Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 480: Wolfburn Love Potion

Mark Dermul, Belgian whiskyblogger, tries a relatively new Wolfburn. When he visited Wolfburn in September 2022, he had the misfortune that the Bottle Your Own was not available. The previous cask had been emptied a few days before by the visitors and they had not yet had (made?) the time to prepare a new one. Mark felt quite disappointed. But in the shop, there was a bottle that he hadn’t seen before, so he took it with him. Nice Valentine bottle, it seems, this Love Potion.

https://youtu.be/Y_8JcBILPdw

ralfy review 960 Extras – It’s YOUR taste that really matters.

ralfy review 960 – Isle Of Arran 10yo @46%vol (OSWA winner 2022)

https://youtu.be/jED9KNxUX8w

Teeling have always been a brand that look to do things a little differently. After being recommended the full range by several viewers, here I am….with an experimental release. Having previously held the Teeling Small Batch Rum release, the barrels were shipped over to Umberella London where they aged their house ginger beer in them for two years. Once emptied, the barrels were sent back to Dublin where this whisky was finished in them for six months. Quite a journey those barrels have been on. This whisky is fun, it’s relatively affordable and there are only 700 bottles of it. That’s a nice limited amount that people can enjoy and not shelter away for the cupboards.

Whisky Ramblings 479: Two Islay from the Magnificent Five

Mark Dermul, Belgian whiskyblogger, tries two very different Islay. Two years ago, Magnificent Five – a West Flemish whisky society – already bottled an Islay Blended Malt of 8 years old. It was sherry hogshead #LAP29, which suggested (rightly) that it was a teaspooned Laphroaig. And now look… they could lay their hands on sister cask #LAP30 which had been sleeping for 11 years. Mark puts it head-to-head with another of their new releases: a sherry matured Bunnahabhain. After 13 years on a sherry hogshead, that yielded 178 bottles at 55%. Mark used to find the combo sherry and peat very difficult. But practice makes perfect. Nowadays he even finds sherry and peat something to look forward to or even actively look for.

https://youtu.be/eKmf4lf9K88

ralfy review 959 Extras – Tasting a batch variation.

ralfy review 959 – Port Charlotte 10yo @ 50%vol

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 478: Caol Ila 9 Year Old 2013 Smoking Buffalo

Mark Dermul, Belgian whiskyblogger, tries a very special Caol Ila. We had to wait a long time for it (honestly, Mark thought that the series was coming to an end with number 10, bottled in 2018), but here it is: the Smoking Buffalo 11, in honor of the 2022 Cup Final of KAA Gent, his local football club. It is once again a Caol Ila, this time distilled in 2013 and bottled at cask strength. He hurried to order it, not only to keep his Smoking Buffalo collection complete, but especially because he is very fond of this malt. In Mark’s opinion, you can never taste enough Caol Ila!

https://youtu.be/OHaUm8iLR0s

https://youtu.be/bQ_ZssXMKlc

The Macallan Intense Arabica is a journey of joint efforts to make Macallan and coffee unite in the ultimate flavour profile… but it didn’t really hit it for me.

I’m not a coffee expert in any way, but the smell of this Macallan is all forest fruits and classic chocolate orange notes from Macallan of old. The finish, albeit very long, isn’t something I’m a fan of. It reminds me a lot of Macallan Edition No.5 – the finish of it anyway. It had this very bitter and dark intensity to it, which doesn’t seem very complimentary to the smell or initial taste profile.

At £140 per bottle, this isn’t going to blow your mind, I would class it as a rather sub-par offering from the famous distillery. But naturally, that’s just my opinion, I’ve heard rave reviews about this from other people. So what’s your view?

Welcome to this week’s episode of the show, in which I’ll be taking a close look at the style of spirit produced at Glenfarclas with the aid of a sample of their new make.

https://youtu.be/t_qsvZ2HdPQ