All Whisky reviews

Marks & Spencer makes you think of suits, shoes and coats, rather than whisky, no? But they do have a food & wine department, where you can also find this bottle: Islay Single Malt 12 Year Old. The…

Exaclty three years ago, I joined a Wemyss tasting, hosted by (then) ambassador Susan Colville. I tried the Peat Chimney 8 Year Old at that time (which did not really convince me), but today I have a…

It had been a couple of years since I had last tried the Black Bottle. Thanks to a buddy I was also able to try the 10 Year Old version, which is much better, but at the Spirits in the Sky festival in…

Finlaggan is a single malt, I am told. It used to be a NAS Lagavuling, but later was replaced with Caol Ila since Lagavulin lacked the stock. Some say it was a Laphroaig at one point in time. What the…

This Finlaggan has a cask strength of no less than 58%, so buckle up. It is named after the old Finlaggan Castle on Islay, from which the Lords of the Isles and Clan MacDonald ruled the area. Today, it…

Iana McClannaghan lived on an 18th Century Islay. She mixed herbal drinks for medicinal use and allowed local seaweeds to infuse her home made uisge beatha. She turned 99, which was extremely old for…

A lot of friends are very much aware of the fact that I have a soft spot for new make. So I am always very happy when someone turns up after returning from Scotland with a bottle of new make. It was the…

I tried this Kilchoman New Make Spirit first at a tasting in Belgium, hosted by the owner’s son James Wills. The barley type used is called Concerto. It has a big yield, something distillers are of…

Octomore hardly needs in introduction. It is distilled at Bruichaddich and pretends to be the most heavily peated malt on earth (remember the Octomore 05.1/1_169 with a ppm level of 169). This one has…

This Octomore has not yet been released. It was the encore at the Bruichladdich Masterclass with Allan Logan at a festival in Belgium. It has a great dark color that it got from the fresh oak it matured…