*Thanks to the good folks at the Baddish Group for the sample. (Had to do it...you can never hear that song too many times.) Superstitions are really pretty silly when you come right down to it. For example, there's almost no way stepping on a crack could break a mother's back, but they'd never come … Continue reading Isle of Jura Superstition – Review
Scotch
Isle of Jura “Diurach’s Own” 16 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to the good folks at The Baddish Group for the sample. According to the distillery's legend, in 1781, Jura's Laird, one Archibald Campbell, being none too keen on the locals making their own hooch willy-nilly all over the island, enacted a ban on all distilling. As you might imagine, this didn't go over too … Continue reading Isle of Jura “Diurach’s Own” 16 Year Old – Review
Isle of Jura “Origin” 10 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to the good folks at The Baddish Group for the sample. I was going to start the post off by with a brief discussion about the Paps of Jura and how, if you're going to name your island's highest points after a female body part, "paps" is a much better name than, say, the … Continue reading Isle of Jura “Origin” 10 Year Old – Review
Kilchoman Spring 2011 Release – Review
*Thanks to the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. So it seems that back in the good ol' days, if you consider the good ol' days to be right around 1600 A.D., there was a little dust-up between Clan MacDonald and Clan Maclean... Islay's answer to the Hatfields and McCoys, if you … Continue reading Kilchoman Spring 2011 Release – Review
The Dalmore Cigar Malt Reserve – Review
*Thanks to the good folks at The Baddish Group for the sample. Ahhh, the fickle, occasionally brain-dead consumer...ok, "brain-dead" is perhaps going to far, how about the fickle, occasionally unimaginative consumer? The Dalmore, for years, had produced their well-loved "Cigar Malt", yet they had a bit of a marketing conundrum. The name, it seemed, was … Continue reading The Dalmore Cigar Malt Reserve – Review
Aberlour 12 Year Old, Double Cask Matured – Review
Let me just say right off the bat that I've never been to the quiet little village of Charlestown of Aberlour which lies just down the A95 from the Aberlour Distillery, so please don't take this as any sort of travelogue or destination review...or, for that matter, thanks to a very limited travel budget at the … Continue reading Aberlour 12 Year Old, Double Cask Matured – Review
Chieftain’s 1995 Mortlach 15 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. There's a saying about Speyside's Dufftown that goes "Rome was built on seven hills but Dufftown stands on seven stills." Even though I've never visited Dufftown, I'm pretty sure the differences don't stop there. Rome, for example, does not focus much on booze and booze-making in its … Continue reading Chieftain’s 1995 Mortlach 15 Year Old – Review
Chieftain’s 1992 Ardmore 18 Year Old – Reviewed
*Thanks to the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. The Highland version of Ardmore (in the early 1800's there was an Ardmore distillery on Islay that was eventually bought by Lagavulin) was built in 1898 by Adam Teacher, the son of Teacher's Highland Cream founder William Teacher. It's distinct, peated Highland character instantly … Continue reading Chieftain’s 1992 Ardmore 18 Year Old – Reviewed
Chieftain’s 1999 Glendullan 11 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. Yet another distillery under Diageo's extremely large umbrella that's rarely seen outside its role as a blend ingredient. In Glendullan's case, it has been bottled under the Singleton name since 2007 as a 12 year old, but not currently in any other distillery release. … Continue reading Chieftain’s 1999 Glendullan 11 Year Old – Review
Chieftain’s 1996 Isle Of Jura 14 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. I'm anxious for the people of the Isle of Jura, all 200 of them, give or take a few hearty souls. Reading up on the island, I've learned that they are outnumbered nearly 35 to 1 by the large, locally prolific, and usually docile … Continue reading Chieftain’s 1996 Isle Of Jura 14 Year Old – Review
THE CASKS 