Have just tried - Arran 17 years old

This whisky is the oldest single malt released to date by the independent Arran distillery. It is the second whisky in a special trilogy, which saw a 16 years old released last year and culminates in an 18 years old bottling next year. It was released back in March but we have only just got around to sampling it.  The whisky has been matured in ex-sherry casks and there are just 9,000 bottles released worldwide.  The bottling is said to contain some of the first whisky that was produced by the distillery when it opened in 1995.

Have just tried - Bulleit Rye

The Bulleit Rye is the newest addition to the Bulleit Bourbon range.  It was first launched in the USA in 2011 and proved extremely popular. This has resulted in it being rolled out in selected other markets in late 2013, including Australia and the UK.  The Bulleit Rye is made using a mash bill of 95% rye grain and 5% malted barley.  This rye content is high compared to most other American rye whiskeys on the market.  The minimum percentage to be legally called a rye whiskey is 51%.

Have just tried - Aberfeldy 12 years old

This whisky is the flagship single malt from the Highland distillery of Aberfeldy.  It has just recently been re-launched with new packaging.  This is pictured above and focuses on numerous aspects of the distillery's history and heritage, with the gold lettering paying homage to the discovery of gold particles in the local river.  This new identity, which is the first re-branding for Aberfeldy since 1999, forms part of a larger plan for its single malts - the current 21 years old expression has also been given new look, a new travel retail exclusive 18 years old has been added with more ages planned to join the 12 and 21 year olds in the core range.

Have just tried - The Overeem single cask range

Overeem is a range of single malt whisky from The Old Hobart Distillery in the Australian state of Tasmania.  The state is the centre of the Australian whisky industry, which is now building a strong reputation, and is described as the 'Islay of Australia'.  A number of distilleries and brands have been winning major awards for the past couple of years and this has brought Australian whisky to the attention of a wider audience.  Having not tried many whiskies from Tasmania, we were delighted to be invited to a tasting of the current Overeem range recently.

Have just tried - Auchentoshan 1975 Vintage (2013 Edition)

This whisky is the latest in the award winning Vintage series from Auchentoshan.  The series showcases exceptional old casks that have been maturing at the distillery since the 1970s, which is widely regarded as a time when some of the best single malts were produced there.  The 1975 Vintage (2013 Edition) has been maturing in ex-bourbon American oak casks, which were hand selected by Auchentoshan's Master Blender Rachel Barrie, and is exclusive to the travel retail sector.

Have just tried - Aberlour 18 years old

Aberlour is one of the best selling single malts in the world and currently sits within the global top ten for volume of sales. It is also the top selling single malt whisky brand in France, which is the biggest whisky market in the world. Aberlour is also popular in the UK and southern Europe, and the core range consists of the best selling 10 years old, plus two versions at 12 (one of which is non chill-filtered), 15, 16 and this 18 years old. These are joined once or twice a year by a cask strength single batch whisky named A’bunadh (pronounced a-boona).

Have just tried - Great King Street Experimental Batches

The originial version of Great King Street, the multi award-winning blend from artisan whisky company Compass Box, is one of our all time favourite whiskies.  In fact, we awarded it the prestigious honour (well, it's prestigious in the WFE household at least ...) of our 'Whisky of the Year' in 2011.  So when we heard that Compass Box were planning a second full time addition to the range, we were very interested.  There have been special editions, most notably the New York Edition last year, but now we have the opportunity to try two of the new experimental blends ...

Have just tried - Glen Elgin 12 years old

After nearly six years of writing this blog there are still so many whiskies for us to sample, and something from Glen Elgin is one.  The distillery was founded in 1898 by bankers James Carle and William Simpson, and is located to the south of Elgin in the Speyside region of Scotland.  It was designed by the legendary architect Charles Doig, who is credited with inventing the pagoda roof found at many distilleries.  He worked on many Scottish distilleries and Glen Elgin was his last project. 

Have just tried - Peat Monster 10th Anniversary

This is a special bottling from Compass Box, the artisan whisky blending company, which has been created to celebrate the 10th birthday of one of their most popular creations. The Peat Monster 10th Anniversary is a limited edition release to mark 10 years since the award winning blend (then simply known as The Monster) was launched. That regular bottling of Peat Monster is the biggest selling whisky in the Compass Box range. There are just 5,970 bottles available.

Have just tried - Old Pulteney Navigator

The Navigator is a whisky that was originally released in early Autumn last year and was designed to celebrate Old Pulteney's maritime heritage, links and character. It was launched on September 1 to coincide with the start of the Clipper Round The World yacht race, which set off from London and for which the brand was the main sponsor.  The Navigator was made from ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, which were hand selected by Distillery Manager Malcolm Waring.

Have just tried - Hankey Bannister 'Heritage Blend'

Last Summer the blended Scotch whisky brand of Hankey Bannister launched a new expression in to its range - the Hankey Bannister Heritage Blend. The new whisky was inspired by a British couple who discovered a rare bottle of Hankey Bannister Fine Old Liqueur Scotch Whisky dating from the 1920s in their possession, and sold it to the brand. From this, details of the retro release were tracked down and the new expression has been produced in a recreation of the style of that 1920s era.

Have just tried - Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2007

This whisky is one of a number of small batch limited editions that now intersperse the Bruichladdich core range of single malts.  The Islay Barley is made solely from barley grown on the Rockside Farm on the famous whisky isle of Islay, where the Bruichladdich distillery is located.  The whisky has then been distilled, matured and bottled on the island by Bruichladdich.  This is the third batch of Islay Barley and this version saw the grain harvested in 2006 and distilled in 2007.  It was then bottled and released to market in late 2013.

Have just tried - Cardhu Special Cask Reserve

This whisky was first released to the UK market back in November and is made in small batches using hand selected 'very old rejuvenated American oak casks' from Cardhu's maturing stock. Cardhu is relatively difficult to find in the UK, despite being in the world's Top 10 for single malt sales. The majority is exported to southern Europe - Spain is the main market, along with France, Greece, Italy and Portugal. Other batches have been available in these markets for some time.

Have just tried - 'Delilah's' by Compass Box

Delilah's is a limited edition whisky released by the artisan blending company of Compass Box back in the Autumn.  It has been created in collaboration with Delilah's Bar in Chicago USA to mark their 20th anniversary. Mike Miller, the owner of the legendary music venue and whisky bar, teamed up with Compass Box founder John Glaser to create the new whisky. It has been created to have a definitive 'American' flavour and to be the perfect accompaniment to a glass of beer.

Have just tried - Label 5 'Classic Black'

The Label 5 is a blended Scotch whisky brand, which is owned by French company La Martiniquaise. It is one of the biggest selling Scotch brands in the world - according to figures in the latest Malt Whisky Yearbook 2014* it was in 10th position for total sales, after shifting an impressive 28 million bottles last year.  It has also picked numerous major awards, including a prestigious gold medal at this year's San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Have just tried - Taketsuru Pure Malt 12 years old

This is a whisky that is produced by the Nikka Whisky Distilling Company in Japan and is the entry level product in their Taketsuru Pure Malt range.  Nikka own two single malt distilleries - Miyakigyo (pronounced mee-yag-ik-yo) and Yoichi (pronounced yo-ee-chee)- and both are included in this whisky.  The term Pure Malt is used as there is no grain whisky in the product, just single malts.  This 12 years old expression is joined by two others in the Taketsuru Pure Malt range, which have age statements of 17 and 21 years of age.

Have just tried - Islay Mist Peated Reserve

Islay Mist is a blended whisky brand which is owned by MacDuff International Limited.  They also own the Cumbrae Castle, Grand Macnish, Lauder's, Regent and Strathbeag blended whisky brands. The Peated Reserve is the newest addition to the core range - which includes the Deluxe plus 8, 12 and 17 years old versions - and was introduced in January of this year.  This newest expression has been created by Gilmour Burnett, MacDuff International's Master Blender, and is designed to add more smokiness than is present in the rest of the range.

Have just tried - Royal Lochnagar 12 years old

The Royal Lochnagar distillery was founded in 1845 and is currently owned by Diageo.  It is the smallest of the 28 single malt distilleries in their portfolio and has an annual production capacity of just 450,000 litres.  The distillery is located in the Deeside region of the east Highlands, close to the hamlet of Crathie and Balmoral Castle.  It was originally named New Lochnagar after the first distillery, which was located on the other side of the River Dee, was destroyed by fire in the early 1840s.

Have just tried - Lochlan 8 Year Old

About a year ago a rather mysterious blended whisky appeared on the shelf of my local Tesco. Looking rather dapper for a sub £20 bottle of whisky, the design appealed to my more shallow instincts and so a couple of months ago I decided to pick up a bottle on one of my shopping trips. Lochlan is an 8 year old blend. It says on the back label that is consists of malt and grain whiskies that have been carefully selected by Richard Paterson.

Have just tried - Miyagikyo 12 years old

The Miyagikyo distillery (pronounced mee-yag-ee-kyo) is a Japanese whisky distillery that was found in 1969 and is owned by the Nikka Whisky Distilling Company.  They own two distilleries in Japan, with the other being Yoichi.  They also own the Ben Nevis distillery near Fort William in Scotland.  Miyagikyo is located in the Miyagi Prefecture to the west of the city of Sendai.  The distillery was firstly named as Sendai, then changed to Sakunami before becoming known as Miyagikyo in 2001.