Launching basically today in the USA is Bruichladdich’s Twelfth release of the famed Octomore. I highly recommend you peruse the whole set of articles, as there’s excellent info, photography, and video from some of the Web’s best whisky bloggers. You’ll find my contribution on the description and tasting notes of the 12.2 bottling which is – spoiler! – finished in first-fill Sauternes casks. Oh baby.
Bruichladdich continues to push the boundaries of both transparency and innovation. Despite the “Sponsored” flag on this article, I really do personally think the company is a positive force for the industry and I’m excited about the future of scotch whisky if things like bottle code lookups, 100% Scottish barley, organic and biodynamic farms, and a dedication to transparency are trends that the whole whisky market will follow.
The Octomore 11 Insider’s Guide: A whisky enthusiast’s companion for exploring the depths of Bruichladdich Distillery’s 11th series of Octomore. For 30 days, a group of 11 whisky aficionados spent time with the team at Bruichladdich to experience a deep dive into the history, processes, complexities and evolutions of the world’s most peated whisky. This one-of-a-kind collaboration reflects the union between the passionate team behind Octomore and the 11 enthusiasts who were given the opportunity to appreciate it first-hand. What unfolded was this compendium, crafted for your enjoyment, to accompany and complement your experience with this remarkable spirit.
Today I bring you a public service announcement about your brain. … Anchoring is a cognitive bias that causes our brains to “depend too heavily on an initial piece of information offered (considered to be the ‘anchor’) to make subsequent judgments during decision making. In practical terms, this means if I tell you that the brand-new GlenBracken 15 is an excellent whisky and easily worth $80 a bottle, and assuming that you already have some positive perception of my ability to discern value in whisky, then those two pieces of information are the anchors that your brain uses to form a mental model…
If you’re anything like me, you find a certain level of satisfaction from stocking up. You have 3 extra bottles of your favorite vermouth for that imaginary dinner party where just everyone wants a third Manhattan. You have that esoteric bottle of peated Swiss single malt for that “someday” when you need to impress a malt-savvy visitor. You have sixteen hundred or so bottles of weird mixers that you’ve used for exactly one oddball cocktail. …
Here are the drinks that I consider to be my favorites after a few months of experimentation and rediscovery. Of course, many are whisky-centric, but not all. Also, my cocktail philosophy.
Giving your Dad whisky for father’s day is a time-honored tradition. Getting him to share it with you is even more time-honored! Unless you already know what he likes (in which case, why are you reading this?), you have to determine what kind of drinker he is, and what is likely to be appreciated.
Around this time of year I get a lot of emails from people asking for gift suggestions. So, I’ve worked up a handy little chart for anyone who wants to gift something “slightly better” than last year’s gift.
…that makes it my “desert island” whisky book, and the one I would recommend anchor any whisky lover’s library. If Dave Broom’s World Atlas of Whisky were a dram, I would definitely award it with a “Must Have” rating.
There comes a point in every whisky lover’s journey when he or she surveys the box/cabinet/shelf/underwear drawer in which his or her whisky collection is stored and wonders how long all those open bottles are going to keep. Here are some tips to keep your whisky tasty, and know when its time has come.