Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 400: Lagavulin 2003 & 2005 Distillers Editions head-to-head

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, puts two consecutive Distillers Editions head-to-head. Lagavulin is sometimes described as the ‘Aristocrat of Islay’. This whisky is so popular that the distillery sometimes has to cope with stock shortages. It is, by the way, the Lagavulin Distillers Edition, of which Mark has tried the most expressions. Seven so far and today he will put the 8th and 9th head-to-head.

https://youtu.be/LUJDr5-JygY

Phil is on vacation and will return next week…..

ralfy review 888 Extras – Paxarette (The Review)

Paxarette, is the name of a Spanish sweet condensed vino de color wine made generally with Pedro Ximenez grapes and finished by mixing the wine with essences, called arrope or sancocho, which are produced by boiling must down to a fifth and a third respectively. Pajarete was popular as a straight dessert wine in England in the 18th century and gets its name from a monastery and vineyards situated near Arcos de la Frontera in the province of Cádiz in Andalusia southern Spain. Paxarette does not enjoy Protected Geographical Status.

 Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 399: Caol Ila 2007 Distillers Edition

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries another Distillers Edition. While the Distillers Editions from Diageo may vary from year to year, as far as Mark can ascertain Caol Ila has been part of the series many times, appearing for the first time in 2006 (so a distillate from 1993). It’s quite the malt. And those of you who follow his blog a little bit, know that Mark has a soft spot for Caol Ila. The cask used for the second maturation of this Caol Ila was prepared with Moscatel, a wine from the Muscat grape. This is a distillate from 2007 and bottled in 2019.

https://youtu.be/ImAEGb_zk0Y

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 398: Oban 2005 Distillers Edition

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries a malt from Oban, which is one of Scotland’s oldest distilleries, founded in 1794, but also one of the smallest with an output of a mere 650,000 litres per year. This has everything to do with the location of course, which makes that there is no room for expansion. This also means that there is a very limited core range: the classic 14 years old, the NAS expression Little Bay that was launched in 2015 and this Distillers Edition. For Oban it means that the second maturation took place on Montilla Fino sherry casks. This one is distilled in 2005 and bottled in 2019.

https://youtu.be/QPevOlOJAOo

ralfy review 888 – Millstone Dutch Malt Whisky @ 46%vol: 2018

ralfy review 887 Extras – More on Starting your own Distillery.

https://youtu.be/p9IqUoBc_9g

Port…do you like it as a cask finish?

I typically haven’t. Odd exceptions have been from Glen Scotia and Talisker, but everything has left me feeling like it doesn’t really work. It exaggerates alcohol and always leaves a slightly burnt taste in my mouth. But not anymore!

This port cask finish from Clonakilty has changed my opinion, or atleast opened it up to the world of port. Drenched in peaches, cherries and red grapes – it has managed to work in tandem with the spirit and develop into a welcomg style, combining the best of Ireland and Portugal into one!

The finale in our Clonakilty series!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 397: Cragganmore 2007 Distillers Edition

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, publishes his first Cragganmore rambling! There isn’t all that much of single malt from Cragganmore on the market. The core range exists of the classic 14 years old and this yearly repeated Distillers Edition. But apart from some special releases we are done here. That has everything to do with the fact that most of this malt goes into some of the world’s best sold blends, Johnnie Walker Green Label mostly. What is not widely known, is that Cragganmore actually uses mildly peated barely! This Distillers Edition, distilled in 2007 and bottled in 2019, got its second maturation on port casks.

https://youtu.be/dUl33cqOMI4

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 396: Dalwhinnie 2002 Distillers Edition

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries another Distillers Edition, a series from Diageo in which they offer up their classic malts with a second maturation on a different type of cask. In the case of Dalwhinnie, which is old Gallic for ‘a meeting place’, this is an oloroso sherry cask. This is the release from 2019, so a distillate from 2004.

https://youtu.be/pTEyKWuYLnU