Tasting Singapore's first whisky! Brass Lion Distillery [Tasted #658] A very belated Happy New Year (of both the regular & Chinese variety)! You may be wondering why our first post of 2024 is in late February, and why the blog disappeared from the face of the Internet for ~6 weeks in  December / January. I'll address that in due course, but to summarise: We didn't expect to get the site back, and had resigned ourselves to losing ~11 years / ~700 posts worth of content, comments, hits, etc.. Hendy & I are very, very, very glad to have it back! Expect some big changes in 2024, but f ..read more

Old Master Spirits' 1974 Chateau Garreau 48 year old Bas Armagnac [Tasted #659] A while ago I suggested we were covering enough non-whisky dark spirits on the blog to have a "Monthly " post. Whilst that hasn't quite come to fruition (see last month's post on our recent blog hiccup...), I don't plan to stop enjoying great malternatives alongside my whisky, and so on that note, here's a  Arriving once again courtesy of those affable Melburnians behind , this release is a 48 year old Bas Armagnac from Chateau Garreau , distilled in 1974 and bottled at a natural cask strength of 51.2% ABV. (Y ..read more

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As I think I've mentioned a few times on this blog, is the whisky that got me into whisky (an abnormally large percentage of my   were about the distillery), and a whisky for which I've always had a soft spot. Over time that extended to sister distilleries  , so it's fair to say I'm a fan of what parent (and still family-owned) company It shouldn't be a surprise then that when I was asked if I wanted to try some well-aged releases from , the latest venture from the Gordon Family (owners of ), a very emphatic yes quickly followed. Depending on when you began your whisky jour ..read more

It's been a few months since we tried an incredibly-aged release from  Mr George Legacy 3rd Edition, if you're wondering ) and thanks to the good folk at G&M, today we have not one, not two, but three more new releases - this time from " As the name suggests, the annual Recollection series (first launched in 2022) celebrates closed distilleries, this time across both  ranges. Consisting of 18 expressions from 15 distilleries, the full series includes: Port Ellen 1981 – RRP £10,000 Glen Mhor 1973 – RRP £6,000 Dallas Dhu 1979 – RRP £3,500 Glen Albyn 1979 – RRP £3,500 Glen Esk 1984 ..read more

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Halcyon Spirits 32yo Single Cask 1991 Auchentoshan [Tasted #652] A few months ago I founded by the blokes behind . A first-fill sherry 30yo single cask Macallan was a pretty strong showing for a first , and whilst it was a little left-field, it was much enjoyed. Halcyon are back with their second release, and it's another strong showing - this time a single cask 32 Year Old Auchentoshan , distilled in 1991 and bottled at 48.7% The cask yielded only 140 (individually-numbered) bottles, selling for £550 (£458 ex-VAT). You won't find a lot of on this blog...in fact there's only one (from ), and m ..read more

Women in Whisky, GlenDronach Tasting with Dr Rachel Barrie, inc GlenDronach Grandeur Batch 12 [Tasted #651] In the world of whisky, few names resonate as powerfully as that of Dr. Rachel Barrie. With a career spanning over 28 years, she has left an indelible mark on the industry. Trained as a bio-chemist, Dr. Rachel Barrie began her journey under the mentorship of the legendary whisky figure, Dr. Jim Swan. in 2017 as a master blender, she honed her skills at renowned distilleries such as . At Brown Forman, she has been instrumental in crafting the unique identities of One of her most significa ..read more