Glen Mhor 8YO, 100 Proof

THE VIDEO

https://www.facebook.com/GlenMhor

One of three original Invernessian distilleries, Glen Mhor, was a distillery with quite a cult following despite not many people knowing who, where, or what was produced there.

Operating for less than a century, along with a surprising number of other distilleries, Glen Mhor was founded in 1982 and closed in 1983. The distillery pulled its water source from the ever famous Loch Ness and was a key component in Mackinlay’s blended whiskies, most notably the reissue bottlings of whisky that were found in the hut of Shackleton expedition. Glen Mhor was a key component in the rebirth of those blended malts for the public.

There isn’t much else to report about the distillery, minus the fact it worked with, and eventually took over its neighbour, the Glen Albyn distillery. Its capacity, still shape, and overall numbers are sadly lost to the history books.

Scotch Whisky Versus Irish Whiskey – Which Is Better?

Norm The IT Guy joins Adam in the Studio to put an end once and for all to the discussion of which whiskymaking nation is supreme. Well, not actually – but we compare a few drams and make a few discoveries along the way.

THE VIDEO

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Meikle Toir Part 2: The Chinquapin One. 

It’s no secret that virgin oak is my first love of whisky. Billy Walker is somewhat instrumental in that love, too. Many years ago at The Whisky Shop, an exclusive BenRiach was bottled for the company, a 17YO cask strength with a virgin oak finish. Wedding bells may as well have rung out across the whisky community because I bought and drank about 5 bottles of this stuff in half as many years. Stunning.

But here we have new distillate, peated to 35ppm, and matured solely in Chinquapin virgin oak casks. This type of white oak was first used by Jura, if memory serves me correctly, and it was a little lost in the mix. It’s all well and nice to shout about utilising new wood, but when it’s lost in the vatting process to fundamental dullness, it’s not easy to sing it to the roof in celebration. Luckily, we don’t have to worry about that here.

This is an absolutely stunning example of how virgin oak can mature Scotch whisky to a degree of true succession in regards to the true balance of a product. We are overwhelmed by white chocolate, caramel, cocoa, plum notes, orange oil, cedar wood smoke, powdered sugar, croissants, and all of the boozy delight that there is to be had when exemplary skills are put to use to make two very powerful forces in whisky work together. Billy Walker, f^ck^ng hell.

Cheers!

Scotch Malt Whisky Society of Canada March 2024 Outturn

Join Adam as he once again introduces us to another epic set of SMWS releases at The Strath. Check out the SMWS page on The Strath’s webstore, where you can buy bottles and tickets to upcoming events –

THE VIDEO

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 534: Teeling Crystal Malt

Mark Dermul, Belgian whiskyblogger, tries a new Irish whiskey. This can certainly be called a world premiere. On February 29, Teeling launched the very first triple distilled Irish whiskey made from Crystal Malt, a malt obtained by exposing the grain to extra heat during malting to crystallize the sugars. The result should provide additional notes of caramel and toffee. The whiskey was matured in Virgin American Oak barrels. It was initially only available in The Loop, the duty-free shop at Dublin Airport, but is now being rolled out to what they call key markets and that means it won’t be long before it will also be on our shelves.

https://youtu.be/QcKPzOmL2mo

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Meikle Toir 5YO, The Sherry One

https://youtu.be/azCLVYnhj-E

Our Billy, who art in Glasgow, hallowed be thy casks…

Honestly, this whisky is so impressive, but if I have to spell Meikle Toir anymore, then I’m going to use the bottle as a blunt instrument to inflict some sort of retail driven revenge.

Billy Walker is God when it comes to sherry casks. There’s the best absolute sentence you’ll ever read in whisky. But this thing is a stunner of range and flavour. Peating a distillate to 35PPM, bottling it at 48% ABV, full maturation in what have to be the wettest sherry casks of all time, and with all the other good stuff – I’m just so blown away. But is it a surprise?

I never got to try his Glenallachie Future bottling because every annoying flipper in the whisky game sold it, and I refuse to pay secondary prices for anything to drink. But the way this whisky is structured just took me away to a different world. If you want something with deep sherry notes, and with any level of smoke to it at all, ignore anything from the following distilleries: Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Springbank (Yes, I said it) and Bunnahabhain Moine, just ignore them and buy this. It is 5YO whisky for under £50 a bottle that just blows them out of the water and puts them into the stratosphere to never be heard from again.

You all might be thinking this is an odd thing to state, but I’m going with it.