ralfy review 944 – Auchroisk 13yo @54.9%vol: (Watt)

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 460: Strathenry 5 Year Old 2016 Carter’s Whisky

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries his first Strathenry. Strathenry? Never heard of it. InchDairnie? Huh? Carter’s Whisky? Uh… who is that? Don’t panic! InchDairnie is a new distillery, built in 2014, with the aim of providing some blenders with enough malt whisky for their product. They  will not  bring their own whisky, which they understandably call InchDairnie, to the market until 2029. They have named the recipe for the blenders Strathenry and MEUG, the most fun Flemish taste agency, has been able to get hold of a cask. And who is Carter, you ask? Carter’s Whisky is a delightful pun on ‘kaarterswhisky’, which is Flemish for ‘card players’ whisky’, referring to the utter drinkability of this malt.

https://youtu.be/wCQXzmxdrsI

Welcome to this week’s episode of the show in which I’ll be taking a look at the new releases from Waterford in Ireland.

https://youtu.be/PAh5XMod5aE

https://youtu.be/4QA8jElAR78

Words like ‘integrity’ and ‘pure’ are being thrown around alot these days when it comes to single malts, less so when it comes to blended whiskies. Compass Box have done alot in this landscape, but Black Bull have been nailing this down for years, without fancy marketing and very good, eye-catching labels.

A blended whisky of 50% malt, 50% grain, 50% ABV, and buckets of sherry to bring through a very rich, balanced and overall excellent product in the whisky world. A brand that also has an insane amount of history that accompanies the ‘integrity’ check list that comes with it. I bought this for less than £40 a bottle, outside of Glenallachie, who does this? Nobody.

This is something that you all have to seek out and assess for yourselves. A truly excellent example of great whisky – blend, single malt or other. Excellent.

ralfy review 943 Extras – Developing sensation awareness.

Welcome to this week’s episode of the show in which I’ll be taking a look at Israel’s first distillery, the Milk & Honey distillery based in Tel Aviv.

https://youtu.be/_MJtHYQJM8o

ralfy review 943 – Edradour 10yo @ 40%vol:

https://youtu.be/qj1NgYtQq9Q

I’ve never had a falling out with rye whisky, I’ve always enjoyed it, but it’s something I tend to forget about in the world of American whiskies.

Willet is a distillery that I also haven’t paid that much attention to, much to my discredit. Having gone through several ownership changes and historical speed bumps, the distillery has been producing its own bourbon and rye whiskies for a few years now.

This 4YO release blew my mind away the first time I tried it. It had all the hallmarks of a well made rye spirit with heavenly helpings of butterscotch and fresh mint alongside each other.

Is it pricey? Yes, for a young, cask strength spirit, it does have a price tag of just under £100 a bottle. But it isn’t that different in price to younger Scottish, Irish and definitely English whiskies. And it’s on the shelf, I can physically buy it without needing to chase auction houses and retailer. This is a quality spirit from a very exciting distillery.

ralfy review 942 Extras – What Independent bottlers do !

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 459: Lindores Exclusive Casks: Bourbon vs Sherry

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries to single casks from the Lowlands. Lindores, like many other distilleries, also started releasing single casks. The first two – a bourbon cask and a sherry butt – are the ones that I would like to try. It’s not a veritable head-to-head, of course, for they are quite different.

https://youtu.be/gApkH2wS18s