Coconut

Balvenie 14 Year Caribbean Cask

One of the things Balvenie likes to do in its standard offerings besides various age statements is experiment with different cask finishes. Unlike other whiskys, who often use a cask finish for their NAS releases, Balvenie displays both age and finish. Unlike some distillers, who buy their ex-wine or spirit barrels from around the world, Balvenie takes American oak casks and chooses the West Indian rums (i.e. Cuba, but renamed to get past picky U.S. import law) that fill them. The master distiller chooses when these barrels are ready to empty and be filled with the 14 year old whisky for finishing. How does the smoothness of the base whisky mix with the rum casks?

By Adam | July 9, 2015 | Speyside | No Comments |

This Irish distillery has an interesting story. A derelict castle was bought by Mark Edwin Andrews, former Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy, and his wife Lavonne in 1966. The Andrews collected whiskey from the Daly Distillery and eventually brought to market. While the castle was repurchased by Ireland in 1996, the castle’s namesake whiskey is still produced today by a company run by Andrews’ son. The Knappogue Castle 12 Year is the youngest of a line featuring several age statements.

By Adam | July 29, 2014 | Foreign | No Comments |

Auchentoshan is the only triple distilled single malt in Scotland, more time consuming and costly than the regular double distillation. This process is supposed to create a more complex flavor while at the same time being gentler than the high alcohol concentration might suggest. They also have a cream liqueur that’s exclusive to their distillery. If it’s anything like Mrs. Walker’s Drumgray Highland Cream Liqueur, then it would be worth a trip and tour regardless what the rest of the offerings were like. Auchentoshan is also one of the few lowland distilleries still operating in Scotland, making its exploration near a requirement. Oddly enough, the Auchentoshan Classic is not currently listed on their website, so it may be in the process of being rebranded (as the Classic is a rebranding in 2008 of their Select).

By Adam | July 3, 2014 | Lowland | No Comments |