Working as a book keeper at the Mortlach distillery, William Grant dreamt of much larger aspirations. Dreams that led him to purchase a plot near the Balvenie castle in 1886; a deed that laid the foundation to the distillery and gave it its name. Work however began much later, taking a total of 15 months…
Tag: scotch whisky
Review : Highland Park Spirit of the Bear
Highland Park’s rich Viking embodiment shows how the distillery has embraced the heritage in branding, spirit and bottling. I simply adore the intricate and detailed art that caresses the glass canvas, coupled with the spectrum of golden hues that bounce off its contours. A recent overseas travel got me spoilt for choice and it was…
Review : Aberfeldy 16 YO
This weeks review was intended to test the wintery, wet July – yes, it’s winter in the Southern Hemisphere with a dram that could possibly warm the inners with the potential to cuddle the soul. Part of the “Last Great Malt” series and introduced towards the latter half of 2015 is the Aberfeldy 16 YO,…
Review : Arran 10 YO Single Malt Whisky
My rendezvous this week was with an expression whose distillery had reopened its doors in 1995, but had traits that spanned over a century, being one of the unfortunate many who fell victim to the times due to poor management and unconducive market dynamics. An Island distillery, the Arran has proximities to Campbeltown and the…
Review : Glendronach 12 YO
There are the peat lovers and then the sherry affinite; this review takes a dive for the latter with the expression of choice a well known entry level Sherry bomb – the Glendronach 12 YO! This little bugger of a whisky is well known with sherry lovers, and takes similar rank as the Macallan’s with…
Review : Copper Dog
A name quite distinct, that it hardly resonates with whisky or anything closely related to it…or does it? The Copper Dog is a sneaky little contraption, born out of humanity’s oldest emotion – greed. The Copper Dog is a copper tube that is soldered with a coin on one end and a cork to seal…
Review : Laphroaig Four Oak
There is nothing more surreal than the sight of whisky twirling in the tumbler and the waft of smoke and brine tingling the nose, tempting the salivary gland as it goes into overdrive. As you press the glass onto your lips and tilt it towards you, every sip of whisky that gushes onto the palate…
Review : Ballantine’s 17 YO Scotch Whisky
This 17 Year Old whisky is no stranger to gold, back in 2010, 2011 and yet again in 2019, this expression has been bestowed several awards, testament to its consistency and unfailing quality. The brand as was with several others during the time was born out of a grocery store, this one at George Ballantine’s,…
Review : Talisker Dark Storm
Talk ‘Isle of Skye’ and up pops ‘Talisker’ – the oldest, working distillery sitting comfortably on the shores by the sea. The Dark Storm, a recent entry to the distilleries’ stables is a step up to the existing Talisker Storm promising heaps of smoke, supposedly the smokiest from its current array of whiskies – thanks…
Review : Glen Grant 18 Rare Edition
The Glen Grant isn’t a stranger to the whisky world, and in the recent past its popularity has bubbled, lapping up a lot more fan following with Jim Murray’s scores only adding on to the fame and accolades. It is hard being unbiased when someone comes with a grand score two years in a row, and when…
Review : Chivas 18 ‘Limited Edition’ Japanese Oak
Four years running strong, Japanese January was once again made possible- thanks to Perth’s travel retail and its sale of Chivas’ 18 Year Old ‘Limited edition’, one that is finished in first fill mizunara oak, pretty much the most cumbersome of all woods used to mature whisky. This expression was the distiller’s second attempt at…
Review : Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve
Johnnie Walker isn’t a stranger to the whisky enthusiast nor the amateur, irregular whisky sipper. The unmistakable bottling, the striding gentleman and the 24 degree labeling are all hallmarks of a brand that has pretty much stood tall, fending off most if not all competitors in terms of both sales and popularity. In the long…
Review : Royal Salute 21
A flagon embellished in gold – an aristocratic crown, a simple yet noble torc and a rather large chest plate. Made with porcelain, handmade from cornish clay and caressed by a plush velvet pouch, figures of smoking cannons and a roaring lion, all packaged in a hard top 22ct cardboard box . This level of…
Review : Chivas XV aka ‘The 15’
Blended whiskies more often than not, have aligned themselves to years of mediocrity, not really being as experimental as their malty counterparts. There’s now been a huge realisation to adapt and imbibe techniques that were considered quite unorthodox until recently. Johnnie Walker was one of those to take this walk with their Blender’s Batch, moving…
Review : Macallan 12 YO Double Cask ‘Limited Edition’
In a parallel universe where there are many peat greats oozing a unison of brine, smoke and seaweed there are the equally populous sherry stalwarts, whose highlights are a glorious fusion of rum, raisins and dried fruits, one such wonder being the house of Macallan. This ‘limited edition’ is one of many 12 YO expressions…
Review : Singleton Spey Cascade
Single Malts have always been dwarfed by their Blended brethren, laying in the shadows cast by the latter’s massive sales figures. Diageo might have this all figured out with their illustrious blended kingpin – Johnnie Walker, but replicating this success story in the Malt realm hasn’t been that easy. This playing field has been long…
Review : Compass Box The Peat Monster
The whisky world is nothing short of a mystery, a vast expanse of knowledge, process and tradition hidden under the garb of trade secrets and cut throat competition. Information divulged is usually very bare bone with much left to one’s own imagination. The exception to this being an independent bottler – The Compass Box, born…
Review : Spey River Single Malt
An ambiguous name with an almost absent electronic footprint- nothing more than scanty bits of information spread across the vast expanses of the web. Their official website also seems pretty mum and mute, giving references but nothing specific. And with every passing mouse click information gets all the more muddled and blurred, a certain enigma…
Review : Aberlour 12 Years ‘Double Cask Maturation’
Burn : Noun, Origin : Old English – “a small stream”. The crackling of the river Lour as it flows unmindfully through water trails built over centuries. Ripples haphazardly bouncing off each other, brushing against the green foliage on the banks, tumbling over round rocks, smoothened by years of soft abrasion. The soft spring water…
Review : Oban 14 Years
Nested in the Western Highlands, is this humble distillery that has its roots planted well before whisky became legalized in Scotland. And with all that history and culture you would imagine it to be very main stream and commercial. But on the contrary, the distillery is quite modest in size, housing some of the smallest…
Uisce Beatha | My Whisk'e'y Diaries 