*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. Clynelish is pronounced KLYNE-leesh or klein-LEESH depending on what sylLABle you'd like to put the emPHAsis on. The name means "slope of the garden" in Gaelic, though the garden in question might just be the metaphorical garden of the eastern coastal Highlands … Continue reading The Exclusive Malts 1997 Clynelish 15 Year Old – Review
Speyside
The Exclusive Malts 1992 Glen Grant 20 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. Why I am fascinated with the tangled stories of ownership in the whisky world is beyond me. Partly, I suppose I like the notion that throughout such upheaval and change, many distilleries just kept right on mashing, worting, washing, and distilling away. … Continue reading The Exclusive Malts 1992 Glen Grant 20 Year Old – Review
The Exclusive Malts 1994 Braeval 18 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. There has never been an official bottling from the Braeval distillery, any expression you find out on the shelves is, like this one from The Exclusive Malts, an independently bottled release. Why? Well, as I've mentioned before, Braeval is a newish distillery, … Continue reading The Exclusive Malts 1994 Braeval 18 Year Old – Review
The Exclusive Malts 2000 Aberlour 12 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. If my cursory google-able research is correct (and why would it be?) Aberlour, or as translated into Scottish Gaelic, Obar Lobhair, apparently means "The mouth of the talkative stream". The babbling brook in question would be the Lour, which empties into the Spey, and upon whose … Continue reading The Exclusive Malts 2000 Aberlour 12 Year Old – Review
AnCnoc 22 Year Old – Review
*Sincere thanks to LD of Alembic Communications Ltd. and AnCnoc for the sample If you go looking for the AnCnoc distillery, you're not going to find it...there's no such place. If you go looking for Knockdhu whisky on your liquor store shelves...you're not going to find that either. Yet both Knockdhu and AnCnoc exist and … Continue reading AnCnoc 22 Year Old – Review
Single Cask Nation 1995 BenRiach Peated 17 Year Old – Review
*A sincere thanks to JH, JJY, and SK at Single Cask Nation for the sample. BenRiach has been around for a long time, and yet in a way, it's barely been there at all. The distillery was founded in 1897 and then turned off the stills a mere six years later...another casualty of the Pattison … Continue reading Single Cask Nation 1995 BenRiach Peated 17 Year Old – Review
Chieftain’s 1983 Balmenach 28 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. Balmenach is another distillery you hear about being one of those distilleries you never hear about. The distillery traces its roots back to a 1824 when a small distillery called "Balminoch" was given its legal license. Founded by one James MacGregor, Balmenach remained in … Continue reading Chieftain’s 1983 Balmenach 28 Year Old – Review
Glenfiddich Cask of Dreams 2011 – Review
*Sincere thanks to MB from Glenfiddich and William Grant & Sons for the sample! Those that know me well know that I'm a scathing, occasionally ranting cynic with a big ol' softy heart...either that or a big ol' easily weepy softy with a small, cold lump of coal for a heart...sometimes both, which sounds just … Continue reading Glenfiddich Cask of Dreams 2011 – Review
SMWSA 2012 Holiday Parcels…Part II
*A sincere thank you to the good folks at the SMWSA for the samples. The second 2012 "holiday" outturn from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America (SMWSA) was entitled "Holiday Parcels" and now that I've missed that boat and the holidays are pretty much over, I thought I'd take a three-part look at this … Continue reading SMWSA 2012 Holiday Parcels…Part II
Glen Grant – The Major’s Reserve – Review
*Sincere thanks to DK at Exposure PR for the sample! "Major" James Grant (he earned the title of "Major" by serving in the local Rifle Volunteers, a citizen's army of the time) was the son of Glen Grant co-founder James Grant, who with his brother, John, founded the famous distillery in 1840. James jr. inherited … Continue reading Glen Grant – The Major’s Reserve – Review
THE CASKS 