This week Joe Ellis reviews Jim Beam Devil’s Cut Bourbon Whiskey.

https://youtu.be/WqC8FqYiLaM

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The Whisky Exchange Blog Review of 2015

2015 was as busy as ever, with loads of new drinks appearing on our shelves and more customers than ever before – thank you for making it such a success. It’s now 2016, and that can mean only one thing: time for our round-up of the past year.

Tastings at TWE Vinopolis

It’s been a bit of a year for our London Bridge shop. We had loads of great tastings, but while it gained a new sibling – The Whisky Exchange Shop at Covent Garden – it also, sadly, closed. Vinopolis, the building where we were based, is being redeveloped, so we had to move out. Don’t worry, as we like London Bridge and there are already plans afoot for a new shop – keep an eye on the TWE London Shops Facebook page for news, and have a read of manager Alex’s post from last week, sharing his memories of our original shop.

It wouldn’t be a yearly round-up without a picture of Colin Dunn

We did our usual run of great evenings through the year, starting with our traditional Diageo Special Releases evening with Colin Dunn and finishing with a tasting of long-aged whiskies from the Inver House Distillers portfolio with Lukasz Dynowiak. We had visiting American distillers from Rock Town and Wild Turkey, Ardbeg’s Mickey Heads celebrating the distillery’s 200th birthday, Dalmore’s Richard Paterson threatening to kill people (as usual), and even a visit from Bruichladdich master distiller Jim McEwan, as part of his victory lap of the UK before retiring in July.

However, the tasting that stood out most to me was a visit from Billy Leighton, master blender at Midleton in Ireland. Not only did he bring the distillery’s excellent range of whiskeys, but he also had some cask samples for us to choose from – keep an eye on the website, as we’ll soon have a TWE-exclusive Irish whiskey appearing soon…

Spirit and Whisky of the Year 2016

This year’s shortlists for our Spirit and Whisky of the Year awards were even more difficult to choose than before, but we narrowed them down and our eventual winners were Plantation XO 20th Anniversary rum and Talisker 2003 Distillers Edition – both excellent releases and well worth your attention.

On the blog

Cleo and Rocky

We’ve been busy this year, with 162 posts popping up over the past 365 days – one every two-and-a-bit days. We’ve made significantly fewer photoshopped pictures of Rocky this year, but he’s managed to both jet around the world to visit distilleries in the USA and Germany, as well as meet the person behind one of the two celebrity Tequila brands we’ve looked at this year – Cleo Rocos, owner of Aqua Riva Tequila. Unfortunately, the owner of Casamigos Tequila, a Mr Clooney, wasn’t available.

Stu’s also managed to meet a few people, adding entries to our In Their Own Words series as well as interviewing rugby player Chris Cusiter, who we found is not only fond of whisky but also a TWE fan. He also wrote our most contentious post of the year – an interview with Nick Morgan of Diageo about NAS whisky. It ruffled a few feathers in the online world, and has attracted more comments than anything else we’ve published.

I’ve had a much quieter year, focusing more on the non-whisky spirits that have been tempting me recently – Haitian rum, Aperol, Vermouth and Campari, amongst others. I also got to interview Jim McEwan, tried to make my own Baileys and admitted to my not-so-secret love of Jack Daniel’s liqueurs – Tennessee Honey and Tennessee Fire.

As usual, there were two big hitting blog posts this year – the announcement of Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible award winners and our April Fools’ Day story. We’re sorry to all of you who were taken in by the latter – it seems that it was worryingly believable this year.

Whisky Exchange Exclusive Whiskies

We bottled some excellent whisky this year. I am almost certainly biased, but with excellent scores from bloggers and magazines, awards from the Independent Bottlers’ Challenge, medals from the Malt Maniacs awards and most of them sold out, it seems that other people agree. You can find all of our exclusive whiskies here, but special mention must go to our pair of bottlings from The English Whisky Co – Classic and Peated – which Oliver wrote about here.

ore than any other whiskies we’ve selected in recent times, these have turned heads – English whisky has come of age.

What Next?

2016 promises to be even busier than 2015: Whisky Show tickets are already on sale; we have a new venue for tastings and the schedule for early 2016 is already filling up; and plans for a new London Bridge shop continue apace. Behind the scenes, our warehouse has been upgraded and orders are being delivered even faster than before. We’re also bringing in more products every day – from fine wine to Bajan hot sauce – and will continue to do so, ensuring that we have the best selection of tasty things to drink (or eat – don’t drink the hot sauce neat) anywhere online. We have plans for more exclusives, rumours of excellent new bottlings arriving down the line, more bottle engraving and lots of ideas for new website features – it’s going to be a fun year.

Glenglassaugh
42 Year Old Batch 2 Cask #2125

Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

 

How’s your head? How’s your wallet? Hope they both survived the holidays! Why not take advantage of this quiet week and grab the Speyside issue (and use some of that holiday cash to subscribe!). As always, some of the best stuff is up front; your letters, for example, include compliments and questions about our landmark Value issue (with 92 whiskies rated 90+ and under $100), the Table Bourbon piece, and another great reminiscence of the bootlegging days. Distillations brings you Toronto in 48 Hours, advice on investing in Japanese whiskies, and a guide to the 10 signature whisky aromas. What else? Oh, there’s barrel-aged sauces, whisky ice cream recipes, a fantastic list of whisky gifts (never too late!), a guide to buying your own cask, and a beautiful tribute to drinking in Scottish bars. That’s not even all there is…but you really should subscribe to get every last drop!

• Bowmore 10 Year Old “Devil’s Casks” 2nd Edition Islay Single Malt Whisky (750ml) ( $99.99) Heavily-sherried Bowmore at cask strength, in limited quantities. The notes from the distillery read: “On the eye deep mahogany. Breathe in rich sherried sweetness with dates and sultanas smothered in the indulgence of treacle toffee, pecan and maple syrup. Sip sublime velvet of dark chocolate fudge infused with sherried dark fruit, sea-salt and walnut oil. Savour long-lasting finish with sun-dried raisins and salted treacle.”

• 1995 Caol Ila 20 Year Old K&L Exclusive Signatory Cask Strength Single Barrel Single Malt Whisky (750ml) ( $139.99) We’ve got three words for you in relation to our new 20 year old Caol Ila cask: BUY, BUY, BUY!!! Diageo has been sold out of the standard Caol Ila 12 year expression for the last year due to shortages of the peated Islay malt. Somehow, someway, however, we locked down an absolutely stunning 20 year hogshead at full proof at a price far less than what it should be. This isn’t some rag tag cask either, but rather an absolutely glorious expression of everything that makes Caol Ila wonderful: a round, fruity, almost creamy mouthfeel of soft vanilla and oily richness, contrasted by an intense peatiness that injects a healthy dose of smoke into all that weight. At cask strength, there’s extra pop to all that dynamism, but it never overpowers the flavor. This whisky needs no water, no dilution whatsoever in order to be enjoyed. Just pop and pour, and take in everything that makes Caol Ila one of Scotland’s legendary whiskies–during a time when supplies happen to be scarcer than ever!

K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

WHISKY REVIEW OF 2015 – Paul McLean 

A personal view if the whisky industry in 2015 by Paul McLean, owner MCLEANSCOTLAND.COM & WHISKYTOURS.SCOT

Where do I start? It has been a busy year for whisky, so much has happened, lots of news and some seriously strange decisions. Let me start by wishing all distilleries and staff a happy new year and best wishes for 2016, especially the small independents and new start ups, both here in Scotland and over in our Celtic neighbour Ireland. Talking of which, there has been much movement over on the Emerald Isle, an upsurge in Irish whiskey – about time, with lots of new start up distilleries, 2 in Dublin alone. I think there was a heavy bias, or snobbery against Irish whiskey for too many years, myself, I have always enjoyed it, at my local pub here in Perth, Black Bush is my dram and thankfully, Helen & Billy keep buying it in for me specially! To be honest, Redbreast is my favourite Irish dram, but with so many to try, it is a hard thing to stay with just one, I urge you to try the likes of Green and Yellow Spot, The Midleton’s are fabulous, there I go, on a roll again about my Mum’s country drams, if you havnee tried many Irish, please look into it soon!

One bottle I hope to look forward to this year hopefully, is a Daft Mill dram, have been there a few times aye, tasted new make and very young drams, but I can’t wait for a good aged dram from Francis, that would be a highlight. Another vastly underrated distillery is Glen Moray, because of their pricing structure (low) for a quality product, I feel it puts people off trying their drams, how foolish, I took a tour there last summer (one of many), a large group of 28, I couldnee get them all out! The shelves took a battering, specially 25 and 30 year old, say no more, it is one of my favourite distilleries and we like them all there, thanks very much guys! Scotland to me, remains the best whisky producer in the world, ok so maybe we have a few more distilleries available to us, but we have constantly great whisky from all corners of the country. Aye saying that though, I do like very much Japanese and Taiwanese drams and Paul John in Goa is running up catching them with several superb drams, specially their peated.

World whisky has come on leaps and bounds, with Australia, European and Asian drams all good. The one thing that gets up my nostrils – Bibleman and his numpty awards! It is really like a paid advertisement for certain drams, making his best whisky of the year, with otherwise totally unforgettable whisky. I see lately there are lots of a certain Canadian whisky in the auctions, I hope the money paid off with a profit, take it while you cam, because as soon as real whisky drinkers start tasting this stuff, the bottom will fall out of that market (in my own view that is). Harsh? I don’t think so. I also forecast Japanese drams will calm doon in price, right now they are a crest of a wave, it will calm doon by summer and once again good Scottish drams will take top slot. Have you noticed how Macallan have calmed doon? They always used to be number one in auctions, maybe once again.

Awards, are they worth the paper they are written on? And the cost of the actual awards? In my view, no. It seems to me that every distillery/country will get a turn to win something, awards are made up to find a category for some drams, this is daft. And whilst I am on ma soapbox, will distilleries please resist from producing outlandish packaging that no one can afford. If you buy whisky it is to drink aye? Why would we wish to buy a piece of crafted silver, in a handmade wooden box, on a marble plinth with (ok a nice whisky) drams hidden by the packaging? Just sell us a good dram in an affordable bottle – which we throw away anyhow. Rant over.

Festivals and tastings are springing up everywhere, grand! This brings whisky to many people and many who have not tried too many, options are there to research and develop your senses into liking many other whiskies than what you thought you liked. Please don’t forget, whisky is like fine art, liking one or more, is equal to liking fine art, it is in the eye (or mouth) of the beholder. Buy/drink what you like, what you can afford and maybe test a few you havnee tried before. It’s a great game. I will be hosting a tasting myself early February, do I do blind tastings or name them as we go, or both? At the Spirit of Speyside this year we are offering events, one being with our friend Ian Buxton; Does packaging affect your whisky purchases? After working with Liz (biz partner for last 20 years) who used to say “that’s a nice bottle” meaning shape and design, she now buys for the whisky inside the bottle, that made me think, and asked Ian to do this for us, he agreed quickly!

So, my own whisky awards … as guests of Chivas recently, Ian Logan gave us (Liz and myself) a dram of Glenlivet 50 year old, I couldnee open my mouth or eyes after it, I couldnee find the right expression or words to qualify! Kavalan Solist range – great. Balvenie 40 year old, Redbreast Sherry bottle, all great and how can I leave out others? Well there is also one NOT from a distillery, my pal Tim (in Moscow) distils his own, he gave me a 40 month old whisky – sublime. Corriemhor too, the list could go on and on. If I had to sit doon with just one bottle, it would be Tim’s. Have a happy and rewarding 2016 everyone! Should you wish a fantastic whisky tour, look at our website www.whiskytours.scot.

Whisky Ramblings Via Video #121

Mark Dermul, Belgian Whiskyblogger, tries a duty free expression from his favorite distillery. Auchentoshan recently launched two new expressions in the Global Travel Retail segment. A no age statement Blood Oak and a 24 Year Old Noble Oak. The Blood Oak – what a great name! – is a vatting of triple distilled Auchentoshan matured on bourbon casks and French red wine casks. The result, bottled at 46% ABV, is a fruity, spicy and warm liquid.

https://youtu.be/oNY7s-MMiWg

United States – Kentucky

Old Forester Signature 100 Proof Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whisky (750ml) $19.99View

Scotland

Bowmore 10 Year Old “Devil’s Casks” 2nd Edition Islay Single Malt Whisky (750ml) $99.99 View

1995 Caol Ila 20 Year Old K&L Exclusive Signatory Cask Strength Single Barrel Single Malt Whisky (750ml) $139.99 View

K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

Imperial 20 Year Old

1995 vintage of the lost Speyside distillery from Signatory Vintage. Matured in hogshead casks and bottled November 2015.

Buy – $62.47

Imperial 20 Year Old 1995 vintage Speyside single malt Scotch whiskey. Matured in hogshead casks #50229 & #50230 of the lost Scottish distillery. Bottled November 2015 by Signatory Vintage for the Un-Chilfiltered Colection.

Imperial Distillery was designed by Charles C. Doig and established in 1897 by Thomas Mackenzie at Carron in the heart of Scotland’s Speyside whisky region. Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and a huge golden crown was placed upon the pagoda roof of one of Imperial Distillery’s two malt kilns to commemorate the occasion. Imperial Distillery was equipped with four huge stills but closed in 1998 and is now a closed Scottish malt whisky distillery.

United States – Kentucky

Knob Creek Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) $22.99 View

Scotland

Monumental Blend Alexander Murray 30 Year Old Scotch Whisky (750ml) $139.99 View

K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA