Review - Kilchoman Sanaig

Sanaig is the second continuous bottling from the small Islay distillery of Kilchoman. Named after a small coastal inlet to the north west of the distillery, Sanaig joins the Machir Bay expression to form the distillery's first ever permanent range. Sanaig is matured predominantly in ex-Oloroso sherry hogshead casks with a small percentage of ex-bourbon cask influence.  It compliments the Machir Bay, which is mostly matured in ex-bourbon casks, in the range.  Sanaig is bottled at 46% ABV, is non chill filtered and of natural colour. It will be available globally through specialist whisky retailers and should cost around £50.

Review - Arran 18 years old

The independent Isle of Arran distillery has announced that it plans to kick off its 21st anniversary with a second release of an 18 years old expression.  This bottling is the oldest whisky to be released by the owners to date, following a limited edition batch of 18 years old that was released last year and sold out quickly.  This bottling will be a permanent fixture in the core range of Arran malts and this second version has been matured in ex-sherry casks. This 18 years old is bottled at 46% ABV, is non chill-filtered and of natural colour.  It will be available through selected specialist whisky retailers shortly and via the distillery website - www.arranwhisky.com. The recommended retail price is £75 a bottle.

The Wood Makes The Whisky - The Examples

Last Autumn, the leading Scottish independent bottling company of Gordon & MacPhail launched a new campaign to show the importance of casks in the whisky maturation process - The Wood Makes The Whisky. It highlights the most important part of their business and is supported by a dedicated website and a selected number of whiskies, which have been bottled to demonstrate the various sections within the campaign.

In Part One of this blog post, we looked at the ideas and concepts behind the campaign.  In this part we sample some of the whiskies that Gordon & MacPhail have released to demonstrate the various points within the campaign.  These include combinations of different ages, styles, cask wood types and cask sizes to show how all can effect a whisky.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (March 11, 2016)

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.

The Wood Makes The Whisky - The Concept

Last Autumn, the leading Scottish independent bottling company of Gordon & MacPhail launched a new campaign to show the importance of casks in the whisky maturation process - The Wood Makes The Whisky.  It highlights the most important part of their business and is supported by a dedicated website and a selected number of whiskies, which have been bottled to demonstrate the various sections within the campaign.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (March 4, 2016)

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.

Review - Redbreast Single Cask

This new whiskey from Redbreast is the first ever single barrel expression to be released by the award-winning Irish brand. Cask number 30087 is an ex-Oloroso sherry butt that was filled at Midleton in 1999 and the cask has yielded just 576 bottles. It was selected by Billy Leighton, Head Blender at Midleton, and staff of retailer The Whisky Exchange and will be on sale exclusively through them.  Redbreast is a single pot still whiskey, which means that both malted and unmalted barley are used as ingredients and distilled in copper pot stills.  This style of whiskey was revered in the 18th and 19th centuries.  They aided the global rise in popularity of Irish whiskey and are now making a pronounced comeback.

Review - Lagavulin 8 years old 200th Anniversary Edition

This new whisky is the first part in a year of significant celebration for Lagavulin.  2016 marks the 200th anniversary for the iconic Islay distillery and there are a series of special plans scheduled throughout the year.  We were delighted to be invited to a dinner in London that launched the celebrations and revealed this new limited edition single malt - the Lagavulin 8 years old 200th Anniversary Edition.  The release pays direct homage to Victorian journalist Alfred Barnard who wrote about Lagavulin in his seminal two year work, The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom, and became an instant fan of the peaty Islay malt.