Review / Laphroaig 10 years old Sherry Oak Finish

The Sherry Oak Finish is a recent addition to the core range of the famous Islay single malt of Laphroaig. It was introduced in mid-2021. The whisky follows the same maturation path as the classic Laphroaig 10 years old, the best seller within the range, for most of its life. This takes place in American oak ex-bourbon casks. For the final 12 to 18 months the whisky is transferred to ex-Oloroso sherry barrels. The Laphroaig 10 years old Sherry Oak Finish is bottled at a higher strength of 48% ABV than the classic 10 years old. It is also a higher price (you should expect to pay around £60 for a bottle) and can be found through specialist retailers worldwide.

Review / Caol Ila 12 years old Feis Ile 2021 Edition

This whisky is the annual limited edition Feis Ile bottling from the Caol Ila distillery. It is joined by a 13 years old expression from Diageo's other Islay distillery of Lagavulin. This Caol Ila is bottled at 12 years of age and has been matured firstly in re-fill American oak casks before being transferred to ex-Moscatel wine casks for a finishing period. These casks were nurtured by Samuel Hale, the Distillery Manager at Caol Ila. The Caol Ila 12 years old Feis Ile 2021 Edition is released at the natural cask strength of 56.6% ABV. There are just 3,000 bottles and each will cost £130. Both whiskies are available via www.malts.com and the Lagavulin distillery shop.

Review / Kilchoman PX Sherry Cask Matured

This whisky is the latest limited edition from the family-owned Islay distillery of Kilchoman. The Kilchoman PX Sherry Cask Matured is constructed from 33 casks in total - nine full maturation ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks and 24 that were finished in ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks for between 12 and 18 months. Pedro Ximenez is a sweet style of dessert sherry made from grapes that remain on the vine longer than usual. The whisky has been produced using malted barley with a high peating level of 50ppm, which is a higher level than in regular Kilchoman releases. There are just 12,000 bottles.

Review / Ardbeg Scorch (Committee Edition)

This whisky is the latest single malt for the Islay distillery's annual Ardbeg Day bottling, which celebrates the final day of the Feis Ile festival on the island. The 2021 edition is named Ardbeg Scorch and is inspired by a mythical dragon that is said to live in one of the dunnage warehouses at the distillery. The whisky has been matured in heavily charred American oak ex-bourbon barrels. This heavy char makes the wood crack and is often known as 'alligator char' as it looks like reptile skin (or dragon skin in this case ...). The Scorch (Committee Edition) is bottled at the natural cask strength of 51.7% ABV. It was available exclusively to members of the Ardbeg Committee but has now sold out.

Review / Kilchoman Loch Gorm (2021 Edition)

This whisky is the latest in a line of annual Loch Gorm bottlings from the family-owned Islay distillery of Kilchoman. The whisky is named after a freshwater loch that is situated very close to the distillery, between it and the Atlantic Ocean, and was first released in 2012. The Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2021 Edition follows the same formula as previous expressions by using only whiskies matured in ex-sherry casks. For the 2021 Edition 24 Oloroso sherry butts have been hand-selected and then vatted together by Anthony Wills, the Founder and Master Distiller at Kilchoman. These were filled with spirit in either 2011 or 2012 and has resulted in 17,000 bottles.

Review / Ardbeg Arrrrrrrdbeg (Committee Release)

 

This whisky is a limited edition single malt from the cult Islay distillery of Ardbeg that celebrates the 13-year tenure of departed Distillery Manager Mickey Heads. Arrrrrrrdbeg has been matured entirely in ex-rye whiskey casks, which were sourced from the American whiskey industry by Dr. Bill Lumsden - the Director of Whisky Creation at Ardbeg. It is the first ever Ardbeg to have undergone such maturation. The bottle features an illustration depicting Mickey Heads as a pirate, which was created by renowned graphic artist Butcher Billy. The whisky has been released at its natural cask strength of 51.8% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour.

Allotment Drams / Jack Daniel's Old No.7 & Bunnahabhain Stiùireadair

We have two more episodes of our Allotment Dram video series for you and hope you will enjoy them. Firstly, watch as Matt tackles one of the world's biggest selling whiskeys in the form of Jack Daniel's Old No.7. Learn a bit about the brand's history, plus what the terms 'sour mash' and 'Lincoln County Process' mean. Then find out his thoughts and tasting notes.

Then on his next visit he heads back to Scotland, and the island of Islay in particular, to take a look at the sherry cask influenced Bunnahabhain Stiùireadair. Watch to discover how to pronounce the name of the whisky and some information about the distillery, before giving his thoughts and tasting notes.

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Review / Scarabus 10 years old

This whisky is a new addition Islay single malt brand of Scarabus, which is bottled by family-owned independent bottlers and distillers Hunter Laing & Co. It is one of two new additions that will sit permanently in its newly created core range. This Scarabus 10 years old, plus the Scarabus Batch Strength, will join the re-named Scarabus Specially Selected that was launched last year. Scarabus translates as 'rocky place' in Nordic and refers to the rugged location on the north eastern coast of Islay where Hunter Laing have built their Ardnahoe distillery. The Scarabus 10 years old has been matured for a minimum of a decade in re-fill ex-bourbon and virgin American oak casks.

Review - Green Isle

The Green Isle is a blended Scotch whisky that sits as an entry point to The Character of Islay range. This range includes the single malts of Aerolite Lyndsay 10 years old, Grace Île 25 years old and The Legend of Fiona Macleod 33 years old. At its core are a number of single malts from Islay distilleries and these are blended together with a Speyside malt and a Lowland single grain whisky. The resulting whisky takes its name from the novel The Green Isle of the Great Deep by Neil Gunn, where he describes Islay as being 'an island off the west coast of Scotland only accessible via a whirlpool'. The whirlpool in question is the world famous Corryvreckan. 

Allotment Drams - American Eagle 4 years old & Smokehead Rum Rebel

We have two more episodes from our increasingly popular Allotment Drams series, our short videos where we talk about different whiskies from the surrounding of our allotment in north London. First watch as Matt tackles the American Eagle 4 years old, an American whiskey from the state of Tennessee, on a very hot afternoon. 

Then he talks about the brand new Smokehead Rum Rebel, an Islay single malt that has been finished in Caribbean rum barrels, while also showing off an impressive haul of produce that he has harvested. We hope that you enjoy Matt's thoughts and tasting notes on both whiskies.

 

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Review - Smokehead Rum Rebel

 

This whisky is the latest addition to the increasingly popular Smokehead range from Ian Macleod Distillers. The Islay single malt, which is sourced from an un-named distillery on the famous whisky island, has seen a finishing period in ex-rum barrels from the Caribbean. It was launched in time to celebrate International Rum Day on August 16th. It joins the Smokehead Original, High Voltage and Sherry Bomb expressions in the core domestic range and the Extra Rare and Rum Riot in the travel retail range. All carry no age statement.

Review - The Legend of Fiona Macleod 33 years old

The Legend of Fiona Macleod is a single malt that sits at the top of the Character of Islay whisky range that has been created by Atom Brands. It is joined in the range by the Green Isle blend and two further single malts - the Aerolite Lyndsay 10 years old and Grace Île 25 years old. All the whiskies are designed to explore the brand's play on the romanticism of the island of Islay. Each 'character' in the range is designed to show historical references to Islay's whisky history and the quirks associated with the Hebridean island.

Review - Grace Île 25 years old

The Grace Île is a recent addition to the range of single malts in the The Character of Islay series from Atom Brands.  The range also includes the Aerolite Lyndsay 10 years old and The Legend of Fiona Macleod 33 years old, plus the blended Green Isle. Each 'character' in the range is designed to show historical references to Islay's whisky history and the quirks associated with the Hebridean island.

Review - Aerolite Lyndsay 10 years old

The Aerolite Lyndsay is an award-winning single malt that is sourced and bottled by The Character of Islay Whisky Company. It is bottled at 10 years of age and is from an un-named distillery on the famous Scottish whisky island of Islay. The whisky has been created from a marriage of cask types - this is said to be 70% ex-bourbon barrels, 25% Spanish oak ex-sherry quarter casks and 5% 'mystery casks'. No clues given as to what the mystery aspect may be. Also, the name is an anagram of 'ten year old Islay' in case you are wondering. The Aerolite Lyndsay 10 years old is bottled at 46% ABV and is non chill-filtered and of natural colour. It is available from selected specialist whisky retailers and costs around the £45 mark.

Allotment Dram - Lagavulin 10 years old

Matt returns to the allotment and has this time selected a single malt from Islay in what should have been Feis Ile week - the Lagavulin 10 years old. This bottling from the famous distillery is a travel retail exclusive. Watch to find out Matt's thoughts and his basic tasting notes.

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Allotment Dram - Smokehead

For those of you that follow us on Instagram (if you're not, why not? - click the tab at the top of the right hand column), you will know that we regularly post pictures of our 'allotment dram' - the whisky we are enjoying whenever we visit our allotment in North London to do some work or gardening. In these strange times, we have decided to bring this to life and record a brief tasting of each one, along with an update on the allotment's progress.

For this episode, Matt is visiting and working at the allotment on a much more traditional 'April Showers' type of day than we have experienced recently. He has picked an 'allotment dram' to suit the colder and damper conditions - Smokehead, an Islay single malt whisky that packs a peaty punch. Enjoy.

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Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (April 21, 2017)

Welcome to Inbox.  For those new to WFE, 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.

New release - Ardbeg 19 years old from Cadenhead's

It’s very unusual for a new Ardbeg to come onto the market without the whole whisky world knowing about it, but here’s one recent release that’s slipped under the radar. No big fanfare for this new Ardbeg, no ruminant based activities were involved in the launching of this bottling from independent bottlers and retailers Cadenhead's. Having just stumbled upon this bottling online I decided to hop over to the Cadenhead's London store and buy a bottle.

Cadenhead's are Scotland’s oldest independent bottler having been established in Aberdeen in 1842 by George Duncan. Now run by J&A Mitchell company, owners of Springbank, Cadenheads have several shops dotted all around Scotland and Europe selling single cask, cask strength bottlings alongside Rums, Cognacs and Gins.