boys and girls of Flander’s Finest Cask Selection. Very spirit driven, this ‘Unnamed Orkney’ offers up the perfect mix of the traits that Highland Park is to be associated with.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 217: Johnnie Walker White Walker

You are most likely aware that the television series Game of Thrones is very popular (unless you spent the last few years north of The Wall). Johnnie Walker gladly jumps on that bandwagon with this special release of the ‘White Walker’, bottled at a rather unconventional 41.7% ABV. I frowned a bit upon the recommendation to ‘serve it from the freezer’, but that did not stop me from trying it. But at the end of the day, I realized that this is a bottle for the collectors, not so much for the drinkers, as it was unable to fulfill my expectations.

@markjedi1 - Your response to the nose (and taste) on the frozen sample reminded me of my first taste of the JW Double Black i.e. 'Where is it?' Thanks for taking the hit on this

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 218: Johnnie Walker King George V

King George V reigned from 1910 until 1936. In 1934 he offered a Royal Warrant to John Walker & Sons. It took until 2007 (!) before this fact was commemorated with a ‘royal blend’, composed from whiskies of distilleries that were operational at that time (which means little as most of them still are in operation). Some of those distilleries are now closed, like Port Ellen, Cambus and Glen Albyn. Insiders claim it also contains Cardhu and Royal Lochnagar. The whisky comes in a beautiful glass decanter and magnificent box, making the whole look rather expensive. Well, it is, for a bottle will set you back around 500 EUR.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 219: Eaglesburn 3 Year Old 2015 Dutch Peated Whisky

Craft distillery Eaglesburn has just released their first 3 Year Old Dutch Peated whisky and it is a surprisingly big flavor bomb!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 220: Glenfiddich Experimental Series #4 Fire & Cane

The most recent release in the Experimental Series is this Glenfiddich Fire & Cane. It is a very atypical Glenfiddich – so perfect for this series, eh? – because daringly peated. With its 8ppm (hence the ‘Fire’) this makes for a smoky Glenfiddich. The ‘Cane’ refers to the rum casks on which this Glenfiddich – after regular maturation on bourbon cask – was finished.