Our Top 10 whisky blogs (2013 update)

The number of whisky blogs on the internet has risen massively over the last couple of years and each contributes to a lively and vibrant whisky community online. Some say that there are too many, but the beauty of the online whisky community is that there is enough room for everyone's voice and opinions. The fact that each blog is written by different people, with different writing styles and with differing opinions is what makes it so interesting.

The Whisky Round Table > June 2011

The latest edition of The Whisky Round Table is now available for all to read. For those of you that may have just discovered us, The Whisky Round Table is the brainchild of Jason Johnston-Yellin - the author of the 'must read' whisky blog Guid Scotch Drink. His idea was to gather together 12 whisky bloggers from around the world and get them to discuss a whisky topic once a month. The hosting of The Round Table is passed around the 12 members, with each host setting the question for each month - the subjects have been wide and varied to date. Links to the previous editions of Whisky Round Table articles can be found by clicking here.

The Whisky Round Table has just celebrated its first year and all 12 members have now hosted. For the start of the second year, the baton is passed again to its founder Jason. He has come up with a beauty of a question regarding the ethics and quality of whisky blogging and whether the rise in the number of blogs writing about whisky will be detrimental in the long run. It has created a big response from the Round Table members, so Jason has published it on Guid Scotch Drink in two parts - Part One includes our reply, while Part Two has been published today. We hope that you enjoy the debate and please feel free to add a comment at the bottom of either posting.

The Whisky Round Table can also be followed on Twitter. Come and join us @WhiskyKnights.

The Master of Malt Blogger's Blend > Part 3

Master of Malt, the innovative online whisky and spirits retailer, have now created each of the 10 whisky blend recipes that they received from their selected bloggers and have packaged them up in a set (pictured, left). This set, which has been named The Blogger's Blend, contains one 3cl sample of each blend and each sample is numbered 1-10. There is also a booklet that explains about each of the participating blogs. This special set is now available from www.masterofmalt.com and more information can been found on the Master of Malt blog. The Blogger's Blend costs £29.95 plus postage. To read our previous posts about The Blogger's Blend - click here.

We have enjoyed taking part to date and are proud of the blend that we have produced. However, the process doesn't purely revolove around sales ... within the set is also a voting form. Anyone that buys The Blogger's Blend set gets the chance to choose the winning blend from the 10 on offer. You simply pick your favourite, mark the corresponding number (1-10) on the form and send it back to Master of Malt or do the same on the voting page on their website! To remove any possible bias towards one blog or another, Master of Malt have not revealed which blog's whisky relates to which numbered sample. Voting closes soon, so if you haven't done so already - buy a set and get voting!!

Last night, we sat down with the 10 whiskies and worked our way through them - below are our tasting notes for each. We spent most of the time trying to guess which one was ours and who of our whisky friends made each of the other nine! As part of the voting, customers are asked to consider 'value for money, not just flavour', so we have included the predicted retail prices of a 70cl bottle of each blend.

Blend A > £47.95 a bottle
This has an initial sweet and quite sugary nose, with aromas of ripe banana, citrus peel and a whiff of distant peat smoke. The palate is soft and creamy with initial vanilla and sugary caramel notes. It becomes increasingly grainy and this carries through to a decently long finish, which also has the whiff of smokiness.

Blend B > £35.95
The nose is rich and sweet with a combination of cereal and toasted marshmallow aromas. This is initially very sugary and sweet on the palate with plenty of honey, toffee, tropical and dark dried fruit notes. The finish is much drier and slightly tannic with plenty of oak and wood spice character, which gives balance to the sweetness.

Blend C > £67.95
The most expensive blend by far offers a fresh, vibrant nose that is packed with subtle aromas - honey, gentle oak and wood spices, heather and ashy smokiness. On the palate, this whisky is much bolder than the nose suggests with a nice level of sweet notes combining with the woody, spicy, ashy ones. A long, delicate and well balanced finish.

Blend D > £39.95
A lovely and gentle nose with plenty of sweet caramel and toffee aromas, followed by dried fruit and a hint of distant smokiness. This is tangy on the palate and quite spirity although some delicious grassy, cereal notes come through, as does that hint of smoke. Very short finish. This smells great but the palate and finish are disappointing. Benefits from a drop of water.

Blend E > £42.95
This blend exhibits the biggest sherry cask influence of the set - the nose is packed with big caramel, dark dried fruit and distinct nutty (almond?) aromas, which makes you think of Christmas cake. The palate is rich yet soft with a lovely sweetness tempered by cereal grain and wood spice notes (especially cinnamon). A long, rich finish with a nice dryness adding balance.

Blend F > £36.95
A sweet, quite sugary nose that combines toffee, honey and green fruit (especially apple) aromas - this reminded us of toffee apples. On the palate, this is soft and gentle - initially very sweet with heavy cereals and a grassy note coming through later. This graininess increases and carries on it to the decently long finish.

Blend G > £39.95
A lovely fresh and vibrant nose which has plenty of fresh green fruit, cereal and dried grass aromas. The palate is soft and feels creamy with a pleasant combination of cereal grains, vanilla, dried grass/hay and a sugary toffee-like note right at the end. The finish is slightly short and sharp but has a pleasant woody, spicy warmth.

Blend H > £52.45
The nose has a good combination of aromas - vanilla, toffee, bittersweet cereals and hints of sultana and soft ashy smoke. The palate is creamy with plenty of notes vying for attention. These include barley grains, toffee, vanilla, baking spices (think of cinnamon and nutmeg) and a hint of background smoke. The finish has good balance and softness, being of decent length.

Blend I > £54.95
This is the smokiest of the bunch and hits you with a blast of surgical spirit and ashy, tar-like aromas. Underneath is a lovely light and delicate sweetness that hints at honey, icing sugar and cereals. On the palate, this is a mix of spicy, ashy smoke and earthy peat with the sweetness again coming through with time. A long, lingering and peppery finish. Delicious.

Blend J > £39.95
The darkest in colour of the whiskies, this has plenty of richness in the form of dried fruit, orange zest and caramel aromas on the nose. The palate is a little thinner than expected and not as rich as the nose but with a lovely combination of orange oil, chocolate, oak spice and dried fruit notes. The finish is very pleasant with more of the orange oil and wood spice.

We have now cast our votes and will await the results. It has to be said that many of the blends have numerous similar characteristics but each is subtly different. However, three or four blends really stand out. We will continue to report on the further stages of the process, which includes the selection of the winning blend plus the naming of the whisky and the designing of the label. If you buy The Blogger's Blend set, then let us know what you think and hope that you enjoy the 10 whiskies!

The Master of Malt Blending Challenge

A couple of weeks ago, we received a package from Master of Malt, the online whisky retailer. This followed on from an exciting email that we received from them, which invited us to take part in something very special. We were being asked to create our own blended whisky using the ingredients contained within the package. We were excited about the prospect and honoured to be asked to take part. However once our euphoria started to wear off, one problem was staring us in the face - what did we know about how to blend whisky? Hmmm, not much actually ...

Master of Malt have been retailing for 25 years. The business is based in Tunbridge Wells in Kent and started life as a whisky shop, before expanding on to the internet. The company's website is now one of the UK's leading online sites for whisky, and also includes other spirits such as Cognac, gin, rum, tequila and vodka. The site is built around a vast core range of whisky and also contains plenty of other whisky related facts, information and tips. They are industry innovators and this is shown by their Drinks by the Dram range, which allows you to purchase 3cl samples of most of their whisky catalogue to try before you buy the full bottle.

So, here is the idea ... Master of Malt have asked ten whisky blogs/publications to produce their own version of a blended whisky - the participants are listed below with links to their sites - from the same set of core ingredients (these are again listed below with some basic tasting notes). We then return our recipes to them and they will make all ten, which they will then sell in a special Drinks by the Dram ten pack. Anyone buying the pack will get a 3cl sample bottle of each blend and be asked to vote for their favourite. When all of the votes are in, Master of Malt will then produce, market and retail the winning blend. The same ten participants will then also come up with a name for the blend and the label design.

The other nine participants > Cask Strength, Connosr, Dr Whisky, Edinburgh Whisky, Glasgow's Whisky (& Ale), Guid Scotch Drink, Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society, WhiskyCast and Whisky Magazine.

The blending pack that we received included a few scientific-looking bits of equipment (glass measuring beakers, pipettes etc) plus the selection of whiskies listed below. We decided to sample each of the whiskies individually before doing anything else and we have included our basic tasting notes next to them. The identities and ages of the whiskies were not revealed to us, so as to avoid any prejudice or preconception of what we were using. We could use some or all of them and in any combination.

The whiskies included were >
A grain base > perfumed and fragrant, almond, vanilla, bittersweet, fresh, gristy cereals, sultana.
A malt base > caramel, sultana, toasted nuts, hint of dried grass, obviously sweet and buttery.
A Lowland malt > very delicate, coconut, honey, fresh pears, white chocolate, vanilla, fresh oak, dried grasses.
A Highland malt > malty cereal grains, bitter almond, orange oil, honey, chocolate, coffee, wood spices - especially cinnamon.
A sherried Speyside malt > caramel, dried fruits, grains, brown sugar, orange peel, nuts, wood spice, Christmas cake, prunes.
An Islay malt > burnt rubber, damp earth, moss, burnt cereals, vanilla, oatcakes, bonfire smoke, chilli, salt.
An old Speyside malt > woody, cereals, oatcakes, grassy, raisins, sultana, butterscotch, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg.
An old sherry finished Highland malt > burnt sugar, cedarwood, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, biscuity, heavy cereals, espresso, milk chocolate.
A very, very old grain whisky > heavy cereals, white chocolate, fresh coconut, wood spices - oak, cinnamon, vanilla, icing sugar, bitter finish.
A very old Islay malt > floral, malty cereals, ashy smoke in background, biscuits, salty brine, rich in mouth.

Once we had sampled each of the component parts, we set about trying to match things together that would compliment each other in the final blend - this was not as easy as you would think. We quickly discovered that two or three whiskies that we thought would go well together, actually didn't work as well as expected when mixed. This led to a long yet enjoyable session of trying different combinations and amounts of the component whiskies, until we had something that was starting to resemble what we wanted for our final blend.

However, this needed refining and the breakthrough came when we met Sandy Hyslop on our recent trip to Scotland. Sandy is the Master Blender for the hugely popular Ballantine's blended whisky range and he told us a few of the basic things to consider when constructing a blended whisky. Thanks to his tips and another long but enjoyable blending session, we finally had a whisky that we are proud to put our name to. The 'Karen & Matt Blend' describes our whisky taste and preference at this particular point of time. The recipe has now been sent back to Master of Malt and we are eagerly awaiting the next part of the process where ours and the other nine are recreated. What will the others taste like? We will let you know ...

Our visit to Scotland > Autumn 2010

The last week has seen us being quiet on the blog and website, but we do have a good reason! We were invited to join a group of whisky bloggers on a whistle-stop two day tour to Scotland, as guests of Inver House Distillers. The itinerary was to take us from our comfort zone in London up to the far north of Scotland, starting at Old Pulteney in Wick and then driving down the north eastern coast of the Highlands to take in Balblair and through the Speyside region to Knockdhu (otherwise known as AnCnoc). It gave us the chance to visit three distilleries with very unique personalities, taste some great whiskies from each and finally put some names to faces from the non-London whisky blogging community. These included some of our favourite and 'must read' blogs.

The other bloggers on the trip were Chris and Lucas from Edinburgh Whisky, Jason of Guid Scotch Drink fame, Mark from Glasgow Whisky (& Ale), Keith from the Whisky Emporium, James the writer of Scotch Odyssey, Ben from Masters of Malt and Johan from Onversneden. We were also joined by Cathy from Inver House Distillers. We anticipate that all will be posting the events, distillery and tasting notes over the coming week, so be sure to check them out - especially the ones you may not have checked or read before.

After a night in a Japanese style pod-room in Yotel at Heathrow, we caught a flight to Edinburgh where we were to catch a connecting flight to Wick, the most northern (and possibly smallest, having now been there!) commercial airport on the UK mainland, at 11.00. Shortly after our arrival in Edinburgh at 09.15, the departure screen informed us that our Wick flight was delayed until 13.00. "Oh darn", we thought (or something slightly stronger). This turned out to be due to our 30-seater plane and staff being in the wrong place - the time changed to 14.20, back to 13.00 and then 14.20 again as we felt a touch of desperation set in on FlyBe/LoganAir's part! All of this as Lucas and Cathy waited up in Wick ...

However with hindsight, the delay was good on two counts - 1> it led to an impromptu group bonding session with the majority of our whisky blogging party and 2> the offer of a £5 lunch voucher from the somewhat sheepish airline. As the hours of wait whiled away, we learned lots about our fellow traveling companions, their backgrounds and what drove them to become part of the whisk(e)y blog community. Attention turned to how to get the most out of the free £5 voucher, with one suggestion that we pool all eight vouchers together to make one über food voucher of £40 and then buy a bottle of whisky from the Duty Free shop being particularly creative. Sadly, common sense and increasing hunger won.

Finally, they found us a plane, we were loaded on and the propellers started. It was 14.30. After a bumpy but gorgeous flight (especially the last part up the north east Highland coast as the sun began to set), we landed at Wick three and a half hours late. The airport 'terminal' resembled a doctor's surgery waiting room and had possibly the shortest baggage reclaim belt in the aviation industry - the rugged chap handing each passenger their bags through a hatch, having driven them the short distance from the plane on his red tractor! Cathy and Lucas were there to meet us, having been in Wick for hours, and we piled in to the minibus like an eager group of school kids on a trip. So, off we went to Old Pulteney ...

The reviews of our visits to Old Pulteney, Balblair and Knockdhu distilleries plus relevant tasting notes of the whiskies that we sampled, photos, accounts and stories that happened on the trip and a competition to win whisky samples from each place will follow in the coming week or so. We hope that you enjoy our posts and those of the companions on the trip.

Our Top 10 whisky blogs

The number of whisky blogs on the internet has risen massively over the last couple of years and each contributes to a lively and vibrant whisky community online. From comments that we have received, a whisky blog seems to tap into something in people - they don't want to wade through endless pages of convoluted notes, they like up-to-date and honest reviews that are concise and describe whisky in layman's terms and they value the writer's personal opinions as these are perceived to be more genuine than manufacturer's notes or other PR material.

A couple of other blogs have stolen our thunder a bit by publishing articles about the number and quality of whisky blogs on the web, since we began writing this post. But that is the beauty of the online whisky community - there is enough room for everyone's voice and opinions. The fact that each blog is written by different people, with different writing styles and with differing opinions is what makes it so interesting.

We have decided to champion some of the best whisky blogs that we have discovered since we first joined the community less than two years ago. We have made many friends and acquaintances along the way and this Top 10 is a tribute to each one's work (well actually it's a Top 11 as we couldn't choose which one of our favourites to leave one out!). It would be unfair to rank these, as each offers something unique and which you prefer is up to you, so we have listed them in alphabetical order. A similar list of our favourite whisky websites will follow shortly.

Cask Strength
www.caskstrength.blogspot.com
This is one of our fellow London based blogs and we regularly bump in to writers Neil and Joel at various functions around the city. Cask Strength offers an eclectic mix of informative, highly descriptive tasting notes, whisky hot topics and interesting travel pieces relating to whisky (check out the reviews of their trips to Japan and Islay). This feels different from any other whisky blog, so you must pay a visit to 'Cask Strength Towers'. Look out for their ever changing 'profile pictures' also!

Dr. Whisky
www.drwhisky.blogspot.com
One of the pioneers of the online whisky blog, Sam began Dr. Whisky around three years ago. His 'Malt Missions', which are now totalling almost 400, hold legendary status and offer probably the most descriptive and thought provoking tasting notes available anywhere. He also, importantly, has some background to the whisky in question, giving it context. In addition, there are articles on hot industry topics and while he may not post as regularly as in the past, each one is of the highest quality and a 'must read'. Go check out what the Doctor has ordered!

Edinburgh Whisky
www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com
Lucas and Chris write one of our favourite blogs and cover pretty much anything whisky related. They are lucky to be situated in Edinburgh and bring their industry experience to the world from there. Edinburgh Whisky includes comprehensive tasting reviews, bar reviews, whisky news, book and website reviews, cocktail recipes and interviews with industry experts. They are also never frightened to offer a controversial viewpoint, that others may think but dare to write!

Guid Scotch Drink
www.guidscotchdrink.com
A cracking blog that is written by Jason Johnstone-Yellin. It was formerly an extension of the Whisky Host website but Jason has now decided to go solo and has transferred everything to this new site. The blog offers whisky reviews, latest news and various other snippets of information and fun video clips. Our particular favourite parts are their 'What did I learn this week?' (a section which breaks down both the serious and slightly more irreverent whisky related news/stories from around the world) and the entertaining 'Say what?' series, which explains some of the more unusual tasting notes found in some whisky reviews. Excellent thorough tasting notes also.

Master Blender
www.themasterblender.com
This is the online presence of the legendary Whyte & Mackay master blender Richard Paterson (well, in addition to his Facebook and Twitter accounts and Whyte & Mackay's website!). Richard offers a wealth of insider industry information, the workings of Whyte & Mackay and even the odd recipe/cocktail in which you can use his whiskies. Anyone that has met him will not be surprised to know that it is written in a very expressive yet informative way. There is naturally a huge Whyte & Mackay bias but Richard's experience in the industry cannot be ignored.

Nonjatta
www.nonjatta.blogspot.com
If you need to know anything about Japanese whisky, then look no further than the excellent Nonjatta. It is the most comprehensive guide to Japanese whisky and the Japanese whisky industry that is available in English. It is written by Chris Bunting, a British journalist and whisky lover, who lives in Tokyo and he has an impressive list of guest writers including Ulf Buxrud, Serge Valentin and Dr. Whisky. The back catalogue of tasting notes is extensive and very impressive.

Scotch Hobbyist
www.scotchhobbyist.com
We really enjoy reading this blog and it includes down to earth, informative tasting notes and other whisky news and views. Jeff, the writer and founder of Scotch Hobbyist, has also devised his own unique scoring system that ensures he is consistent between all of his tastings. We like the way this system is used and the part where he explains what he thinks would improve or decrease the score given and which other whisky the sample can be compared to.

What Does John Know?
www.blog.maltadvocate.com
What does John know? Pretty much everything that you need to know about whisky! The John in question is John Hansell, the publisher and editor of the esteemed whisky magazine Malt Advocate. If you want to keep up-to-date with everything to do with the world of whisky - new and forthcoming releases, distillery and industry news, tasting notes, PR/press releases - then this is the place. John has many followers and some of the comment streams at the end of posts are well worth checking out, as there are few places where you will see such whisky debate. John is a true whisky guru.

Whisky Fun
www.whiskyfun.com
Serge Valentin is the brains behind Whisky Fun and he has almost single handedly pioneered whisky online. Serge is a legend in the whisky world and started Whisky Fun seven years ago. He also part-runs the iconic Malt Maniacs website. Whisky Fun is an eclectic mix of highly detailed tasting notes, news and music/concert reviews. The back catalogue that has built up over time is massive and almost any whisky that you care to try and find will be on there - you must check it out. A unique, excellent blog that all other whisky blogs aspire to be.

Whisky Notes
www.whiskynotes.be
An excellent blog written by Ruben, who seems to share his time between living in Spain and Belgium. Whisky Notes has only been going for a year but Ruben has already built up a back catalogue of over 200 whiskies, including some that are only available in mainland Europe and not in the UK. Most of the blog posts are whisky reviews and these are concise yet descriptive with a little background information about the bottling included. Other articles includes whisky news and views.

Whisky Party
www.whiskyparty.net
Whisky Party are Mike, Mike and Dan and they have the mission to "demystify the world of scotch drinking and help folks find good whiskies at good prices". And they do it very well! The blog has a number of unique and interesting features that makes it stands out - they have a 'Whiskies under $40' series, 'Best in blog' (a regular round up of the latest interesting articles from whisky blogs around the world) and also news of tastings and bar reviews in their local New York and Chicago areas. They also include their own concise and informative tasting notes from their private whisky collections, as well as whisky news and other interesting articles. One of our Top 3 favourites.

If you regularly read these 11 fine blogs (plus Whisky For Everyone of cause!), then you have pretty much all facets of the world of whisky covered. In addition, there are many other good whisky blogs on the internet, but that we have only just discovered or know the writers less well. Check these out as again each one offers a different perspective - Dubber & Clutch, Malt Imposter, Ralfy, Scotch Blog, Scotch Chix, The Whisky Exchange Blog and Whisk(e)y Apostle. There is also the new Whisky Israel blog, where our good friend Gal battles the astronomical Israeli tax rates on alcohol to bring his expert and descriptive tasting notes. He also produces another blog in Hebrew.

Please note - all images and logos are taken from the original sites.