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Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 427: Lagavulin 11 Year Old Offerman Edition

Nick Offerman is an American actor and comedian who makes no secret of the fact that he loves to drink Lagavulin. He even had this included in the script by the screenwriters of the TV series Parks & Recreation, so that his character Ron Swanson also likes Lagavulin. It was inevitable that a Lagavulin Offerman Edition would appear, being an 11-year-old.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 428: Isle of Islay 10 Year Old 2007 Creative Whisky Company

The Creative Whisky Company was founded by David Stirk, raised and then... Sold. Yes, that's how it often goes. This is still a cask that Stirk bought, but at the time of bottling he was no longer the owner. This Isle of Islay is indeed Lagavulin – no secret is made of it – and was bottled for the online shop The Whisky Barrel. The cask yielded 285 bottles at 100 Proof or 57.1% ABV. Nice and pale, which suggests that this is spirit-driven.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 429: AnCnoc 2005 Single Cask Exclusive for Premium Spirits

I changed jobs not so long ago. After more than 12 years as Teamleader at the ING Business Credit Center, it was time to broaden my horizons once again. I started working as a Customer Journey Expert – what a great-but-utterly-unrevealing title, right? – and I'm really enjoying myself in that position. My BCC colleagues offered me this bottle as a parting gift. They know my love for whisky all too well, of course.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 430: Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old 2009 Klubb23 for Buds & Barrels

Bunna 2009 on sherry? I have good memories of that. There’s good reason for having bottled such a cask with Mark & Manny's malts. But our friends from Klubb23 also could get their hands on such a cask and bottled it for the shop Buds & Barrels, run by our good friend Tom Haseldonckx. It's the first of a series of four single casks in the series 'L'Histoire d'Alixe', so we have something to look forward to. Nice label, by the way, by the hand of Annie Mation (see what she did there?).

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 431: Torabhaig Allt Gleann

After the successful launch of their Inaugural Release, the Torabhaig distillery founded on Skye in 2017 came up a few months ago with this second release in their so-called Legacy Series. The young malt, composed from around 300 bourbon barrels from 2017 and 2018, listens to the name Allt Gleann, which means as much as Old Valley. Like its predecessor, it is bottled at 46%.

@markjedi1 I'm Canadian, but I believe I have a bottle or two of the Lagavulin Offerman Guinness finish. Both versions of the Offerman Lagavulin were carried by the LCBO. Thanks for your always entertaining reviews, Mark. If I ever make it over to Belgium, I'll bring some samples for sure.

@OdysseusUnbound Believe it or not, last week some friends from Virginia came over to Belgium and not only did they bring me the requested Oban 18 (US only), but also the Offerman 2 edition, so I was quite happy with that. The power of social media, eh? Gotta love this family of malt enthusiasts.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 432: Isle of Jura 23 Year Old 1998 for MMM

Mark and Manny will also be bottling 4 beautiful single casks for a completely new series in 2022: The Mythical Series! This year, the artworks for the labels are created by the unparalleled Ansgar Speller, who is also manager – together with her lesser half Thomas – of the 1923 Creative Agency. And they are also whisky lovers, as evidenced by their site speller.nl. The first release is already a belter, even if we say so ourselves. We found a beautiful hogshead filled with whisky from the Isle of Jura distillery, filled in 1998 and bottled for MMM after 23 long hibernations. Feast on it!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 433: Nc’nean Quiet Rebels Annabel

I think you can safely say that I am a fan of Nc'nean. I've tasted the first ten batches and it's become a bit of a daily sipper. So accessible and pleasantly priced that I can drink it daily without any problems. But they recently launched the so-called Quiet Rebels series – an ode to the distillery's employees, each time vatting something special – and start with the distillery’s leading lady: Annabel Thomas. In addition to the classic bourbon and STR casks, she now also chose Tokaji and sherry casks. Tokaji is the oldest type of wine made in Hungary. Very excited to try this.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 434: Teeling Brabazon 1 through 4 Head-to-Head

The Brabazon series from Teeling consists of four interesting releases. The series is named after the 17th Century politician that ruled the Liberties, the area where the distillery can be found. It also refers to the Brabazon House, the building behind the distillery in which Teeling now have their corporate offices. Let’s put these four whiskeys head-to-head.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 435: Clonakilty 9 Year Old 2010 Single Grain Bordeaux Finish

The whiskies of Clonakilty, founded in 2016, are still quietly maturing. But in order to be able to pay the bills in the meantime, they also bought some whiskey that they finish and market themselves. This is a good example. This Clonakilty is a single grain that they finished on Bordeaux wine barrels before being bottled at cask strength. Only 180 bottles of this whiskey have been filled.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 436: Wave Distil 10 Year Old 2011 Fine Spirits ’40 Bottles’

Patrick Ludwich of Fine Spirits has been working for some time to put Belgian whisky on the map once and for all and this bottle, which appeared together with the book 'All Belgian Whiskies' on 6 December 2021, is a wonderful part of that. Patrick's intention is to bottle no less than 40 Belgian whiskies at the end of the day. Hence the '40 Bottles' on the label. Perhaps a bit confusing, because of this release there are indeed 268 bottles. So you have to know the context. I can already recommend the book very warmly. Hopefully I can do that of this 10-year-old whisky too. It was distilled by Wave Distil, a small distillery in Dinant – hence the Saxophone on the label.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 437: Ben Nevis 6 Year Old 2015 Adelphi

My whisky buddy Manny brought a bottle with him on his last visit. It involved a very young Ben Nevis that spent barely 6 years on a very active 1st fill oloroso sherry butt. The cask still yielded 588 bottles after 6 years, at a devilishly high ABV of 62.2%. Oh boy.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 438: Supersonic 7 Year Old 2013 ‘Mach 2’ Blended Malt North Star Spirits

Manny came to visit not so long ago and brought me a bottle of this Supersonic 'Mach 2'. Well, he shouldn't have done that, but I'm pretty glad he did. I had tasted the Supersonic 'Mach 4' a few months earlier and thought it was fine, so I was looking forward to this one. The difference in ABV is considerable. This is 10% lower at 50% ABV. That's not a punishment. It is also significantly lighter in color.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 439: Glentauchers 13 Year Old 2009 for MMM

Glentauchers is a lesser-known Speysider – founded in 1897 – that mainly focuses on producing malt whisky for making blends with Ballantine's being the best known. There are hardly any official bottlings, but through independent bottlers you can occasionally taste it. Now Manny and I have found a fantastic cask – a sherry butt, by the way – with Glentauchers from 2009. It's already our 26th release and we're once again enjoying a beautiful label with the art of Ansgar Speller. The color palette also betrays our subtle support for the people of Ukraine.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 440: Oban 18 Year Old

A few months ago I made an appointment with my American friends John and Mary-Angela. After all, they came to Belgium and that was the perfect opportunity for them to bring some bottles, such as the Kentucky Owl bourbon, the Lagavulin Offerman Edition on Guinness casks and this Oban 18 Year Old, which is bottled exclusively for the States. Apart from a pleasant afternoon in which a lot was tasted, followed by a great burger dinner in Ghent, it was also the opportunity for me to finally put this 18-year-old Oban to the test.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 441: Wolfburn Private Cask 2017/540 re-visited

Last year I tasted this private cask from Tom after he had let it come to Belgium just before the Brexit troubles. Well, not the whole cask, though. He bottled 36 bottles. The 3-year-old gem was then at 61.2%. At the end of 2021 Tom had another 36 bottles shipped and that makes this very interesting. The malt has therefore been in the cask for exactly one year longer. Let's see what evolution this Wolfburn has gone through. I'll put the first one next to it to make a real comparison.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 442: Wolfburn 7 Year Old 2015 Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal

Kudos to Belgian bottler Klubb23 who took the initiative to convince Wolfburn to release a bottling in favor of humanitarian actions for Ukraine. And although Wolfburn opened up the initiative further and bottled another 1550 bottles (with black capsule) for all markets, 112 bottles (with silver capsule) and separate label on the box were bottled for Belgium. The proceeds of the sale will go to the Solidarity Fund Ukraine 12-12. I know it's only a very small contribution that I make by buying a bottle, but something is always better than nothing.

Thank you for your review Mark. It may be a good while before I see any Wolfburn in my area.

"...one lost apricot in there as well...." Poetry.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 443: Starward Left-Field

In September 2021 I was – for the second time – a guest at the whisky festival in sun-drenched Toulouse. One of the booths represented Starward (with a 'd' at the back, not to be confused with my favorite film series, please), the relatively young distillery from Australia – founded in 2007 and run by the sympathetic and I would almost dare say visionary David Vitale. This malt matured in French oak, barrels that had previously raised red wine. A strange idea. Unexpected. Something they describe in Australia as 'left-field', hence the name for this very affordable whisky.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 444: Starward Single Cask #1855 for Whivie.be & The Bonding Dram

I'm a fan of Starward, that's known. And when I got the chance to buy a barrel a few weeks ago, I didn't let it pass me by. I am very grateful to Jeroen from the well-known online whisky shop The Bonding Dram that he thought of me to step in as a partner. Very excited! You should know that Starward used a first fill Apera barrel from McWilliams for this single malt. McWilliams has been producing Apera, the Australian version of sherry, made from the Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca grape varieties for years. The barrel – number #1855 – was filled in May 2016 and when bottled yielded only 222 bottles at a cask strength of 59.3%. Fun fact: when we tasted a sample taken on October 12, 2021, the strength was 57.1%. Yes, in Australia the strength increases!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 445: Nc’nean Batch 8 vs Batch 9

Although I have a dram every single day, it's still hard to keep up with the pace of releases. At Nc'nean they are already at batch 15 or something, while today I open my bottles of Batch 8 and Batch 9 for the first time. As always, it is a combination of 65% STR red wine barrels and 35% classic bourbon barrels. Again bottled at 46%. Let’s put them head-to-head.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 446: Nc’nean Huntress

Aha! A new release of Nc'nean. This time Anabel and her team opted for a slightly different composition than for their regular batches, namely 61% STR Red Wine Casks and 39% Ex-Bourbon casks. It is also bottled at a slightly higher alcohol percentage. This is the spring whisky par excellence of this young, dynamic distillery that now boasts quite a few loyal followers (I count myself among them). The special thing about this whisky is that it was produced with three different yeast strains, one of which is normally used for the production of rum!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 447: Lagavulin 11 Year Old Offerman 2nd Edition Guinness Cask Finish

At the end of last year I tasted the first release of the Lagavulin Offerman Edition, named after Nick Offerman, American actor and comedian who makes no secret of the fact that he loves to drink Lagavulin. Now let him also like to drink Guinness. It was then no art for this Islay distillery to give some of their 11-year-old whisky a finish on such casks. The Offerman 2nd Release was born.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 448: Caol Ila 2010 Signatory Vintage Cask Strength Collection

A few weeks ago my whisky buddy Rainer sent me a message about this bottle. And whether he would be allowed to come by to have it tasted and whether I would like to make a Rambling about it? Yes & yes. And so here we are.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 449: Cley Secret Islay

Paul and Maria from the Rotterdam Cley distillery have a special place in my heart. They make really nice whisky and they are also super sympathetic people. That's always good for a nice story. And they are getting more and more acclaim – rightly so! – because after the special festival bottling for the whisky festival in Eindhoven – selected by The Barrel Baron – this time they bottled a very special malt for the Whisky Festival in Delft in May 2022. A Secret Islay! And triple distilled! After 4 years on a classic bourbon cask, this Dutch malt got an 18-month finish on a cask on which an Islay whisky previously matured

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 450: Kentucky Owl Confiscated in 1916

A few months ago I had my friends John and Mary-Angela from the States over for a visit. Not only had John brought the Oban 18 Year Old – a US exclusive – and the Lagavulin Offerman Edition 2 on Guinness casks – also only available in the US – he brought me a third bottle: this Kentucky Owl. "A little something only, but I felt you should taste it," he added. With pleasure, sir. After all, it's not called "The Wise Man's Bourbon" for nothing, right?

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 451: Westward Belgian Ardennes Trappist Ale vs The Belgium Edition 2021

From the first time I tasted a Westward bottling, I was a fan. When they then release a club bottling called Belgian Ardennes Trappist Ale – after the Ardennes farmhouse yeast used by Culmination Brewing from Portland – I couldn't help but beg Cinoco, the Belgian importer, to bring it to Belgium. And so it happened. At the same time as the Belgian Trappist Ale edition, a veritable Belgium Edition was also released, so I most certainly could not allow this to pass me by. It is a single barrel that was cut to 50%. I've been really looking forward to this. The barrel – barrel #780 – was specially selected by Stephan De Bolle and his Cinoco team. I gladly put them head-to-head.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 452: Orkney 13 Year Old 2007 for Ypres Whisky Friends

The boys of the Ypres Whisky Friends recently presented their third club bottling: a Highland Park – even if it's not on the label. You know how that goes. What surprised me was that it got a finish on an ex-Glen Moray barrel. A bold choice. Let’s taste and see what that meant for this pale Orkney malt.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 453: Suntory Old Special Quality

Suntory Old is a popular whisky from Japan, which first appeared in the 1940s. It continued to lead the way until the 1980s when single malts began to grow in popularity and this fun blend lost its prestige somewhat. I was able to pick up a bottle from the 1990s with the strange contents of 760ml. It is more than plausible to suspect that this contains quite a lot of Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita, right?