The Malt Cask

  The Dalswinton’s Series second edition is now out from the folks at Claxton's Spirits and it comprises of 5 stunning well-aged single malts from renowned distilleries: Clynelish, Bunnahabhain, Bowmore, Highland Park and Springbank! So let’s go with the first review and I went for their Clynelish 30 years old from 1993, aged in a bourbon barrel and bottled at 44.4% Distillery:  Clynelish Bottler:  Claxton's Age:  30 years old Distilled:  20/10/1993 Bottled:  2024 Cask:  Bourbon Barrel Abv:  44.4% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:   Price:  £ Extra:  Part of the Dalswinton Series - Second Edition My tasting notes: Nose:  The nose is  gently sweet, fruity and floral with notes of jasmin, orange blossom, lemon zest, crème anglaise and fresh vanilla pods. Palate:  The palate is definitely Clynelish with some fruity, waxy elements, there is some oak notes, white peach and underripe apple,...

One dram left in the bottle and I’ve finally managed to write up notes for this one! Bottled by North Star, this 31 years old blended malt is said to potentially contain quite a bit of Clynelish… It was very affordable (I paid around £80 on offer in 2020) and I am very glad I have a back up bottle! Distillery:  Blended Malt Bottler:  North Star Spirits Age:  31 years old Distilled:  1988 Bottled:  2019 Cask:  First fill Bourbon barrels Abv:  43.1% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  3582 Price:  £110 Extra:  Part of the Cask Series 009 My tasting notes: Nose: Waxy, citrus, lemon, honey, fruity, some oak, wood varnish, hints of orange, vanilla, a little bitterness, some pine notes, barley sugar, fresh barley, crème caramel, sponge cake, tangerine, cardamon. Loving it! Palate: Rich & chewy, honey, chocolate, citrus (grapefruit, bitter orange), oak spice , peach, milk, orange blossom, almond, orgeat sy...

Distillery:  Clynelish Bottler:  Halcyon Spirits Age:  30 years old Distilled:  20/10/1993 Bottled:  24/10/2023 Cask:  ex-Bourbon ? Abv:  42.1% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  154 Price: £795 Extra:  Vatting of cask 11082 and 11104 My tasting notes: Nose: Fresh & fruity, apples, pears, peaches, quince paste, slight nuttiness, almond, lemon, dried apricots, toffee & vanilla, quite waxy (wood polish/ beeswax), desiccated coconut and some cinnamon. What a start! Palate: Rich, sweet, fruity, oak spice, waxy, more peach, apricot, apples & pears, honey & hints of aniseed, pepper, definitely some Clyrelish DNA here and it’s delicious! Finish: Warming with spicy notes from the palate to the finish, more nuttiness (macadamia?) & sweetness. Still some fruit but less present on the finish. Oak. With water: From yellow fruit, the nose becomes greener & fresher (fresh linen). The palate becom...

Vintage Bottlers ltd A look at a new indepedent bottler today, and we’re not looking at young cheap whisky here with Vintage Bottlers but only “the very best whisky Scotland has produced, past and present.” The first release -part of their Secret Series- is proof of it. It is a 30 year-old Highland single malt, aged in an ex-Sherry cask, bottled of course uncoloured, unchillfiltered and at the natural cask strength of 47.5% I know it’s supposed to be secret, but they still give us a clue with a set of coordinates, which take us straight to the Clynelish distillery…! As they’ve been kind enough to send me a sample, here are my notes: My tasting notes Nose:  Oaky, sweet, creamy, with straw, hazelnut chocolate cookies, marzipan, red apples, a little peach, almonds, desiccated coconut, slight sultanas, vanilla, hints of sandalwood and Madeira cake. What a start! Palate:  Citrus first on the palate before some oak spice, sultanas, salted caramel chocolate, stewed dark fruits, black...

Keeping to my New Year's resolution of buying older/independent bottles, here is my first purchase of 2018, and it ticks both the older (20 years old) and independent (Càrn Mòr) boxes. I actually didn't go out and spend £130 blind as this is a whisky I had in Glasgow a few months ago and really enjoyed. As it is a single cask bottling, there are only 581 bottles out there and having looked for it online, it didn't seem there were many left around. I was therefore very amazed to come across one in one of my local spirits shops in Manchester, and as it was there, I could not help myself. I bought it and 10 minutes later it was opened. So what is it? It is from a not very well know distillery called Clynelish. Many people have heard of Brora as it has been closed for a few years and the bottles available on the market now fetch quite a lot of money, well Clynelish is its still-working sister distillery. It is part of the Diageo group and mainly releases a 14 years old as a...

As I mentioned before, I have only started being properly interested in whisky in the last two years, but as my initial curiosity developed into a more passionate interest, I knew I had to go further than just reading online reviews and articles. So, I looked for whisky places around Manchester and started going to the Whisky Shop on Exchange Street. The first time I entered the shop, I felt a bit like a fish out of water as I had never really been to a whisky-only shop. However the staff were very welcoming and helpful and I quickly realised they were incredibly passionate about the spirit and prepared to share their passion and knowledge with their customers. Trying a new whisky can be a very costly thing to do if you have to buy the bottle (particularly if it's to realise the whisky isn't to your taste!) but the Whisky Shop allows you to try a dram or two and therefore decide whether it's the one for you or not.  I soon decided to add my details to their mailing list,...