Whisky Posts

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; ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old

After a run of international whiskies, it seems about time to return to my first whisky love, Islay. I must confess, when I first tried Bunnahabhain I was unmoved by it. That first taste came very early in my whisky education; perhaps lacking the huge smoke of Lagavulin or the playfulness of Bruichladdich I ...

Evan Williams Extra

Evan Williams has quite a range of bourbon in their stable; their Extra (also known as Evan Williams Black) is part of their core. So here we have Evan Williams Extra, a dram that sounds more Welsh than Kentucky! It's a relatively pale looking bourbon with no age statement, which leads me to suspect ...

Irish Whisk(e)y for Saint Patrick's Day

My meandering around the world of whisky has taken in a variety of nationalities – American, Japanese and of course Scots – but until now I haven't mentioned Ireland. This is something of an oversight, not least because the Irish will have you believe that they invented the stuff. They're hardly unique in this ...

Jefferson's 17 Year Old Presidential Select

This week is one of the older bourbons I have in the cupboard, coming in at a respectable 17 years. The Presidential Select suffix, along with that age statement, has me expecting big things – will I be disappointed? This is Jefferson's 17 Year Old Presidential Select, a dram that promises a lot with ...

Fighting Cock 6 Year Old

I have to confess to being a little prejudiced against this week's bourbon before I opened the bottle. For a start, it's relatively young - only 6 years old - and although I know that you can have some great young whiskies (Kilchoman comes to mind), most of the time the longer a ...