Whisky Reviews

Whisky: An exquisite distilled spirit crafted from fermented grains, aged to perfection in barrels, delivering a complex blend of aromas, flavours, and a warm, lingering finish.

The water of life; the king of the spirit world. Flavours from the wood, from the terroir and even from the fire.

Just don't add ice to it.

Sláinte!

We also have a whisky list which lists every whisky review on the site, broken down by country, region and distillery.

The Hakushu 12 Year Old

Distillery:	Hakushu
Country:	Japan
Abv:	40.0%
Rating:

Hakushu is Suntory's second distillery, constructed half a century after the Yamazaki distillery in the Japanese Southern Alps – a location which makes it one of the highest distilleries in the world. This is The Hakushu 12 Year Old, the youngest of their aged expressions. The nose has that sweet fruitiness that I'm coming ...

Suntory Old Whisky

Distillery:	Suntory
Country:	Japan
Abv:	43.0%
Rating:

Suntory produce a baffling array of whiskies, certainly far more than their English language website will admit. This is Suntory Old Whisky – a miniature I picked up when we visited the Yamazaki Distillery last year. It seems that the "Old Whisky" label has, over the years, been applied to quite a variety of different ...

Milroy's Tweet Tasting

Milroy's was the first proper whisky shop I ever visited. Not long after my whisky tastebuds were given a wakeup call in Aberdeen, I found myself in London and couldn't resist the enticing shop window. A good whisky shop feels a little like a book shop to me. I can happily browse the shelves for ...

Suntory Single Grain 'Chita'

Distillery:	Suntory
Country:	Japan
Abv:	43%
Rating:

Suntory have quite a collection of distilleries and one of them, Chita, is dedicated to making grain spirits and whiskies. While much of this goes straight into their blended brands (Hibiki apparently has quite a high level of grain whisky in its makeup), some makes its way into bottles in pure form. This is ...

Master of Malt 40 Year Old Speyside

Region:	Speyside
Country:	Scotland
Abv:	40.0%
Rating:

This week marks the end of an era – it's the last dram from Master of Malt's brilliant 3cl sample offerings; I've raved about this before, but it really is a fantastic way of getting to try all sorts of whisky (in case anyone was trying to think of what to buy me ...

Yamazaki Whisky Library

Distillery:	Yamazaki
Country:	Japan

The Yamazaki Distillery tour is an interesting but fairly standard walk around the distillery. First timers learn more about the process; the rest of us peer more closely and scope out the similarities and differences between Yamazaki and the distilleries we've seen before. What is most exciting to whisky lovers is the onsite bar in ...

Yamazaki Distillery Tour

Distillery:	Yamazaki
Country:	Japan

Yamazaki is one of Suntory's two distilleries in Japan and is described as "the birthplace of Japanese whisky". It was impossible to resist a visit when we were staying a few nights in Kyoto, just a short train ride away. As you can see, it's quite easy to get to by train! It's ...

Hibiki 21 Year Old

Distillery:	Suntory
Country:	Japan
Abv:	43.0%
Rating:

Hibiki is Suntory's blended whisky brand. Somehow, the Japanese whisky industry seems to have avoided being totally sucked in by the "single malt" obsession of Scotch and produces blended whiskies that are every bit as high quality (and expensive!) as their single malt brothers. Here, we have the Hibiki 21 Year Old, which has ...

Rare Old Super Nikka ... in a can

Distillery:	Nikka
Country:	Japan

In Japan, it seems as though everything is available from a vending machine. In this case, whisky - Nikka's Rare Old Super blend, with water added for you. To bring the volume up to 250ml, the watering has been fairy heavy handed which means that the aroma is barely detectable. There's a hint ...

Caol Ila 1996 Distillers Edition

Distillery:	Caol Ila
Region:	Islay
Country:	Scotland
Abv:	43.0%

Ahh, Caol Ila. Owners of the prettiest distillery in Islay, and producers of some of my favourite whiskies on the planet. This is their 1996 Distillers Edition, and in common with all their Distillers Editions is finished in Moscatel sherry casks. The whisky sits clear gold in the glass – clearly the time in ...