Westland does a few things differently, and the results are right in the glass. First, it’s not just “malted barley” like 99% of single-malt scotch. Westland uses a blend of 5 different barley malts: Washington Select Pale Malt, Munich Malt, Extra Special Malt, Pale Chocolate Malt, and…
Most of Caol Ila’s output is peated and most of it (95%!) ends up in various blends, as it’s the go-to standard for adding smoke to blended malts these days because of its inherent softness and willingness to play with others. This being a Diageo malt, there is essentially no information online. It’s clearly been aged in ex-bourbon casks for its 18 years of maturation, but…
Forty Creek’s Confederation Oak Reserve was making noise in whisky circles a half-decade ago. “The rebirth of Canadian whisky” and similar phrases were bandied about. I regret now that I didn’t taste it at the time, because maybe the heady air of mass shared public delusion might have improved the experience. Also, before you start digging out your Dixie flags…
This limited edition malt was distilled in 2003 in one of Glen Scotia’s heavily-peated batches and bottled in 2019 to celebrate the annual Campbeltown Malts Festival. The 15 year-old malt was finished for 8 months in Guyana demerara rum casks (it was matured in refill ex-bourbon American oak) and bottled without added color or chill-filtration at a cask strength of 51.3% ABV, which is fairly low…
Old Forester’s Signature 100 Proof is indeed bottled at 50% ABV, but notably is NOT bottled in bond. Like the rest of the Old Forester bourbon lineup, it is Kentucky Straight Bourbon from Brown-Forman, made from a mash bill of 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% malted barley (for enzymes) and aged for an undisclosed amount of time in new charred American oak barrels.
…to be more specific about the makeup of this bottle, it’s 80% ex-bourbon Glenlossie, 14% ex-bourbon Glen Elgin, 5% ex-sherry Linkwood, and the aforementioned 1% of 1 year-old Girvan grain spirit. Note that the grain spirit is 1 year old because Glaser filled Girvan new-make into American oak barrels and “seasoned” the wood for a year before removing it. The “1%” in the blend is what was left in the barrels. I’m not allowed to tell you…
Woodinville 100% Rye is a straight rye that is pot distilled by Woodinville Whiskey Company in Woodinville, Washington state. The distillery, established in 2010, was acquired in 2017 by Moët Hennessy (LVMH), which might explain why it’s now popping up on store shelves. All of the grain for distillation comes from…
Both Glengoyne 12-year and 10-year appear to be on the US market at the same time, which is a little odd. Usually distilleries stick to one of the classic “flagship” ages. The 12 retails for $10-$15 more than the 10, and my review of the 12 shows that I appreciated that one as budget sherry bomb. This 10 year-old (which is the only one of the two I can find near me) is the same bottling strength (43%), also has no added coloring, and also…
The Texas Pot Still Bourbon uses a unique mash bill of four grains: roasted blue corn, Texas wheat, Texas rye and malted barley. The flavor makes me think they’re using a darker malt on the barley than is standard for most malt whiskies, but I can’t find any verification online.
Benrinnes, owned by John Dewar & Sons until it was sold to Diageo in 1997, is a storied Speyside distillery that was known for a complex form of partial-triple distillation … This one, a 17 year from That Boutique-y Whisky Company (TBWC) is the fifth batch of Benrinnes from the bottler. There’s precious little info on the website or online, so all I can do is guess that this is ex-bourbon (by the color), and the age tells us that this was partial-triple-distilled.
