Black Pepper

Highland Park 18 Year

Highland Park has been making whisky for over 200 centuries. One of the reasons for this longevity, besides producing good spirit, is that it’s not afraid to take risks and reinvent itself. The latest rebranding happened in 2017, when some standard bottlings were pulled (the 15 year, alas) and the current slate was given new bottle designs and new names, all without changing the liquid contained in those new bottles. The Highland Park 18 has been a standard offering for many years but now comes with the additional moniker Viking Pride (much like the 12 year is now Viking Honour). While we can’t fault the distillery for tapping into their legitimate geographical heritage, we’re just happy the scotch itself remains unchanged.

By Adam | February 20, 2021 | Island | No Comments |

Glenrothes was founded in 1879 through the work of James Stuart, a local Rothes businessman who began the construction of the distillery, and the Reverend William Sharp, who secured the remaining funds after Stuart was forced to step aside for financial reasons. Though a series of fires, explosions and world events hampered production at times, the distillery has been making whisky for over 140 years for a variety of owners. Much of the Glenrothes stock is aged in ex-sherry casks and some ex-bourbon casks, but like many distilleries, they like to experiment. The Glenrothes Peated Cask Reserve was part of a now discontinued series from 2016 that saw whisky from their 1992 stock finished for a few months in (unnamed) ex-Islay casks. Apparently this was inspired by an association from the 19th century the distillery had with the Islay Distillery Company.

By Adam | January 20, 2021 | Speyside | No Comments |

The Glengyle distillery is a story of what can happen to a name in the topsy-turvy history of scotch. The storied Springbank distillery of Campbeltown was founded by Archibald Mitchell, and his two sons took it on after him. The brothers had a falling out eventually. Brother John kept Springbank and William founded Glengyle distillery right down the road in 1872. Like many distilleries in Scotland and Campbeltown, it closed in the 1920s before being reopened after several attempts in 2000 by the great-great nephew of William Mitchell, Hedley Wright, operating under J&A Mitchell and Co, the current owner of Springbank, along with Scotland’s oldest independent bottler, William Cadenhead. The choice of the name Kilkerran comes from the Gaelic Ceann Loch Cille Chiarain, the name of an older settlement on which Campbeltown now stands. It is not called Glengyle, because that name is already in use by a brand of blended Highland scotches and the distillery wanted to avoid confusion. The distillery has released several “works in progress” offerings and only recently has introduced core aged statements, this Kilkerran 12 year and Kilerran 8 year.

By Adam | January 20, 2020 | Campbeltown | No Comments |