Allotment Drams - Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 years old & Glen Moray Sauternes Cask Matured

 

We have two more episodes from our Allotment Dram series for you. First, Matt revisits a classic blended Scotch whisky - the Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 years old. Watch as he talks about one of the world's best selling whiskies and what makes it so popular, then gives his thoughts and tasting notes.

Then on his next visit he takes a look at a new whisky - the Glen Moray Sauternes Cask Matured - on a very chilly November afternoon. Watch as he talks about the limited edition single malt and the new series of releases that it kicks off, before Matt gives his thoughts and tasting notes.

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Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (November 27, 2020)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. 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. Within Inbox we aim to write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information. Here is the news from this week ...

Review - Glen Scotia 11 years old Sherry Double Cask Finish

This 11 years old Sherry Double Cask Finish is a new limited edition single malt from the Campbeltown distillery of Glen Scotia. The new whisky is created using first-fill ex-bourbon barrels that were filled with Glen Scotia's unpeated spirit in 2008, which were then split between ex-Oloroso and ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks for a finishing period. It is unusual as Glen Scotia normally has a small amount of peat. These casks were then married back together in ex-bourbon casks for a short period, before bottling at 11 years of age and at the natural cask strength of 54.1% ABV. The whisky is also non chill-filtered and of natural colour. 

Review - Benriach The Thirty

This whisky sits at the pinnacle of the newly revamped core range from the Speyside distillery of Benriach. This range is designed to showcase their eclectic range of casks from around the world (these come from 20 different origins) and the three different spirit styles that are produced there - classic Speyside, peated Speyside (produced for only 5-6 weeks each year) and triple distilled (produced for just 1-2 weeks each year). The range has been entirely created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Benriach. The Thirty uses only peated malts, which are very rare at this age, and features four cask types - ex-bourbon, ex-Port wine, ex-sherry and virgin oak. 

Review - Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 years old

The Johnnie Walker Black Label forms part of the core range of best-selling blended whiskies from Scotch whisky giant Diageo. It sits between the Red Label and Gold Label in the range that also includes the Green Label 15 years old, 18 years old and Blue Label as permanent expressions. These are often joined by numerous limited editions and bottlings created for specific markets. All are created by a team of 12 blenders at Diageo, which is headed by the legendary Dr. Jim Beveridge OBE. The brand sells a staggering 18.5 million cases of whisky per annum worldwide - that is just over 220 million single bottles each year.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (November 20, 2020)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. 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. Within Inbox we aim to write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information. Here is the news from this week ... 

Allotment Drams - Talisker 8 years old (Diageo Special Releases 2020 Edition) & Jura Winter Edition

 

We have the two latest episodes in our ever-increasing Allotment Dram series, the short videos where we talk about different whiskies in the surroundings of our north London allotment plot. Both are from Scottish islands. First, watch as Matt pops the cork on a new bottle purchase - the Talisker 8 years old from this year's Diageo Special Releases, which is the first ever sngle malt from the Skye distillery that has been part-matured in ex-rum casks from the Caribbean.

Then on his next visit he talks about the recently released Winter Edition from Jura, the second bottling in the island distillery's Cask Edition series. Watch as he shares his thoughts and tasting notes on both whiskies. We hope that you enjoy.

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Review - Glenallachie 10 years old Cask Strength Batch #4

 

This whisky is the latest release of the annual 10 years old Cask Strength bottling from the Speyside distillery of Glenallachie. The previous three batches have gained something of a cult status amongst whisky fans, with the first being released back in 2017. The Glenallachie 10 years old Cask Strength Batch #4 is a combination of ex-Oloroso and ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks, plus a small percentage of virgin oak casks. all with a minimum age of 10 years. These have been selected and married together by Billy Walker, the Master Distiller and owner of Glenallachie. Batch #4 is bottled at 56.1% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour. 

Review - Blue Spot 7 years old Cask Strength

This whiskey marks the completion of re-establishing the Spot Whiskey range to its former glory by Irish Distillers in collaboration with Mitchell & Son. It joins the other members of its historical family - Green Spot, Yellow Spot 12 years old and Red Spot 15 years old. The new version of Blue Spot is bottled at 7 years of age and is bottled at the natural cask strength of 58.7% ABV - this is similar in strength to the original Blue Spot, which disappeared from market in the mid-20th century. It is a marriage of single pot still whiskeys that have been matured in ex-bourbon, ex-Madeira wine and ex-Oloroso sherry casks, and features whiskeys aged between seven and 20 years of age. 

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (November 13, 2020)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. 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. Within Inbox we aim to write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information. Here is the news from this week ...

Allotment Drams - Ballantine's 7 years old Bourbon Finish & Kilchoman 2009 Vintage

 

Matt returns to the allotment a couple of times to do some Autumnal work and share two Allotment Drams with you. First, he looks at the brand new Ballantine's 7 years old Bourbon Finish. Watch to find out about the latest permanent addition to the popular blended Scotch whisky's core range and to hear his thoughts and tasting notes.

Then on his next visit he samples and reviews the limited edition small batch Kilchoman 2009 Vintage, which sees him talk about the family-owned farm distillery on Islay. Then find out his thoughts and tasting notes.

To keep up to date with our latest videos, please subscribe to our YouTube channel.

#AllotmentDram

 

Review - Glenallachie Virgin Oak Finish Series

These three whiskies are first in a new series of limited edition single malts from the Speyside distillery of Glenallachie that will form The Virgin Oak Finish Series - the Glenallachie Chinquapin Virgin Oak Finish, the French Virgin Oak Finish and the Spanish Virgin Oak Finish. Each whisky has first been matured in American oak ex-bourbon barrels before being transferred for a short period to the three different virgin oak casks. All are released at 12 years of age.

Review - Ballantine's 7 years old Bourbon Finish

This is a permanent addition to the core range of the famous Ballantine's blended Scotch whisky range, released in September 2020. The Ballantine's 7 years old Bourbon Finish has been created by Sandy Hyslop, the Master Blender for Ballantine's. He blended single malts and single grain whiskies for a traditional Ballantine's expression with a minimum age of seven years, before then finishing them in ex-bourbon casks sourced from Kentucky. The new whisky is inspired by founder George Ballantine, who started selling his own 7 years old aged whisky in the 1870s. It was also a time when Ballantine's were one of the first companies to be importing ex-bourbon casks from America.

Review - Peat Monster Arcana

This whisky sees Compass Box, the innovative whisky blenders, continuing their 20th anniversary celebrations with the release of a limited edition version of their popular Peat Monster blended malt. Peat Monster Arcana is a cask strength version of the original Peat Monster recipe that has then seen a further two years maturation in French oak casks. This was then blended further with aged single malts from the Ardbeg, Miltonduff and Talisker distilleries. It is released at 46% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour. There are 8,328 bottles and these will be available via specialist whisky retailers globally. Price - £75/ $95 US.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (November 6, 2020)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. 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. Within Inbox we aim to write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information. Here is the news from this week ...

Review - Cotswolds Sherry Cask

The Cotswold distillery has released its latest English single malt to its award-winning range - the Cotswolds Sherry Cask. This new whisky features spirit matured in both American oak and European oak casks that have been seasoned with either dry Oloroso or sweet Pedro Ximenez sherry. The casks are a mix of hogsheads and butts, and this is the first of what is planned to be an annual release. The Cotswolds Sherry Cask is bottled at the natural cask strength of 57.4% ABV and is non chill-filtered and of natural colour. It is available to purchase via the distillery shop, selected specialist retailers or via their website www.cotswoldsdistillery.com. A bottle will cost £64.95.

Review - The Singleton of Glen Ord 38 years old

This whisky is a new and exceptionally rare single malt from the Highland distillery of Glen Ord, which is released under The Singleton label. The Singleton of Glen Ord 38 years old has been created using just eight cask by Maureen Robinson, the Master Blender for The Singleton brand since it was first released in 2004. The whisky has been in these casks for the final 26 years of its life after being earmarked for greatness when only 12 years of age. This is the longest secondary maturation in The Singleton history. These casks are ex-bourbon, ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry and virgin American oak, which have then been married back together to create this 38 years old. 

Review - Benriach The Twenty Five

This whisky forms part of the newly revamped core range from the Speyside distillery of Benriach, which is designed to showcase their eclectic range of casks from around the world (these come from 20 different origins) and the three different spirit styles that are produced there - classic Speyside, peated Speyside (produced for only 5-6 weeks each year) and triple distilled (produced for just 1-2 weeks each year). The range has been entirely created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Benriach. The Twenty Five combines both classic and peated malts together and features four cask types - ex-bourbon, ex-Madeira wine, ex-sherry and virgin oak. 

Allotment Drams - AnCnoc 12 years old & Crabbie's 8 years old

We have two more episodes of our Allotment Dram series, the short videos where we sit and talk about whisky in the surroundings of our north London allotment, for you. This time Matt has two Highland single malts that he is discussing and tasting. First, he looks at the AnCnoc 12 years old from the Knockdhu distillery on a lovely sunny Autumn afternoon. Find out why it is called a different name from the distillery where it is made, plus his thoughts and tasting notes.