The Malt Cask

Picture courtesy of  www.thewhiskyexchange.com   Distillery : Edradour Bottler : Distillery for The Whisky Exchange Age : 14 years old Distilled : 2005 Bottled : May 2020 Cask : 2nd fill sherry hogshead Abv : 58.8% Unchillfiltered : Yes Natural Colour : Yes Nb of bottles : 296 Extra : Bottled under the Ballechin name (peated Edradour) My tasting notes Nose:  Sweet and ashy, herby notes too, dark fruit (blackberry and blackcurrant) dried fruit (raisins), slight tar, hints of coriander and mint, dried oak and some dark chocolate. Palate:  Not as sweet as I was expecting. Some sweetness and fruity notes but also quite green and herby with some mint and eucalyptus. Cold bonfire. Finish:  Quite drying, oak, cherry, slight acrid smoke and cough sweets. With water:  The nose is fresher and mintier. It loses some of the rich ashy and tarry notes. The palate is slightly sweeter and spicier but I feel the flavours are not quite as well balanced. The finish is slightly spicier too with a little m

Photo courtesy of  www.masterofmalt.com Distillery : Tobermory Bottler : Distillery Age : 12 years old Distilled : n/a Bottled : 2017 Cask : Bourbon with a Manzanilla cask finish Abv : 46.3% Unchillfiltered : Yes Natural Colour : Yes Nb of bottles : n/a Extra : n/a My tasting notes Nose:  Slight 'dirty sherry' notes (sulfur?), raisins, vanilla, some maritime notes as well (sea breeze), walnuts, caramel, milk chocolate and a slight earthiness. Palate:  A wave of thick milk chocolate first before dried fruit, fresh orange, oak spice, walnuts again and hints of sourdough. Finish:  Tinned peaches, nuts, muscovado sugar, slight peanut butter, still a bit of sulphur throughout, chocolate raisins. With water:  The nose is slightly less 'funky' with more citrus and toffe notes. The palate and finish are both flatter though with a bit more honey sweetness and hints of fennel. Overall, a decent Tobermory but far from the best I've had from the distillery... Slàinte all!

 Time to get back into some of the samples I have in stock! Photo courtesy of  www.masterofmalt.com Distillery : Bunnahabhain Bottler : Adelphi (Liddesdale) Age : 21 years old Distilled : n/a Bottled : n/a Cask : Mix of Bourbon and Sherry Hogsheads Abv : 46% Unchillfiltered : Yes Natural Colour : Yes Nb of bottles : 1011 Extra : This is batch 10  My tasting notes Nose: Fresh, fruity. yellow fruit, melon, apricot, peach, some fresh oak too, acacia honey, slight confectionary and floral notes, lemon and orange blossom. Great start! Palate:  Barley sweetness, fresh fruit, a little spice and grapefruit bitterness, still some honey and slight nuttiness. Finish: Mix of honey, nuts, grapefruit and slightly drying oak spice. Lingering nicely! With water: The nose is even fruitier, the palate is sweeter with more honey and the finish is a little spicier but less bitter. What a delicious dram! Definitely one to add to my auction wacthlist! Slàinte all!

With the growing popularity of whisky, more and more wine and spirits shops decide to bottle their own single malt. By their own, I mean of course casks they have purchased through distilleries thmselves or through independent bottlers.  This is the case today with a Craigellachie selected by L'Ambassade du Vin in Niort (France) through Signatory Vintage. And looking at the cask reference (306151/part) as well as the number of bottles released (156) I guess this is from a cask share. Bottle details: Distilled 23/06/2009 Bottled 08/11/2019 Cask 306151/part Number of bottles 156 Abv 46% Colour Pale gold No mention on the label of filtration or colouring but I would say it is unchillfiltered and natural colour. My tasting notes Nose:   Creamy and fruity, green fruit, pears, apples, vanilla, spicy notes too, slight oak and cashew and pistachio nuts. Palate:   Creamy again, almonds, more yellow fruit than green fruit, peach, cereal sweetness and again a little oak spice developing after