Apricot

Tomatin Cù Bòcan

Tomatin currently offers a portfolio largely comprised of age statement whiskies, some of them cask finishes. Cù Bòcan is the name of a legendary hellhound said to roam the area around the village of Tomatin and is also the distillery’s equivalent of their Skunk Works (or, closer to whisky than aircraft, Midleton’s Method and Madness micro distillery). It’s a place where Tomatin can experiment and try things outside their normal wheelhouse. The brand’s tagline is “Unlock the Unusual” and seeks to explore the smokier side of the Highland profile. The distillery distills lightly peated barley in small batches every winter, then matures them in a variety of wine casks before the blending process. The Cù Bòcan represents a long return of sorts for the distillery, as they were one of the first distilleries to move away from using peat to smoke their barley after WWII.

By Adam | November 30, 2022 | Highland | No Comments |

OOLA was founded in 2010, making it one of the oldest distilleries in Seattle. Since then, owner Kirby Kallas-Lewis and team have crafted a portfolio of gins, vodkas and whiskies. Eager to tap into the creative juices – and lax regulations – around whiskey production, one of the early series to feature whiskies is OOLA’s Whiskey Discourse. This series is about using creative combinations or influences to encourage drinkers to enter into discussion of what’s in their glass. The OOLA Smoked Whiskey is the second release in the series. Starting with a mash bill similar to the distillery’s bourbon, comprised of corn, rye, malted barley (which is smoked with apple wood and cherry wood) and wheat, combined with an unnamed Highland scotch.

By Adam | November 10, 2022 | Foreign | No Comments |

Starward distillery was founded in 2007 by David Vitale. Producing whiskies from the outset, Starward received investment from spirits conglomerate Diageo in 2015 via their Distilled Ventures program, which allowed the distillery to expand their facilities. Starward Nova is the brand’s signature offering, featuring malted barley fermented with brewer’s yeast. It then goes into a variety of casks from Australian wineries, namely shiraz, cabernet and pinot noir from the Yarra and Barossa vallies, where it remains for the entire maturation of approximately two years. Starward asserts the aging process is accelerated due to the area’s volatile climate.

By Adam | October 30, 2022 | Foreign | No Comments |