The Double Cask is a NAS vatting of Glen Scotia single malt aged in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, and which is finished for “up to a year” in Pedro Ximénez (PX) sherry casks. … Glen Scotia, one of the two remaining Campbeltown distilleries, is known for a house character that involves mild peat (like the lesser-peated Springbanks), an oily mouthfeel, and some variant of lemon peel notes.
Milford, a single malt aged in ex-bourbon casks, was distilled at the now-closed Willowbank Distillery on New Zealand’s South Island. The distiller started distilling in 1969 and closed in 1997 after changing hands between Seagram and Fosters. Small amounts of the distillery’s output were being released by the New Zealand Whiskey Collection at ages from 10 to 20.
Priced where 16 year-old single malts used to be priced, it’s bottled at the basement strength of 40% ABV after aging in extremely usual ex-bourbon barrels. … A tasty, easygoing malt that has been murdered by the addition of far too much water.
GlenDronach The Hielan’ is an 8 year-old ‘Dronach that only seems to retail in the UK. The whisky comes from a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, which makes me think it’s an attempt to compete with a number of “double cask” expressions proliferating on the market such as The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 year. It seems odd to me to compete with a popular $40 whisky by releasing a $40 whisky that is 4 years younger, but nobody asked me.
In 2013, around the beginning of the NAS craze, Diageo released Talisker Storm to much marketing fanfare and an initial retail price of around $70 – $80. The only difference between it and the flagship Talisker 10, a perennial favorite, was the lack of an age statement and the use of (some) re-charred ex-bourbon casks…
Glencadam’s 15 year-old expression, like most of its releases, is aged exclusively in ex-bourbon casks to retain the distillery character. The whisky is not chill-filtered and has no added coloring, and is bottled (now) at 46% ABV. It was named Whisky of the Year by Ralfy in 2017, which caused a supply crunch.
GlenDronach’s 21 year-old bottling from the official distillery lineup is aged in a combination of PX (Pedro Ximenez) and oloroso sherry casks. (Note that is “aged” not “finished” – this whisky sat for a full 21 years in barrels previously containing sherry.) Hilariously enough in the current political climate, this whisky is not in fact named after the British Parliament, but rather for the “parliament” of rooks that nest in the trees overlooking the distillery. It is bottled at 48% ABV and without chill filtration or added coloring.
Glen Scotia makes a small amount of heavily-peated malt, but most of its products are very lightly peated at around 15 ppm. This 15 year-old is aged in ex-bourbon casks, and bottled at 46% ABV without chill filtration (but possibly with added coloring). The Glen Scotia product line was revamped and relaunched in 2015.
Dailuaine is known as a component in Johnnie Walker blends, which is where the vast majority of the output from the distillery’s three wash and three spirit stills goes. This particular 16 year-old was matured in ex-sherry casks, although I can’t find any details (Full-term maturation? Finish?). Diageo is, as usual, tight-lipped about production details. Bottled at 43% ABV, probably chill-filtered, and likely colored.
Talisker 8 is a very limited edition cask-strength (59.4% ABV) batch of the familiar Talisker 10 except at 8 years, which is a bit of a reference to earlier 1980s bottlings of Talisker that were released at that age (although not at that strength). The whisky was aged in first-fill ex-bourbon American oak barrels that were “deep charred”, whatever that means…