Author Archives: Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Unknown's avatar

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.

Willett, Family Estate Bottled Single Barrel Rye, cask 124, 58.7%

I have no idea why exactly, but I really love Willett. They used to release heaps of old rye whiskies, but those stocks seem to have depleted. Since a couple of years they’ve been distilling their own whiskey. Before that … Continue reading

Posted in - American Whiskey, - Rye Whiskey, Willett | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Caol Ila 12, 56.2% – OB for Feis Ile 2016

The final dram in last November’s tasting at De Whiskykoning was this wee Caol Ila. Somehow Caol Ila had fallen a bit off my radar unless it was from the early eighties and I was a tad disappointed it wasn’t … Continue reading

Posted in Caol Ila | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Laphroaig Lore, 48%

Yet another NAS release from Laphroaig. I’ve said this in an article I wrote for our club’s magazine a few months ago, but Laphroaig has changed. And I am not talking about the distillate which was better in the sixties, … Continue reading

Posted in Laphroaig | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Half-Century Blend, 45.5%

A sample of this at-least-50 years old whisky was sent to my by Master of Malt some months ago. The fact that I’m only blogging about it now is one of the reasons I decided to focus a bit more … Continue reading

Posted in - Blended Whisky | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Book review: Empire of Booze by Henry Jeffreys

Henry Jeffreys is a booze writer who produces several columns, for newspapers and magazines, mostly about wine. In his latest book, published through ‘the kickstarter for books’ Unbound he dives into the important role booze plays in the history of … Continue reading

Posted in - Book | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Yamazaki Limited Edition 2016, 43%

Mind that this is not the one that got the rave review from Jim Murray and went up in price from some € 80 to € 1500 in a few months. I have been able to try the previous two releases in … Continue reading

Posted in - Japanese Whisky, Yamazaki | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kilchoman 2007-2016, 8yo, Feis Ile 2016, 56.6%

During November’s Winter Whisky Tasting at De Whiskykoning there are bound to be some Feis Ile bottlings. He does try to get some drams in that I don’t already know and while that sounds awfully entitled, I book the entire … Continue reading

Posted in - News and Announcements, Kilchoman | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jameson 12yo, 43%

If you’re very familiar with Jameson in it’s current form you’ll have noticed this is at 43% instead of the regular 40% at which they are bottled nowadays. I didn’t notice it since I don’t have a clue about these … Continue reading

Posted in - Irish Whiskey, Jameson | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ardbeg Dark Cove, 46.5%

The Darkest Ardbeg Ever! According to Ardbeg that is. It’s a very strange statement since there are plenty of darker Ardbegs out there, both from independent bottlers and Ardbeg themselves. So marketing nonsense to get people hyped up. In the … Continue reading

Posted in Ardbeg | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Talisker Dark Storm, 45.8%

Talisker is releasing a lot of NAS whiskies nowadays. And by a lot, I mean a lot. Especially if you realize it’s only one brand in a pool of many. It started about a decade ago with the Talisker 57 … Continue reading

Posted in Talisker | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments