https://youtu.be/bVLzdnMUOIY

Hello everyone! I’m back! There’s only so long a chest infection can keep me down. This is, as far as I’m aware. the first and only single malt scotch to be matured solely in 100% ex-American Rye casks. As a result of doing this, the flavour profile gives you a combination of sweet vanilla, fudge and toffee that is all mixed in with some light earthy rye spices. Cardamon, cinnamon, rye and light slightly muddy flavours that run through the whisky. This whisky wasn’t designed to be either savory or sweet it’s a good combo of both, subtle and sweet with a good mix of everything, it’s just a good, solid and interesting solid single malt. Cheers!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZDJHvaYMjE

The mighty Isle of Skye, a formidable place that is aged and structured by the brutal nature of the North Atlantic. However, hidden within the midst of the gusts and sea breeze lies a distillery, Talisker. Now, normally, Talisker is a salty, slightly peated whisky with robust elements of iodine and sea spray. But, once it starts to gather its age a little bit, it gets mellow. Really mellow! This whisky has DNA of classic Talisker’s, like the 10YO – but in it’s own perfect way, it sets itself apart. Chocolate, orange, maple syrup – a whisky that you wouldn’t expect to have such soft and sweet character but nonetheless, its a little beauty that’s been carved by the ocean. Cheers

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 195: Compass Box Double Single

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries the Compass Box Double Single. Compass Box is not a distillery, not a bottler, but a blender. And even that is a bit of a misnomer, as Mark considers them to be blending artists. After all, their blends are somewhat atypical, sometimes even provocative, but almost always very interesting. Take this Double Single, for example. It is created with 1 single malt (72% Glen Elgin of 24 years old) and 1 single grain (28% of Girvan said to be even older). Hence the name. Let’s see if ‘enfant terrible’ of the whisky industry John Glaser can surprise us once again.

https://youtu.be/JwjHAhCYZVo

https://youtu.be/FUGVyWKfVdU

 Who doesn’t love a bit of punk rock spirit? Well, I do and Loch Lomond has it in spades! Four different types of stills, two different types of whisky and four different brands, all under one roof.

Utilizing a very specific type of flavour profile: slightly earth with a wonderful Bourbon cask influenced element of caramel, vanilla and peach. What this distillery are doing excites more than any other in Scotland at the minute. Make some time for this place because i guarantee that they’ll have more than one thing that will blow you away. Cheers.

Irish whisky is fantastic! But, the folks at Midleton tend to hit the sweet spot every single time! Redbreast 21 is a pot still whisky, combining malted and unmalted barley, triple distilling the spirit and then aging for a minimum of 21 years in a combination of 70% ex-sherry casks and 30% ex-bourbon casks, it’s a true stunner of a product that stands head an shoulders above a lot of other standard 21’s, be they Irish or not. Beautiful spring smells and flavors of elderflower, pine and cake batter mixed in with big, rich Christmas flavours of raisins, cinnamon and a ton of sherry! It’s a real barnstormer. Cheers.

https://youtu.be/5Zi2deYRf1c

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 194: Bunnahabhain 2013 for Smoking Buffalo

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries another Smoking Buffalo. The adventure of the Smoking Buffalo started in 2011 and now the 9^th edition has appeared in this series of peaty malts in honor of Belgium’s first class football club AA Gent (in Mark’s neck of the woods). It is a very young and heavily peated Bunna from 2013 that was dubbed Staoisha. It is an absolute monsters and comes highly recommended.

https://youtu.be/CjeTi9ESICA

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 193: Caol Ila 17 Year Old Unpeated Style

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries an unpeated Caol Ila. Caol Ila – which means ‘Sound of Islay’ in Gaelic and thus refers to the straight between Islay and the Isle of Jura – has a so-called Unpeated Style on the market since 2008. That is to be taken quite literally. This Caol Ila – which appeared as an 8 years old at first, but is now already at 18 years – is made from unpeated malt. Mark tries the 2015 bottling, the Unpeated Style 17 Year Old.

https://youtu.be/aA649eiNHs8

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 192: Lagavulin Jazz 2017

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries a special release from Lagavulin.  Apart from the famous Feis Ile, there is another whisky and music festival on Islay: Islay Jazz. Lagavulin is one of the sponsors of Islay Jazz, so every year they also have a special release for this event. This is the Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival 2017 bottling, only available at the distillery.

https://youtu.be/bqDhMvzzTjQ

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 191: Laphroaig PX Cask

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries the Laphroaig PX Cask.  This Laphroaig is triple cask matured: bourbon, quarter casks and PX, so why it is simply called PX Cask is a bit beyond Mark, but there you have it. Originally for the duty free range – it’s a 1 liter bottle – it is widely available now. And while it seems to work, it is not Mark’s favorite Laffie.

https://youtu.be/3R9W0acUOUk

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 190: Caol Ila 2017 Distillery Exclusive

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries an exclusive Caol Ila. When he visited the Caol Ila Distillery in September 2017, the new Distillery Exclusive was poured. It is the first time that Caol Ila used whisky that has matured on red wine casks. ‘Wanna try?’ the visitor center manager asked. ‘Is that a trick question?’ was Mark’s reply. And yes, after trying this one, a bottle disappeared into his hand luggage. This one is very, very good indeed!

https://youtu.be/a1_VXHygN2g