Author Archives: Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Always a risky pick from any bottler, Bowmore can easily disappoint with their overly floral laundry softener scent every now and then, also known as FWP (French Whore Perfume). This sample is one I am tasting with a bit of … Continue reading →

This month I brewed a couple of batches of beer and thought my own brews were about ready. While I like to drink my own brew, I don’t think it’s one of the best beers I tried this month. Bummer! … Continue reading →

Another Japanese bottling from SMWS! A couple of years back I thought it was a good idea to aim my collection at mostly Japanese whiskies, but then the prices started to rise. Now the SMWS brings out the regular bottle … Continue reading →

And again, back to Scotland for the next SMWS dram! This time a Glenrothes from 1992. I always find this a bit of a weird distillery since I usually am not a big fan of their own (vintage) releases, but … Continue reading →

A minor change and a big change on this blog! Minor: This blog is now available as maltfascination.com! I’ve wanted to change the url for a while but I kept doubting whether to host the site myself or let WordPress … Continue reading →

Yamazaki, also a distillery that puts out many great bottlings, if you can get them. Since last year they have started to understand that too in Japan, and the standard 18 year old (which is an absolute stunner) has gone … Continue reading →

Littlemill, as I’ve mentioned before, isn’t one of my favourite distilleries. There has been a terrific one in the Usquebaugh Society’s Blind Tasting Competition, but that is, by far, the best one I’ve ever had. Most of them are too … Continue reading →

Springbank is one of my favourite distilleries in Scotland. Not so much their whisky (although quite a few of my top-ever drams are from their stills) but the distillery itself. The people, the town, the vibe are just plain awesome. … Continue reading →

Another SMWS dram and still going strong. I’ve tried several Glenmorangie bottlings from the SMWS with limited success. I had some sherry cask which I didn’t really like but it was a profile I’ve encountered more from the SMWS. All … Continue reading →

The first distillery ever bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society back in the early eighties. By now they’ve done more than 156 bottlings of their casks and this is one of their latest. Nose: Pretty heavy at first, but … Continue reading →