Author Archives: Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

About Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I'm very interested in booze, with a focus on whisky. I like to listen to loads of music and play lots of Magic: the Gathering, and board games too. I'm married to Anneke, have two daughters Ot and Cato, a son Moos and a cat called Kikker (which means Frog, in Dutch). I live in Krommenie, The Netherlands.

Just short of greatness

Posted on 15 August 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

You know that feeling when you are tasting a very, very good whisky, but somehow it just doesn’t cross the magical 90-point threshold? You realize that you’re tasting whisky that’s way above average, but you can’t shake the feeling you … Continue reading →

Posted in - Irish Whiskey, - Japanese Whisky, Dailuaine, Yamazaki | Tagged 1974, 1990, Berry Brothers and Rudd, Dailuaine, Irish Single Malt Whiskey, Limited Edition, NAS, The Whisky Agency, Yamazaki | Leave a comment

Two other Archives: Glentauchers and Glen Keith

Posted on 1 August 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The ‘non-Speyside’ whiskies from the recent Archives release are a Glentauchers 1996 and a Glen Keith 1992. Obviously both are from the Speyside region, but they aren’t marked as an undisclosed Speyside distillery. Both are a bit weird in regards … Continue reading →

Posted in Glen Keith, Glentauchers | Tagged 1992, 1996, Archives, Cask Strength, Fishes of Samoa, Free Sample, Glen Keith, Glentauchers, Whiskybase | Leave a comment

Three new Speysides from Archives

Posted on 24 July 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Last week the guys from WhiskyBase released five new bottlings in their Archives series. Three ‘Speysides’ from 1973, 1973 and 1998, and a Glentauchers and Glen Keith, respectively from 1996 and 1992. The first two are in a new series, … Continue reading →

Posted in Undisclosed | Tagged 1973, 1998, Archives, Cask Strength, Free Sample, Sherry Cask, Speyside, Whiskybase | 1 Comment

Clynelish 23, 24 and 24, all from Adelphi

Posted on 14 July 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

A while ago I did a bottle share with three Clynelishes About every second post on this blog starts like that nowadays. And if it doesn’t start with it, there’s mention of some kind of share down the line. This … Continue reading →

Posted in - Bottle share, Clynelish | Tagged 1989, 1990, Adelphi, Bottle Share, Bourbon Cask, Cask Strength, Clynelish, Diageo, Highlands | Leave a comment

A flock of Inchmurrin

Posted on 29 June 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

After some posts of Islay whiskies, we’re moving a little bit east to Loch Lomond. This truly stunning are is home to a large but largely unknown distillery of the same name. Most of it’s fame (if you can call … Continue reading →

Posted in Inchmurrin, Loch Lomond | Tagged 1993, 2003, Bourbon Cask, Highlands, Inchmurrin, Loch Lomond, Sherry Cask, Signatory, Single Cask, WhiskyNerds | 3 Comments

A rediscovered love for Islay’s whiskies

Posted on 16 June 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

My pervious post was about several things, including (and mostly) how I have started loving Islay whiskies again. At some point I got done with the continued barrage of peated drams, but that’s no longer the case. This is part … Continue reading →

Posted in Bowmore, Caol Ila, Lagavulin, Laphroaig | Tagged Bowmore, Cairdeas, Caol Ila, Feis Ile, Islay Jazz Festival, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Sherry casks, SIngle Malts of Scotland, The Whisky Show | Leave a comment

Islay, a baby and Twitter

Posted on 28 May 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

It’s been two weeks since I’ve blogged. In those two weeks quite a lot has happened, varying from major life changing things to unimportant things that are fun to yap about. Baby On May 17th, our third child, Cato, was … Continue reading →

Posted in - News and Announcements, Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Lagavulin | Tagged 1975, 1991, Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Duchess, Feis Ile, Islay, Lagavulin, Lagavulin Jazz Festival, Rare Malts | 4 Comments

A rum bottle share

Posted on 15 May 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

A little while ago I decided I wanted to do a rum bottle share. I kept reading about rums on Whiskyfun’s Malternative Sundays and wanted to get some more ‘knowledge’ about these Caribbean spirits too. I rounded up a couple … Continue reading →

Posted in - Rum | Tagged Barbados, Barbancourt, Bottle Share, Bristol, Caroni, Compagnie des Indes, Cuba, Diamond, Foursquare, Guyana, Haiti, Kill Devil, Plantation, Rum, Sancti Spiritus, St. Lucia, Ultimatum | 5 Comments

Three sherry casks for The Netherlands

Posted on 4 May 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

A couple of months ago, Whisky Import Nederland, released three new whiskies from their First Cask series. Whisky Import Nederland (WIN) is known for importing a lot of bottlers and brands, BOX whisky, Hunter Laing, Adelphi, Armorik, Berry Brothers & … Continue reading →

Posted in Bruichladdich, Speyside, Strathmill | Tagged 1990, 1991, 2002, Bruichladdich, First Cask, Highlands, Islay, Sherry Cask, Speyside, Strathmill, Whisky Import Nederland | 2 Comments

Diageo Special Releases 2017

Posted on 25 April 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Weird. I’ve already been planning a whisky tasting and a trip to Scotland for 2018. Because of that, when I saw someone post the ‘Diageo Special Releases 2017’ I was mainly confused to why someone would post last year’s list. … Continue reading →

Posted in - News and Announcements | Tagged Blair Athol, Brora, Caol Ila, Convalmore, Diageo, Diageo Premium, Glen Elgin, Lagavulin, Port Dundas, Port Ellen, Special Releases, Teaninich | Leave a comment