The Malt Cask

After a couple of week without much in terms of new posts, I am back with a whisky I was not expecting to open and put on TheMaltCask anytime soon: Glen Moray the Elgin Classic.  I was given the bottle last year and I put it on the shelf with other "to-be-opened" bottles, but without thinking much about it as it it probably one of the cheapest official bottling single malts you can by in UK supermarkets. In other words, my expectation was not really high. However it so happened that I finished my bottle of Johnnie Walker Black a couple of weeks ago, and when I went to the shelf to get hold of a new bottle of the Black, I came across the Glen Moray and decided to open it instead hoping it would do the trick as far as easy drinking is concerned. As I said, the Glen Moray range is present in supermarket and it tends to be the cheapest single malt on offer at around £20 a bottle. This is the standard, classic malt, but there is also a peated version and a sherry cask finish

In case you haven't yet realised, I tend to spend a fair bit of time at the Whisky Shop Manchester. That is pretty much where my whisky journey started over 2 and a half years ago. The guys there are very knowledgeable, they are passionate about whisky and incredibly friendly. I have now purchased quite a few bottles from there and attended many of their tasting sessions so I decided over a year ago to become a member of their W Club. The membership was great for the first year as it allowed me to benefit from 10% discount on all purchases from the store (both shop and online). I renewed it at the end of 2016 and unfortunately, they have a relaunch on the club which no longer gives members access to 10% off everything. However, members now have access to great offers every Wednesday as well as free tasting sessions every months, so for £20/year, you cannot really go wrong.  The W Club member tasting was on Friday and the line-up was quite interesting: 1. Glenkeir Treasures -

I know this is meant to be a blog about whisky, but I decided to branch out tonight with a bottle of Cognac which I think is really worth reviewing. I have never really drunk much Cognac, but having got into aged spirit with whisky, I thought I should give it a go. And what's more, I grew up about an hour away from the Cognac region so now feel I should try to support my "home terroir".  My first bottle of Cognac was an XO from an independent producer who actually distilled the grapes and aged the spirit to turn it into Cognac. Why do I mention that? Simply because most Cognac brands do not actually distill the spirit themselves, they buy it from small local producers to blend it ultimately. Unlike whisky, Cognac bottles do not tend to have an age statement of their labels but a few letters instead, so you need to be able to know what they mean to be able to understand how old your spirit is: V.S. = Very Special, the youngest spirit used in the blend has been age