Cinnamon

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2021 Pedro Ximénez

The Cairdeas line under Laphroaig was created to celebrate the Friends of Laphroaig, with the word being Gaelic for friendship. The Friends of Laphroaig is similar in some ways to other scotch loyalty clubs (e.g. the Ardbeg Committee) but is a little unique in that there are actually membership levels. Those levels are gained by inputting points gained by purchasing – what else? – bottles of Laphroaig and other distillery products. The three levels of membership are, perhaps unsurprisingly, Peat, Smoke and Oak. The Cairdeas 2021 is a cask strength scotch that began maturation in standard ex-bourbon barrels before being transferred to smaller quarter casks for more wood influence and then finished in ex-Pedro Ximénez sherry hogshead casks.

By Adam | February 5, 2024 | Islay | No Comments |

Colkegan Single Barrel Apple Brandy Cask

It is always good when distilleries produce a good regular line up. What’s even more exciting is when they get to the point where single barrels start being offered, because that signals individual barrels are aging enough to be good on their own rather than being part of a larger blend to achieve some homogenous whole. Davidsons is a large and diverse liquor store in Centennial, Colorado that bought their own barrel of the Colkegan Single Malt. This store pick was a single malt finished for a year in apple brandy casks, an offering that first appeared in April 2017. These apple brandy casks were from the apple brandy made by Santa Fe Spirits, making this whiskey a complete circle.

By Adam | January 20, 2024 | Foreign | No Comments |

Virginia has a long tradition of whiskey, with companies like A. Smith Bowman among others. As with many other states, it is currently enjoying a craft whiskey boom, with younger distilleries like Reservoir popping up. Copper Fox, though being a little on the older site of the current boom (founded 2005), is doing something slightly different: an American Single Malt, made in the Scottish style using apple and other fruit woods as a source of the smoke. No surprise given founder Rick Wasmund interned at the fabled Bowmore Distillery.

By Adam | January 5, 2024 | Foreign | No Comments |