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.

Good Dram Show with Chris Goodrum Episode 546 – Doing Their Own Thing And Not Conforming..!

Welcome to the second episode of the show dedicated to the Independent bottler Claxton’s. This week I’ll be looking at a selection of their cask strength, single cask releases in their Warehouise No1 series. Filmed in The Study Nottingham

Featuring

Claxton’s Warehouse No1 Port Dundas 2006 (15 year old) 58.1%

Claxton’s Warehouse No1 Orkney Islands (Highland Park) 2012 (9 year old) 61.2%

Claxton’s Warehouse No1 Linkwood 2010 (13 year old) 54.6%

Claxton’s Warehouse No1 Ben Nevis 1997 (26 year old) 47.1%

Claxton’s Warehouse No1 Arran 1996 (27 year old) 50.4%

Claxton’s Warehouse No1 Bruichladdich (Port Charlotte) 2008 (14 year old) 53.2%

www.claxtonsspirits.com

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 523: Roseisle 12 Year Old Diageo Special Releases

Mark Dermul, Belgian whiskyblogger, tries something very exciting. The Diageo Special Releases are a yearly event that every whiskylover looks forward to. This year, it also saw the very first release – as a single malt – of the Roseisle distillery, that huge green plant near Elgin that produces two styles primarily: Speyside Light and Speyside Heavy. Most of the 12 million litres per annum are destined for blends like J&B, Bells, Buchanan and, of course, Johnnie Walker. But now we find ourselves able to try a 12 years old single malt from Roseisle, nicknamed The Origami Kite.

https://youtu.be/Sa1Zs4nDEUc

Glenglassaugh 12 – The Unbottling & Tasting Announcement

The wait is over here in BC for fellow lovers of Glenglassaugh! The 12 has landed, and Adam is overcome with joy. Come and taste it with him and a room full of other whisky enthusiasts at The Whisky Arrival Showcase or pick up a bottle now instore or online – links below.

Whisky Arrival Showcase

Glenglassaugh 12 Year Old

ralfy review 1017 Extras – Some more whisky knowledge.

ralfy review 1017 – Torabhaig Allt Gleann single malt @61.1%vol:

Scapa Signatory Bottling, 46%

What is going on with Scapa?

Never before with any whisky distillery have I had to search every website in the UK for an interesting bottle of it. Finally, I found a bottle of not so ‘Secret Orkney’ that so happened to be from the distillery, but even then, it took some righteous digging through reviews to confirm it was this modern unicorn distillery.

Scapa seems to have been turned into something super premium without any rhyme or reason. I thought the 16YO was an okay product, but it was discontinued, and prices jumped to £300 a bottle at its peak. Are you actually taking the piss?

It isn’t a large distillery by any means, nor the most famous on the Island of Orkney, so why the jump in pricing? Why the almost impossible to find age stated release, and I’m not a stickler for age statements, but the struggle to even find and indie of it was pretty soul destroying as a whisky fan.

I can hear you all saying that there are plenty of older bottlings to try. Yes, that’s true. But as much as I’d love to sample an 30+YO Scapa, I don’t quite fancy paying the £1,000+ price tag for it.

I thought this would be a really cutting, intense, slightly funny rant about a distillery that just needs some love, but inevitably, it just made me sad. I’m not crying, but what are Pernod doing in this place, and why can’t they run a Scottish distillery effectively that isn’t a household name?

Anyway, watch the video for the review, let me know your thoughts on this expensive cloak and dagger story of why Scapa is now the whisky equivalent of trying to find Lord Lucan riding Shergar over a finish line in Atlantis

The Good Dram Show – Episode 545 ‘Claxton’s Exploration Series’

Welcome to this week’s episode of the show in which I’m welcoming the return of the Independent bottler Claxton’s. This week I’ll be reviewing a selection of bottlings in their new Exploration Series. The Good Dram Show with Chris Goodrum Episode 545 – Mariage, Divorce And Reconciliation..! Filmed in The Study Nottingham

Featuring

Claxton’s Grain Barm 30 year old 48%

Claxton’s Exploration Series Lowlands (Dalrymple) 2012 (8 year old) 50%

Claxton’s Exploration Series Blair Athol 2015 (8 year old) 50%

Claxton’s Exploration Series Glen Elgin 2006 (14 year old) 50%

Claxton’s Exploration Series Orkney (Highland Park) 2012 (8 year old) 50%

Claxton’s Exploration Series Islay ‘Trails End’ (Ardbeg) 2017 (6 year old) 50%

www.claxtonsspirits.com

ralfy review 1016 – SIGNATORY Mortlach 15yo @46%vol: (OSWA winner 2023)

The Good Dram Show – Episode 544 ‘Barrell Craft Spirits’

Welcome to this week’s episode of the show in which I’ll be looking at the creative American whiskey blending company Barrell Craft Spirits.

Featuring

Barrell Craft Spirits Seagrass Rye 60.19%

Barrell Craft Spirits Dovetail 61.27%

Barrell Craft Spirits Vantage 57.22%

Barrell Craft Spirits Small Batch Rye 57.85%

Barrell Craft Spirits Bourbon Cask Finish Series: Amburana 58.21%

Barrell Craft Spirits Bourbon Cask Finish Series: A Tail of Two Islands 54.11%