The Malt Cask

I know that in the video I posted yesterday I mentioned I would be back reviewing a single malt in this post, and somehow I did not get it wrong, except it is not going to be a standard single malt review but an experiment review. I was looking for a dram for tonight and came across my Aberlour 16. I have not reviewed it but when I do, I will probably mention that, I my mind, it lacks something, strength, flavour, complexity, particularly as a 16 year old whisky. Now I passed and continued down my cabinet to come across Aberlour A'bunadh. You will remember me mentioning how strong I find it and how much water I tend to add to it to be able to access the flavour in the dram. By this point, I think you know where I am going... Yes, what about mixing both together and see what happens? A weaker one with a stronger one. Is it likely to create a great in-between or is it not likely to work that well. I reckon I am not taking too much of a risk there as they both come from the same dist

50 posts already so I decided to do something a little bit different. I thought I would try to do a video post. I am not at all planning on moving from my keyboard to my camera, but for this particular post, the camera seemed to make more sense. I wanted to share my whisky collection and having realised that I now have 40 bottles opened or ready to be opened, a short video was just easier than pictures. Some of the bottles I have already reviewed, some of them I will be reviewing at some point in the coming weeks/months. I know the video is quite long being about 17 minutes and the camera focus is not always there, but hey, that is a first video, so I hope you will still enjoy it.  So here is the link: My Whisky Collection - Youtube Video The second part of this post is to let you know that I decided to buy my own domain name to make it easier to search and remember, so maltcask.blogspot.com has now become www.themaltcask.com Thank you all for reading and here is

Today is my first post dedicated to a Bruichladdich bottle. Being a massive Islay fan, it is also the first Bruichladdich bottle I have bought, which means that I now own at least a bottle from each distillery on Islay. But why this particular one though, as I like peaty whisky and Bruichladdich is not particularly peaty. I could have bought a Port Charlotte (their peaty range) or even an Octomore (amongst the most heavily peated also produced at the distillery). Well first, any Octomore bottle will set you back at least £120-£150, so not really what I wanted to spend on a bottle to drink. Don't get me wrong though, they are cracking drams, just a bit pricey. Then, I got to try the 2007 Bruichladdich Islay Barley in France last summer and thought it was very good, taking me back to the distillery with tastes of sea-side and salty barley. Most of my other Islay bottles are peaty too (apart from Bunnahabhain) so I thought it was time for a different experience. It took me some tim

I wanted to try something different today. I realised that I now have quite a few whisk(e)y bottles opened (28 currently) and I have been getting familiar with the different flavours that they all have to offer, so I thought about looking at what would happen if I started mixing some together to create my very own malt blend. I must say I have no definite idea of what I want to create and what proportions it would take to reach any particular flavour. All I am using is my own knowledge and judgment of what could potentially work together. I also know that in order to blend different malts successfully, I would need to give the spirits time to properly marry together but 20/30 minutes is probably all I am going to give them before I give it a nose and a taste.  For the first one, I decided to use the GlenDronach I reviewed yesterday and add some Caol Ila 12 to it, to try to mix sweet sherry and salty peat. So only two single malts to begin with. These are the proportions I went for:

Many people have got a sweet tooth, whether it be chocolate, cake, sweets or any other pastries, they know what to enjoy to satisfy their craving. But what happens when you want something sweet and the only thing you have access to is a drinks cabinet? The answer is simple, you can either go for some sickly sweet liqueur such as Baileys, or you can look for a bottle of fully ex-sherry-cask matured single malt. The most famous names are Macallan or Dalmore, but from what I understand, the new-age Macallans are not quite of the same standard as their age-statement predecessors, and Dalmore, as good as they can be, remain a bit more commercial, being coloured, chill-filtered and generally bottled at 40% ABV... So what are you left with, if you are after a quality dram which isn't too "hype" and therefore relatively affordable? Simple again, GlenDronach. GlenDronach is not a very well known distillery from Speyside. It belonged to the BenRiach Company until this year when

After the Black Label a couple of weeks ago, here is Johnnie Walker Blue Label. I know I am jumping a few stages in between, as the Johnnie Walker Black is a rather inexpensive bottle compared to the Blue which is the top of the range, rather dear bottle, but a friend of mine gave me a sample at the weekend and I thought I could review it today, whilst having my first ever sip of this prestigious and iconic premium blend.  The Blue Label does not have an age statement on the bottle and is crafted from "hand-selected casks of some of the rarest and most exceptional whiskies" according to the website. It is also bottled at 40%, which I find a little bit surprising considering the product itself and what it represents, a premium blend. I also presume it has been chill-filtered and coloured, probably for consistency across the different markets (US in particular). Now for the price... To get a bottle of 'Blue' you will probably have to part with the best part of about