Review - Ardmore Port Wood Finish

The Port Wood Finish is the latest addition to the core single malt range from the east Highland distillery of Ardmore. It was released back in October of this year.  The whisky is made in the distillery's traditional mid-peated style, which has been produced there since the early 1900s.  It is currently the only Highland distillery to produce the majority of its whisky in the smoky style.  This whisky has been aged in ex-bourbon casks for 12 years before being finished in ex-Port half pipes. The Port Wood Finish comes in the new brand packaging, featuring map-style graphics of the local area and Ardmore's eagle logo.

Review - Kininvie Special Release #1 'The First Drops'

The First Drops is the oldest ever expression from the Speyside distillery of Kininvie to be released. It is also the first bottling in the new Special Release series and was launched at a low key event in London back in October.  The whisky is constructed of just three casks from Kininvie's first ever day of production on June 25 1990.  These have been selected by Brian Kinsman, the Malt Master at William Grant & Sons (the owners of Kininvie), and each cask has been bottled at 25 years of age for one of three markets - Europe, Taiwan and the UK. They will all be available through specialist retailers, with the UK bottling the first to market.

Great Places To Drink Whisky - The Pot Still, Glasgow

The Pot Still is a pub and whisky bar in the centre of Glasgow.  It is located on Hope Street, a steep road that climbs north and away from Central Station.  The building where The Pot Still is located was built in 1835 and was originally a wine and spirits merchant.  It transferred to become a public house in 1870 and was run by generations of the same family, the McCalls, until 1971 when it was sold to Tennent Caledonian Breweries.  In 1981, it was taken over by John Waterson, who renovated the pub and increased the range of whiskies over time.  He changed the name from McCall's Bar to The Pot Still.

Review - Big Peat Christmas Edition 2015

Big Peat is a blended malt that is produced by the independent bottling company of Douglas Laing.  The brand is made exclusively from Islay malts and is known for its punchy, smoky character. It forms part of a wider range of blended malts from Douglas Laing, which celebrate each of the major whisky regions in Scotland.  These are named Rock Oyster (Islands), Scallywag (Speyside) and Timorous Beastie (Highlands).  The Big Peat Christmas Edition was first released in 2011 and is essentially a cask strength version of the regular Big Peat.  The bottling is released annually and has built up a cult following.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (December 4, 2015)

Welcome to this week's Inbox.  For those that have recently discovered us, Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our email inbox. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday.