Review Posts

Caol Ila 17 Year Old 1990

Caol Ila is, as I've probably said too often here, one of my favourite distilleries. Not only do they have the prettiest distillery on the island (on the inside, anyway!), but I think their whisky sums up the Islay style perfectly – sweet, smokey, powerful. Here we have an independent bottling from Murray McDavid; ...

Hardknott Granite 2010

After enjoying their magnificent Queboid last year, Hardknott are a brewery that has been right at the top of my "try their other beers" list. Most of their beer that ends up in bottles is at the strong end of the spectrum, which suits me fine. Granite is their barley wine – brewed at ...

Master of Malt Caol Ila 30 Year Old Single Cask

Following on from last week's partly anonymous bottling, here we have a whisky which doesn't hide it's origins at all. This is the Caol Ila 30 Year Old Single Cask, bottled at cask strength – a fairly robust 57.4% ABV – and obviously a fairly limited edition, being all from the one cask. The nose ...

Sharp's Brewery Connoisseurs Choice

I have to admit, I was not previously a big fan of Sharp's Brewery. Their Doom Bar seems to be everywhere and while it's a perfectly decent beer, I've always found it frustrating to be stood in a London pub – surrounded by an exciting and growing collection of local breweries – only to ...

Master of Malt Islay

Not satisfied with being a great whisky retailer, Master of Malt also produce a number of their own bottlings – often from anonymous distilleries, with only a regional hint to their origins. This is their Islay bottling, produced with no age statement and only a hint of a "south coast style" – my money ...

Brewdog Paradox Jura

As I mentioned earlier, this week is Feis Ile on Islay. If I had any sense of planning, I'd have got hold of some Islay Ales beer, but instead I've raided the cupboard for something suitable. This is Brewdog's Paradox Jura – a huge 15% Imperial Stout which has been aged in Jura whisky ...

Kilchoman Spring 2010 Release

This week, the Feis Ile festival on Islay is in full swing – a week of whisky, music, dancing and general merriment. All the distilleries throw their doors open and welcome eager whisky lovers and you can (with planning!) visit a distillery open day every day of the week. I am, as you may ...

St Austell Royal Diamond Imperial IPA

This year, in case you hadn't heard, heralds Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee. Whether in celebration or opportunism, companies the length and breadth of the UK are marking the event – whether it's with something specially prepared for the occasion, or just slapping a Union Flag on their regular stuff and hoping nobody notices. St Austell, ...

The Balvenie DoubleWood

This week's whisky is from The Balvenie Distillery, in Speyside. They are very proud of their crafted nature – growing their own barley, malting it on site and even having a team of coopers to care for their barrels. Here we have their entry level whisky, the DoubleWood. Aged 12 years, part of that time ...

Sierra Nevada Brewery Tour-At-Home

Sierra Nevada are probably one of the best known US brewers in this country. As with many great breweries, they were founded 30 years ago in California by a keen homebrewer who dreamt of taking things to the next level. Their Pale Ale is widely available in supermarkets and bars, and it's happily easy to ...