Author Archives: Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer
Bowmore, 56.1% – OB for Feis Ile 2014
Mostly, when a Feis Ile bottling comes out, there are ways of identifying it apart from the release for the festival. Lagavulin generally has an age, Ardbeg had some ridiculous theme, Laphroaig has a Cairdeas edition and so on. Bowmore … Continue reading
Glenrothes 1997-2016, 53.5% – WhiskyBroker (for Van Zuylen)
The Van Zuylen bit is between brackets in the title since this whisky came out as a shop bottling for Van Zuylen AND a regular bottling from WhiskyBroker. It seems they split the cask since it’s the same cask number … Continue reading
Posted in - News and Announcements, Glenrothes
Tagged 1997, Glenrothes, Sherry Cask, Speyside, Split cask, Whisky Van Zuylen, Whiskybroker
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Bowmore 15, 55.4% – OB for Feis Ile 2012
It’s probably not a secret for anyone who has spent any time reading this wee blog, but I love me some Bowmore. Apart from some expressions that are just a bit too straight forward I think their lighter Islay character, … Continue reading
Posted in Bowmore
Tagged Bowmore, Feis Ile, Islay, Islay Festival of Malt and Music, Sherry Cask
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Bruichladdich 25, 1993-2018, 49.3 – Cadenhead’s for NL
Bruichladdich is one of those distilleries that I really, really like. However, I do recognize that the whisky distilled around its closing date in 1993. This must have been distilled in the last few months of it being open, before … Continue reading
Posted in Bruichladdich
Tagged 1993, Bourbon Cask, Bresser & Timmer, Bruichladdich, Cadenhead, Islay
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Balblair 1999-2017, 3rd release, 46%
Recently Balblair have switched to using age statements instead of vintages. I can understand the marketing effectiveness of it, since vintages don’t really mean anything unless you also clearly state when something was bottled. This one, however, was bottled in … Continue reading
Posted in Balblair
Tagged 1999, Balblair, Bourbon Cask, Edderton, Highlands, Sherry Cask
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Ardbeg 1993-2003, 52.9% – Spirit of Scotland for Potstill Vienna
Yet another random sample I found on my shelf. Ardbeg 1993 caught my eye since that’s a vintage that’s becoming insanely expensive nowadays. Of course, the label was lacking any other information, so I had absolutely no clue to the … Continue reading
Posted in - News and Announcements, Ardbeg
Tagged 1993, Ardbeg, Islay, Potstill, Vienna
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Spirit of Freedom 30 years old, 46%
A bottling done five years ago to commemorate the 700th Anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, logically in 1314 AD. It was released by Springbank distillery, so logically this would be rather similar to their Campbeltown Loch series. Also, a … Continue reading
Benromach 2010-2018, Peat Smoke, Sherry Cask, 59.9% – OB
A little while ago a friend of mine (RvB) bottle-shared half his bottle and after someone got there first, I took the remaining 25cl. Generally, Benromach is a very solid whisky that works very well with both bourbon and sherry … Continue reading
Posted in Benromach
Tagged 2010, Benromach, Forres, Gordon & MacPhail, Sherry Cask, Speyside
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Burnside 1991-2018, 26yo, 46.7% – Cadenhead’s
As I sit here reviewing this almost-single-malt I think about how clever this ploy of the whisky industry actually is. William Grants, the owners of Balvenie Distillery don’t want their distillery’s name on a bottle, so they teaspoon it with … Continue reading
Posted in - Blended Malt, Balvenie, Burnside, Glenfiddich
Tagged 1991, Balvenie, Blended Malt, Bourbon Cask, Burnside, Cadenhead, Glenfiddich, Speyside, Tea spooned, William Grant & Sons
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Malt Fascination 