Vanilla

Balvenie 17 Year Doublewood

While there are whiskies with age statements and whiskies with cask finishes, less often are they seen together. Even rarer are the combination of the two, especially when they feature the same mix found in a younger offering. Like the iconic Balvenie 12 Doublewood, the Balvenie 17 Doublewood is a mix of whiskies aged in ex-bourbon casks and ex-sherry casks. So, like the younger offering but with an additional five years of maturity. It is always fun to see a distillery copy most of the particulars of one scotch in their portfolio and then only tweak one factor. Most of the time, other factors are changed like differences in cask finishes, so seeing the age be the variable here allows the studied drinker to make a different kind of comparison.

By Adam | November 5, 2020 | Speyside | No Comments |

Tullamore D.E.W. likes the number 3. Triple distilled, triple blended, three ingredients. Making whiskey either by brand or by hand at their own distillery since 1829, when the original distillery opened in Tullamore. The D.E.W. of the brand name is from former distillery manager and owner Daniel E. Williams, who created what would eventually become the brand signature (and caused to have his initial stamped on the barrels, D.E.W.). One of the offerings from their large portfolio is this Tullamore D.E.W. Cider Cask, taking a spirit aged in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks and finished in bourbon barrels that once held apple cider.

By Adam | August 20, 2020 | Foreign | No Comments |

An age-old marketing trend has been the use of celebrities to promote brands and it has exploded in the whisky industry over the past couple of years. Before the surge, however, Swedish distillery Mackmyra partnered with English rock band Motörhead to help celebrate the group’s 40th anniversary in 2015. The band actively worked with the distillery to choose the barrels and blends, all aged at least five years. Drummer Mikkey Dee said “We think it’s great fun to launch a whisky in collaboration with a Swedish, world-famous distillery, Mackmyra. The whisky is incredibly good, with full character and fully flavoured with a superb bourbon touch” Motörhead’s front man Lemmy Kilminster was even more succinct: “Life is less painful with Motörhead Whisky. I may consider having a sip now and then.”

By Adam | June 25, 2020 | Foreign | No Comments |