Milk chocolate

Andalusia Stryker

Andalusia Whiskey was started by friends Tommy Erwin and Ty Phelps in 2015. They discovered the site of their planned distillery was once called the Andalusia Ranches, perhaps after the hill country of southern Spain. The Andalusia Stryker is one of the four main offerings from the distillery. Harkening back to the Scottish tradition of drying malted barley using peat smoke for some of their whiskies, Tommy and Ty give Stryker a Texas twist by smoking the barley with a mix of oak, mesquite, and apple wood, pointing towards Texas barbeque as their inspiration.

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

Located in the heart of Speyside, a few thousand feet from the River Spey at the foot of Ben Rinnes, GlenAllachie was founded in 1967 by Mackinlay McPherson. It has changed ownership several times but is now independently owned and managed, one of the last remaining distilleries in Scotland to be so. While having much greater capacity, the current output of the distillery is around 500,000 liters of alcohol per year. They have 16 warehouses on site holding some 50,000 barrels. Despite this history, they have rebranded and are only relatively new on American shelves. Unlike many distilleries today, their line is dominated by a great number of age statement offerings across a few named ranges. The GlenAllachie 12 Year is the keystone of their core range and is a pure introduction, offering no cask finishes or proof hikes.

By Adam | December 10, 2021 | Speyside | No Comments |

The Royal Brackla holds a claim to fame that few Scottish distilleries can match, which is the royal warrant it was granted in 1835 by King William IV that allowed the distillery to use the “royal” adjective as part of the name (the other two are Royal Lochnagar in 1848 and the now closed Glenury Royal). Founded in 1817, Royal Brackla has run mostly uninterrupted for over 200 years. Like many distilleries, it shut down briefly due to world wars or market surpluses and has gone through several changes in ownership but has never been dormant for long. Its output has long gone into blends and thus not received much individual attention. That changed in 2015, however, when current owner Dewar’s released a range of single malts. This Royal Brackla 12 is from the spring of 2020, when the core range was relaunched to comprise a 12, 18 and 21 year age statements.

By Adam | July 10, 2020 | Highland | No Comments |