The Malt Cask

  Journée des Spiritueux Français Je retrouve un peu de français et ce pour la première journée des spiritueux français à l’initiative de @franck.napoly ! Et oui, quand on pense aux spiritueux français, on pense souvent aux alcools de nos grand-parents, Pastis, eau-de-vie ou Cognac, mais depuis quelques années les choses ont bien changé! En effet, la France produit toujours du Pastis, Cognac et autres Armagnac mais pas seulement! Ainsi on peut boire de la vodka, du gin, du rhum, du whisky et bien d’autres encore, tous produits en France! Nombreux sont ceux qui ont été remis au goût du jour avec bien des idées de dégustation novatrices! Et les amateurs de spiritueux français sont de plus en plus jeunes aussi, alors qu’attendez-vous pour y goûter? Santé à tous et bonne journée des spiritueux français! English version French Spirits day! Today is the first day dedicated to French spirits. Thank you @franck.napoly for making it possible! When we think about French spirits, we often thi...

Distillery : Longmorn Bottler : Distillery Age : 25 years old Distilled : n/a Bottled : 23/07/2020 Cask : American oak barrels, hogsheads and butts Abv : 53.0% Unchillfiltered : Yes Natural Colour : Yes Nb of bottles : n/a Extra : Part of The Secret Speyside Collection Price : ~£400 Price paid : £0 (gifted as part of a promotion) Nose : Fruity & spicy, peaches & apricots, red apples and hints of fresh figs, sultanas, vanilla, oak spice, cinnamon, creamy caramel, orange marmalade and lemon oil. Such a mesmerising fragrance!   Palate : Sweet & spicy, rich & chewy too. Mouth-coating with oranges, fresh oak, a little ginger, apples and sultanas, ripe cherries, vanilla, caramel and pears. Despite the high abv the alcohol is so well integrated. Delicious! Finish : Long & drying, warning too, spicy, ginger, oak, sultanas and black cherries, barley sugar and dark chocolate. With water : Creamier nose, less spice, more fruit, pear jam, fig jam, Scottish tablet, vanilla f...

Photo courtesy of www.peg-whisky.com This is the second single cask release from Peg Whisky. I am trying a sample sent to me by the guys at Peg Whisky. Distillery :  Port Dundas Bottler : Peg Whisky Age : 11 years old Distilled : 16/11/2009 Bottled : 18/11/2020 Cask : Hogshead Abv : 59.1% Unchillfiltered : Yes Natural Colour : Yes Nb of bottles : 274 Extra : Second limited release from Peg Whisky, Port Dundas was demolished in 2011   Nose : Fresh cereal, grain, vanilla, digestive biscuits, hints of dried dates and nuts, green pears, citrus elements too and also an earthier side heading towards some peat notes. Palate : I still get that peat vibe alongside some caramel, vanilla, oak spice, green under-ripe fruit (apples and pears) and some fresh thyme. Finish : Quite spicy, warming, oak, slight smoke, grain, and some thyme still kicking around. With water : The nose becomes creamier, the palate is rounder, creamier too with some citrus and malty notes heading into the fini...

Since I started my whisky journey about 6 years ago, my main focus has been Scotch. I have of course ventured out of Scotland with some Irish, French or Asian whiskies but I could still explore further. America is another one I need to spend more time with, being Bourbon, American whisky, rye, Tennessee or any other variants. I think I have managed to try most of the 'entry' bottles so far from Woodford, to Makers, to Jack Daniels, to Rittenhouse, Wild Turkey or Buffalo Trace. I have also pushed a little further with Blanton's Gold, Few Rye and some Balcones, but there is definitely a long way still to go. Today, I am still on a more 'everyday' Bourbon, with Eagle Rare 10 years old, 45%, from the Buffalo Trace distillery. Compared with the standard bottle of Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare has been aged for at least 10 years. Both product come from the same mash bill #1 which is low in rye (less than 10%) with potentially a small amount of malted barley (around 5% from wh...

  Brand new release from the Kyrö Distillery in Finland with this Malt Rye whisky, distilled entirely from malted Finnish wholegrain rye. The sample I have is from the December set of the Pour & Sip subscription service from Master of Malt, which in my opinion, is really worth having a look at! Distillery :  Kyrö Distillery Bottler : Distillery Age : NAS (probably 3 years old) Distilled : n/a Bottled : 2020 Cask : New American white oak Abv : 47.2% Unchillfiltered : Not mentioned Natural Colour : Not mentioned  Nb of bottles : n/a Extra : The distillery is based in an old dairy in the village of Isok yrö   Nose : Rye spice, creamy, cereal, vanilla, some fruit notes, linseed oil, fresh wood, a little pine, some sweeter caramel and nutty notes. Palate : Sweet and spicy, pine wood, pine kernels, lemon pith, hints of pepper, oak, vanilla, a little caramel, nutmeg and cinnamon, cedarwood. Finish : Toasted nuts (hazelnuts and almonds), sourdough bread. A lot of th...

With Christmas fast approaching, many of you have already started rushing around (mainly on website this year...) to find the perfect presents for your loved ones. But what do you buy someone who likes whisky when you don't know that much about it or are not sure about what is out there? This is why I thought I would compile a few whisky gift ideas for you here! Let's start with the obvious, a bottle of whisky. Under £50 Glendronach 12 years old - £40 to £45 For the price this is a delicious sherried whisky which is perfect for sipping at the end of the night by the fire. Lots of dried fruits and Christmas deliciousness! Highland Park 12 years old - £25 to £35 A solid one from Orkney with some citrus and honey notes mixed with some aromatic smoke. And you will find it in most supermarkets. Caol Ila 12 years old - £35 to £40 Moving on to peated whisky from Islay. This is definitely peated but not as intense as others like Laphroaig or Ardbeg. Quite oily, smoky and salty with som...

Picture courtesy of  www.kilchomandistillery.com Bottler : Kilchoman Age : NAS Distilled : n/a Bottled : 2020 Cask : Fino casks previously used by Bodega Miguel Martin in Spain, 11 fresh butts and 1 refill butt Abv : 46% Unchillfiltered : Yes Natural Colour : Yes Nb of bottles : 10,500 Extra : This is part of Kilchoman's autumn release. The whisky I am reviewing is a sample sent to me by the distillery. I did not pay for it. In the last couple of years, I have started to take a deeper interest in Sherry and its multiple versions. Lately, the whisky world seems to have gone crazy for sherry-cask aged/finished whisky, and the darker the better for certain people. These tend to be whiskies aged in ex-Oloroso or Pedro-Ximenes casks but not all sherry will impart a dark colour to the whisky, some like Fino or Manzanilla will keep single malts looking like white wine. However, they are not the most popular in the industry, that is why I have been very curious to try one of Kilchoman'...