December 2022 - More drams, less drama

Single Malt Irish Whiskey #2 That Boutique-y Whisky Company

Two Irish Single Malt #2 TBWC

31st December 2022Coldorak

We were talking recently about secrets and transparency in the whisky industry… And it’s not just in Scotland, it happens elsewhere as well. For instance, That Boutique-y Whisky Company, that we’ve reviewed quite a lot of whiskies from in these pages, has bottled several batches of secret Irish whiskey. In today’s case, some Irish single malt. And with the age of these whiskies, we might have a good guess about which distillery is behind the Irish Single Malt Whisky #2 distillery at TBWC…

Two Speyside 1988 Le Gus’t

29th December 202229th December 2022Coldorak

Last year in December, we briefly mentioned Le Gus’t when we reviewed a Tomatin they bottled for La Confrérie du Whisky. Le Gus’t / Cave Conseil is a French off-licence and independent bottler located in the south-east of France, in Manosque first, but they also have a few shops around Marseille. They became an independent bottler in 2013 when their team went to Scotland to taste and select casks, and they started with a 1999, 12-year-old Bowmore very well received. We’re trying today two undisclosed Speyside 1988 from Le Gus’t, Selection XVIII and XXVI, as each of their bottling is numbered. Rumour has it that they both may be secret Mac***…

GlenDronach Grandeur 24yo Batch 9

28th December 202229th December 2022Coldorak

Grandeur is a term that refers to the quality of being grand or impressive in size, appearance, or manner. It often implies a sense of splendour or magnificence, and is often used to describe things that are grand in scale or opulence. Grandeur can be applied to a wide range of subjects, from architecture and art to natural landscapes and events. It means something is impressive and awe-inspiring. High-end whisky is often associated with grandeur due to its luxurious and refined nature. Premium and aged whiskies, in particular, are often described as having a sense of grandeur due to their complex and rich flavours, as well as the impressive appearance of their bottles and packaging. GlenDronach distillery used Grandeur as the name of one of their expressions from the Special & Limited Releases range, so let’s see with this GlenDronach Grandeur batch 9 if the qualificative is deserved.

Old Perth 1996

25th December 2022Coldorak

Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers (MSWD) is a family-owned business which sees them having several roles in the whisky industry. At the same time, they are grocers, brokers, blenders, bottlers and distillers. They were previously known as Morrison & Mackay, but they rebranded in 2020. You’ll probably know their independent bottling brand, Càrn Mòr, but they also bottle undisclosed Islay whisky with another brand, Mac-Talla. They also have a distillery in Perthshire, in the Lowlands, called Aberargie. I must admit I’ve never tried anything from this distillery. And finally, they have a couple of brands about blending, and the one that interests us is Old Perth. And more specifically, their Old Perth 1996 from the Vintage Collection.

Kilchoman Club 6th Edition 2007

22nd December 202222nd December 2022Coldorak

It’s our first time reviewing a Kilchoman on this humble blog. To be honest, up until now whisky coming from Kilchoman was not to my taste, I always found some off-notes (for my palate), something that didn’t suit me. But I’m always trying to stay open-minded, and so when I found a sample of Kilchoman in my whisky and spirits advent calendar, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to give another go at this distillery. So let’s introduce them, and review a Kilchoman 2007, bottled for as the Kilchoman Club 6th Edition.

Aberfeldy 15 and 16-year-old

20th December 20227th June 2023Coldorak

Aberfeldy Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located in the town of Aberfeldy, in the heart of Scotland’s whisky country, Perthshire. The distillery was founded in 1896 by John Dewar & Sons, and it is now owned by Bacardi Limited. Their core range goes from a 12-year-old to a 21-year-old, and Aberfeldy is also the core of Dewar’s White Label blend. Let’s review the 16-year-old from the Aberfeldy core range and put it against a 15-year-old Exceptional Cask.

Balcones 2017 Archives

18th December 202217th December 2022Coldorak

Balcones is a Texas based whisky distillery, doing all sorts of whiskies: Bourbon, Single Malt, Rye, Corn… They don’t take themselves seriously and don’t bother with regularity about ABV, taste or whatever. They do what they want, how they want, whenever they want. Let’s hope that now that Diageo bought Balcones, they won’t castrate the spirit (pun intended) and let them continue going free. In the mean time, Archives, the indy bottler branch of the famous whisky database and online shop Whiskybase, bought a few casks from 2017 and bottled them in their Venomous Snakes series, so let’s try one of those three Balcones 2017 from Archives.

Creations 1996 Light Fruity Syrupy Cadenhead's

Creations 1996 Cadenhead’s

17th December 202217th December 2022Coldorak

The Cadenhead’s Creations range consisted of small batch blends, blended malts, and blended grains, with a maximum of 3 casks used in each blend. Sometimes, these were single cask releases. Featuring an old style dumpy bottle, this range saw twenty releases until 2019, when it was stopped. The Creations range included a variety of ages and the strength of each bottling was determined solely by taste. The Cadenhead Creations range was known for being particularly innovative and interesting among Cadenhead’s releases. These bottlings were not chill filtered or artificially coloured. We’re reviewing today one of them, the Creations 1996 Light Fruity Syrupy.

First Four ‘The Dava Way’ Bottlings

15th December 202221st December 2022Coldorak

You have probably heard of Dunphail distillery, a soon-to-be distillery located a few miles south of Forres, in Speyside. Dunphail has been founded by Dariusz Plazewski, who already founded the deservedly hyped Bimber Distillery in London. Whilst Dunphail is not yet producing, and thus not making money (except by selling in advance founder packs and casks shares), they decided to add an independent bottling branch to the distillery. This branch is called The Dava Way, named after one of Scotland’s many long-distance walking and off-road cycling routes, between Forres and Grantown-on-Spey, and passing less than a mile from Dunphail distillery. My good friend Matt McKay, who started as director of communication for Bimber, is now also the Director of Whisky Creation and Outreach at Dunphail, and selected the first four ‘The Dava Way’ bottlings. Until Dunphail has a regular revenue, The Dava Way will allow Dunphail to gain visibility and help the operational revenue. Matt reached out to me to offer to send me samples of those bottlings, and obviously I could not refuse!

Johnnie Walker Black and Green Label

12th December 202212th December 2022Coldorak

We’ve covered these last couple weeks quite exclusive and rare whiskies and a couple brandies, with lost distillery after hyped distillery. So let’s get back down to earth, shall we? The Scotch Whisky world is still led, in terms of volume, by blends. And one of the most famous amongst them is Johnnie Walker. So let’s review two of their entry/mid-level blends: the Johnnie Walker Black and Green Label.