Review Posts

Miyagikyo 12 Year Old

This week continues the Japanese theme, sticking with Nikka Whisky. Here, we go back to the Miyagikyo distillery. This is the Miyagikyo 12 Year Old, the middle of the three vintages normally available (between the 10 and the 15). As you can see above, it's a glorious golden colour in the glass. The initial impression ...

Yoichi 20 Year Old

Yoichi is one of two distilleries owned by Nikka. I’ve previously tried their Pure Malt Red, which is primarily taken from the other distillery, Miyagikyo. Here we have their 20 Year Old, the oldest single malt expression regularly produced. It’s a deep rich amber in colour, looking almost like a dessert wine. The nose is sweet; ...

London Fields Brewery Tour-At-Home

London Fields Brewery (now closed after a turbulent few years) is was one of those exciting young breweries that have been restoring the brewing scene to the city in the last few years. Founded only last year, they've already had to upgrade from their original 2 barrel plant to a new 10 barrel ...

Neath Ales Brewery Tour-At-Home

I picked up this collection of beers from Neath Ales (now closed) at last year's Abergavenny Food Festival; I always have my eye open for small local breweries at such events that I might otherwise have never encountered and Abergavenny was pleasantly productive. We start with Green Bullet, a 6.0% IPA – named ...

Tomintoul 10 Year Old

I have to confess that I don't think I'd heard of Tomintoul before now; if I'd seen it in a shop, I'd have wondered if it was one of those 'invented' distilleries that certain shops use to disguise their own brands. But it's a real distillery, in Speyside. It's nice to find that it's ...

Delirium Nocturnum

While I'm more concerned about the beer than the bottle in comes in, it's fair to say that packaging can always have an impact. Poor packaging – be it the graphics or sometimes just the name – can put me off even bothering to try a beer. Put a pink elephant on a stone-look ...

Islay Mist Deluxe

Continuing this mini series of anonymous Islay bottlings, this week we have Islay Mist Deluxe – which could either be a whisky, or a new paint colour. It's a nice pale straw in the glass. The nose is light, almost floral with a grapefruit citrus feel to it – not entirely what Islay conjures ...

Berry Bros & Rudd Titanic Single Malt

The RMS Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton on the 10th of April 1912. On the 15th of April 1012, she hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean and sunk. Of the 2,224 passengers and crew, only 710 survived. It remains one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in ...

Brewdog Mini Brewery Tour-At-Home

As I've mentioned before, Brewdog have been on my list for a Tour-At-Home for a long time. They're a very polarising brand; brash, aggressive and firmly of the opinion that any publicity is good publicity. It's not an attitude that really does much for me to be honest, and I'd disregard them if it ...

Smokehead 18 Year Old Extra Black

I'm a sucker for smoke in my whisky, so something with a name like this is always going to catch my eye – well aged, smoky and black, how could it fail to appeal to an Islayphile? You may be forgiven for assuming from the name that this was going to be a ...