Author Archives: Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

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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.

Ardbeg 2003-2011, 7yo, 59.6% – SMWS (33.101 – Fabulous, thigh slapping smoke)

Another one of those funky names from the SMWS, but this one is less ridiculous than some, and actually makes some sense. It’s the other whisky we tried while we were at The Vaults in Leith. It was recommended that … Continue reading

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The Vaults in Leith, the SMWS, booze and dinner

On the last day of our Scotland trip in November, we decided to visit The Vaults in Leith. This is the quintessential SMWS venue, and I have been wanting to visit this ever since my first trip to Edinburgh in … Continue reading

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Yamazaki 1984-2009, 48%

A while ago I traded a sample with whisky buddy BP. He’s a fanatic of Japanese whisky and kindly offered a dram of Yamazaki 1984. Knowing how good Yamazaki can be, and the rarity of the stuff at the moment, … Continue reading

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Lochside 21, 1979-2000, 50% – Douglas Laing’s Old Malt Cask

Most Lochsides I’ve tried have been from 1981. Both Lochsides I’ve owned are from 1981. There are some older versions out there, but most of these were from before I was interested in whisky of this caliber. Lochside is one … Continue reading

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Port Charlotte 2004-2015 , 10yo, 50% – Caskplan

Caskplan is a Dutch collective of whisky fanatics that own some casks in Scotland. Obviously they plan to bottle those casks under their own label and have some awesome drinks available that they owned from the distillation date till the … Continue reading

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Glenmorangie Milsean, 46%

For the seventh time Glenmorangie releases their annual Private Edition series. So far there have been hits and misses, and for me some unknown. The biggest success in the range was the Ealanta, I think. The Virgin Oak matured whisky was … Continue reading

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What? More bottle shares? Again?

Exactly 36 days ago I wrote about left overs from bottle shares. While most of these bottles have not been emptied yet, I am already planning new ones. I’ve got some things in the running at the moment that I … Continue reading

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Two new youngsters from Gordon & MacPhail: Glenrothes 8yo (MacPhail’s Collection) and Macallan 2006 Speymalt

Last week a sort-of surprise package arrived from Elgin containing two wee samples of Glenrothes and Macallan. Both quite young at eight and nine years old. I was quite lucky there was anything in the package at all, since the … Continue reading

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Armagnac: Baron Gaston Legrand, 1995, 40% (and a wrap up)

The ninth and final Armagnac from the bottle share is another Bas Armagnac, like the Laballes and the Tariquet from a couple of days ago. I didn’t overly like those drinks, even though Bas Armagnac is supposedly the better terroir … Continue reading

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Armagnac: Saint Christeau 1950 and 1938

The Saint Christeau Armagnac was varying from 1990 back to 1938. I initially planned to stretch that time span further, between 1995 and 1934. Unfortunately these two were not available anymore and I settled for the others. Whichever way you … Continue reading

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