Whisky Ramblings on YouTube

Auchentoshan does not need an introduction from me, I have talked about it so many times already. So let us focus immediately on the whisky, the newly released Auchentoshan American Oak, matured solely in first fill bourbon casks. Oh, yeah, I shot it at the Lars Homestead from Star Wars in Tunisia, but that is only a detail… The video can be found here: youtu.be/jM286q6DUt8.

The Auchentoshan 50 Year Old 1957. Does that need any elaboration? It is the oldest Auchentoshan ever bottled, very limited in number of bottles and prohibitively expensive. But on the other hand, it is the Toshan Summa Cum Laude. Not only do I feel fortunate to have tasted it, I am also very proud to say that bottle 100/171 is now the highlight of the Toshan Man Collection. The video can be found here: youtu.be/m9-L8IJNe_Y.

The newest release of Cask Islay, from A.D. Rattray, is in fact a single malt from the Coal Ila distillery. It matured on both bourbon casks and sherry casks, creating a very balanced and accessible dram indeed. The video can be found here: youtu.be/RoF12MAs0OY.

Due to the fact that I disclose the distillery, I have been asked to remove the video. So I am sorry to say that it is no longer online. Sorry.

Amrut is a single malt from Bangalore, India. They have won many awards the world over with their standard range as well as their special releases. The Amrut Kadhambam is one of them. Kadhambam, meaning ‘combination’ in Tamil, is their Indian single malt finished on rhum, sherry and brandywine casks. The video can be found here: youtu.be/51tGcIhaDgY.

NOG = No Ordinary Gin. Well, it is not whisky, but there is still a link. For this Belgian gin, bottled by independent bottler Asta Morris, was in fact finished on a Dalmore whisky cask – a Dalmore, I might add, that I have tried before and found to be very nice indeed. The video can be found here: youtu.be/LsYxVedjVFU.

Dalwhinnie. I was fortunate to visit this beautiful Highland distillery a few years ago. Their 15 Year Old, the Gentle Spirit, is the representative of the Highland style in the original Classic Malts line-up. Let’s find out if it lives up to its nickname ‘The Gentle Spirit’, shall we? The video can be found here: youtu.be/of0UIpNZyzE.

Who does not love Ardbeg? It is such a popular brand, often quite hyped, but then their whisky is outstanding as well. It is harder to find Ardbeg with independent bottlers and harder still to find sherry matured Ardbeg. Hence it is a great pleasure to try the Ardbeg 20 Year Old 1993 bottled by A.D. Rattray from a single sherry hogshead. It was released especially for the Belgian retailer Jurgen’s Whiskyhuis and one of the best Ardbeg I have tried to date. The video can be found here: youtu.be/sszeNoRiwj8.

Black & White is a famous, though nevertheless somewhat overlooked blended Scotch whisky. Known as the House of Commons whisky before James Buchanan added the famous dogs Fanny & Bobby to the label and changed the name, it is now owned by Diageo. The video can be found here: youtu.be/mez4vk_6ZwE.

Whenever you travel abroad, you need your passport. I travelled to Rome and took a bottle of Passport Blended Scotch with me. I tried it at the beautiful Piazza Navona in the Eternal City’s centre. The video can be found here: youtu.be/H9vhfkAL8GI.

Bulleit Bourbon is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey with the emphasis on rye. It is actually distilled at the Four Roses distillery in Lawrenceburg, but marketed by Diageo after the bourbon was re-invented by Tom Bulleit, the great-great-grandson of Augustus Bulleit, the man who originally launched this Frontier Whiskey in 1830. A true sippin’ bourbon. The Rambling was shot in front of the Colosseum in Rome of all places. The video can be found here: youtu.be/k9mPJhAGHCE.

Starward (what’s in a name?) is the first single malt release from the New World Whisky Distillery – formerly known as the Victoria Valley distillery, just north of Melbourne in Australia. It is a young animal to be sure, but certainly going places. The video can be found here: youtu.be/cv0GMby_gUk.

Compass Box is a London-based company run by John Glaser, self-proclaimed whisky maker. I prefer the term whisky artist in his case, for he has created quite a few interesting and some damn good whisky’s indeed. One of them is the Eleuthera – Greek for ‘freedom’. Let’s give this vatted malt – sorry blended malt – a go while we visit Paris, the City of Lights. The video can be found here: youtu.be/nXy4ucMbq3E.

The Canto Cask series by Compass Box is a unique collection of 16 single casks. Each contained the same whisky, but the casks were different. Either French or American oak, they also had different levels of toast. Canto Cask 35 was American Oak with toast level 5, selected for the Italian market. The video was shot in the capital of France! The video can be found here: youtu.be/1l6QV1OmC0Q.

Auchangie was a Highland distillery that operated near Pitlochry from 1812 until 1911. The Lost Distillery Company did a lot of research and, with the help of present days malts, offers a reinterpretation of that long-gone whisky. The result is quite surprising. The video can be found here: youtu.be/ajO5mbqKFrg.

Since Cooley was taken over by Beam, which in turn was taken over by Suntory, not much has been heard of the peated Irish whiskey Connemara. And that is a pity. In 2010 Cooley launched a small batch of their Connemara Turf Mor, a heavily peated version. Only 20.000 bottles were released. I find it to be that good, that I simply could not resist making a video about it. The video can be found here: youtu.be/I21REZPk-ic.

@markjedi1, thanks for reviewing the Turf Mor. You talked about how it tastes different from Islay peatiness. Do you think that's due to the stills at Cooley? Maturation? As I understand it, their peated barley actually came from the Port Ellen maltings.

And I do wonder why they don't peat their own barley with Irish peat. That would be more authentic. Does Cooley not have the equipment? Does nobody in Ireland have the equipment? Curious.

@OlJas I presume a lot has to do with the type of yeast strains and fermentation times they use, as well as their cut off point during distillation.

This is the latest limited release from Auchentoshan, a 25 Year Old beauty from 1988. It matured for 8 years on bourbon casks before it was transferred to red wine casks for a finish of no less than 17 years, the longest in the industry. This is more a double maturation than a finish, in my book. Auchentoshan is one of the few distilleries that really succeeds in getting the red wine cask finish right. The delicate nature of the triple distilled spirit no doubt has a lot to do with that. Oh, and did I tell you that it is a beauty, yet? Yes, it is! The video can be found here: youtu.be/fQobOF1E4bI.

I am travelling to South Africa! Well, liquid wise at least. I tried the Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky, a single grain from the James Sedgewick distillery, established in 1886 (sorta). It is South Africa’s first single grain whisky, named after Andrew Geddes Bain who built the Bainskloof Pass, making the region much more accessible. Find out why this is an award winning single grain. The video can be found here: youtu.be/FGB_vNolnEY.

Anam na h-Alba is Gaelic for The Soul of Scotland and is the name of a German bottler who specializes in single casks. They have only released one Auchentoshan so far, but what an Auchentoshan indeed. A refill sherry hogshead at cask strength that pack both a bag of flavours and quite a punch. The video was shot at the Jedi-Con in Germany. Ah, Star Wars & whisky, what’s not to like? The video can be found here: youtu.be/OVqeJXdWpF0.

Springbank is one of the few surviving distilleries in Campbeltown and has an ironclad reputation among whisky lovers. I tried a young malt, the Springbank 9 Year Old Gaja Barolo. It matured for 4 years on bourbon casks and then another 5 years on Italian red wine casks from the cellars of Angelo Gaja. It is bottled at cask strength. The video can be found here: youtu.be/NnfaSAtYC7s.

In 2000 the Glengyle Distillery in Campbeltown was resurrected. Their single malt is being sold under the name Kilkerran, referring to an original settlement where Saint Kieran started a religious movement (and was possibly the first distiller in the region). I tried their new 10 Year Old which matured on a bourbon cask. One can only wonder why they still call it a ‘work in progress’. The video can be found here: youtu.be/VehqkEfYwmY.

Poitin or poteen is sometimes also referred to as moonshine. It was a practice that was banned in 1661, but nowadays quite a few distilleries market their new make. This Teeling Poitin is a mix of 80% triple distilled maize spirit and 20% double distilled malt spirit. The result is quite astounding. The video can be found here: youtu.be/TKJu1W3yev4.

Inchmurrin is one of the brands that is produced by the little-know but quite large Loch Lomond Distillery. Due to the fact that they have different types of stills, they produce lots of different styles of whisky, both malt and grain. I tried the Inchmurrin 12 Year Old, which is not the worst offering from this Highlander I have tried so far, but is still a far cry from a good whisky, I’m afraid. The video can be found here: youtu.be/qXymRPDYEGA.

Arran is a rather young distillery, founded only in 1995. It can be found on the isle of the same name, between Glasgow on the mainland and Campbeltown. One of their regular offerings is the Arran 12 Year Old Cask Strength, which was first released in 2012. Now, in 2015, the 4th batch is available. It proves to be quite a fruity and marvellous whisky indeed. The video can be found here: youtu.be/dQppzvGGz1Q.

Since Billy Walker and his team took over the GlenDronach Distillery in 2008, it has truly been put back on the map. Walker and his team are well-known for experimenting with different types of casks, and the whisky I tried today fits that bill perfectly: the GlenDronach 14 Year Old Sauternes Finish. It is sweet and creamy, with the wine putting its stamp on the spirit, but in this case it worked wonderfully. The video can be found here: youtu.be/3B1SxBa7Kyk.

Every whisky festival in Belgium offers a specially selected whisky as their festival bottling. For the 10th Anniversary of Whisky Live Belgium (in Spa in 2013), a single cask of BenRiach 1996 was bottled. It is a bit atypical as it was a virgin oak hogshead, meaning less fruit, but all the more spices. But what a damn good whisky indeed! The video can be found here: youtu.be/7k9925MaNZ8.

Glenmorangie has the tallest stills in the industry, over 5 meters high, creating a very fine spirit indeed. And they allow quite a bit of their whisky to be finished on all types of casks, creating a nice range. I will try their Quinta Ruban, matured on bourbon casks for 12 years before receiving a finish in port pipes. The video can be found here: youtu.be/TKOYJGwP68g.

Did you know that the Tobermory Distillery was named the Ledaig Distillery until 1979? Nowadays both malts are bottled at 46,3%, thus making chill filtration redundant, but I tried an older bottling with no age statement at 42%. Very quaffable, but far from complex. The video can be found here: youtu.be/RMV5_JP0O40.