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…
Tag: scotch whisky
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…
Review : Benromach Organic Single Malt Whisky
A modern distillery with a pre modern twist – one where manual labour and much of the work from alpha to omega is all handcrafted. Here pressure and temperature gauges can’t be traced, computers and hi-tech machinery that automate much of the distillation process seem just a memory. An era highly relient on chalk, paper…
Review : Dalwhinnie Winter’s Gold
This winter was a rather unusual one, one where we welcomed our first warm Christmas! And not that it gets mighty cold in India, but it wouldn’t be unusual for one to experience late single digit temperatures on some winter nights. Nevertheless, my point being that winter is a season you would generally tend to…
Review : Johnnie Walker Island Green
A mid 2016 release inspired by the more popular 15 YO Green Label, this NAS expression – The Island Green, was introduced exclusively at Duty Free outlets adorning a similar styling as it’s well placed blended malt sibling. With the preference amongst consumers shifting more towards Malts and blends being their first point of entry,…
Review : Chivas Regal’s Chivas Brother’s Blend
The Chivas Distilleries hadn’t strayed much with their bottle designs when it came to profiling their whisky portfolio. They did however leverage color to visually distinguish between the various bottlings and much of these colorings to me have been carefully picked such that it aligns closely with their branding – regal, high stature and luxurious….
Review : Glenfiddich Select Oak – Cask Collection
Ever wondered why Glenfiddich and the lesser known Grants adopted the trademark triangular shaped form, one which has undergone little to no change since its inception in 1961? The design and much of its persona was the brainchild of master designer Hans Schleger; and the inspiration…malt whisky trinity – water, air and malted barley without…
Review : Scottish Leader ‘Original’
Realising that consumers nowadays are becoming more and more cognizant of the multitude of genres, brands and expressions, several distilleries/distributors are willing to experiment with brands that might not necessarily come with celeb status, but nevertheless have a proven track record back home. Unfortunately, many of these lay bullied into obscurity as larger, more popular…
Review : Glengoyne 10 Years
This cusp of a whisky – partly Highland for its distillery and Lowland for its warehouses is one of the few that are still very much family owned. And it is this fact that allows the Glengoyne (meaning ‘valley of the wild geese’) to stay true to their traditions, those that have been passed from…
Review : The Glenlivet Nadurra First Fill American Oak 16 Years
It is said that upwards of 60% of a whisky’s flavor comes from the wood that houses it. Which would mean a lot of its viscosity, feel, balance and smoothness would be defined by this very relationship. And let’s not forget those felt on the palate- the degree of spice, the influence of sherry, the…
Review : Chivas Regal 12 Years
The everyday whisky – that go to colleague after a hard day’s work; that chum, that ally that brings calm to a rather stormy day or one that’s easy on the wallet. And it’s not any average Joe that can meet this criteria; this bullion distilled brew has to be in a sense multifaceted – interesting…
Review : Ardbeg 10 Year Old
If you were to spark a dialogue with some random whisky peat buff, chances are along with the regular mention of the word ‘Islay’ you would in all likelihood encounter the Ardbeg brand name at least once during the conversation. And why not?! The distillery produces some of the smokiest whiskies, occupying the upper half…
Review : Johnnie Walker Double Black
Great whisky does not have to be top dollar; and to amass a number worthy fan following doesn’t require it to be a single malt either- The Johnnie Walker Black Label. This blended scotch has successfully captured the Highlands and the West Coast with decent complexity without really drilling a hole in your pocket, and…
Review : Glengoyne 12 Years Old
A Highland whisky with a Lowland stroke – standing tall, the Glengoyne 12 Year Old. This distillery is borderline Highland almost brushing shoulders with the virtual boundary that separates it from the calmer, more temperate Lowlands. While much of the fermentation and distillation is all up north, the warehouses where the young spirit is matured…
Review : 100 Pipers Blended Scotch Whisky
The sound of bagpipes as it cut through the cold, dark, intense and hostile air; the myriad of black polished boots clickety clacking against the earth in unison. White socks, kilts, sporrans, bagpipes – a hundred that marched leading the militia towards war; a piece of history that has inspired and made its way into…
Review : 100 Pipers 12 Years Old
A friend of mine had recently travelled to the US on business, and had got me a bottle of Bushmills 10 YO for my review. While making a trip nearby, he thought of handing over the bottle instead of me having to do the travel. I had recently changed jobs and the meet turned out…
Review : The Glenmorangie Original
It’s surprising how the mind and the many plethora of human senses perceive an event that takes you back a few decades. In this specific instance, it was the scent of dust as it gets lifted off the earth with every drop of rain hitting the arid, seared soil. So much did this sound of…
Review : Vat 69 Black
Every once in a while you stumble across something that stays camouflaged in the background but just for that instance gets caught in your field of vision. And though it might not always be a high dollar spirit, the act of discovery itself manifests an interest that draws you to pour yourself a dram and…
Review : Teacher’s Highland Cream
It all started in the early 1830s when William Teacher began making blends and selling them at his grocery store. After he was granted a license in 1856, he opened a ‘dram shop’ and with time, the number of such establishments grew to eighteen. Although there were several of his blends sold over the counter,…
Review : Cutty Sark Blended Scotch Whisky
A lot can happen over coffee they say…and in the case of the Cutty Sark, it happened over lunch between Francis Berry, Hugh Rudd (partners of Berry Bros. & Rudd) and James McBey. The idea was to introduce a whisky that could be mixed into a cocktail or sipped as an aperitif, a move from…
Uisce Beatha | My Whisk'e'y Diaries 