Wintergreen

Ardbeg Ardcore

With a slogan of “Like Biting a Spiky Ball” emblazoned on the label, Ardbeg Ardcore swings for punk fences with their 2022 Committee Release. The differing factor that makes this particular offering stand out is that approximately 25% of the barley used was roasted black malt, with the remainder being their normal distilling malt. The Committee Releases are named for the Ardbeg Committee, formed after Glenmorangie purchased and reopened the shuttered distillery – originally founded in 1815 – in 1997. This group is a place for Ardbeg enthusiasts to hear of news and other special opportunities, ostensibly so that the distillery never has to face closure again. They are also a fantastic marketing opportunity and released as part of Fèis Ìle, an Islay festival founded in 1986 to celebrate the island’s unique history and heritage within the world of whisky, a now ten-day event that takes place at the end of May.

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

Glenmorangie was founded in 1843 and has gone through numerous permutations over time. Boasting the tallest stills in Scotland, they produce 6.5 million liters of single malt whisky a year fed from the nearby Tarlogie Springs. For the past few decades, Glenmorangie has also been one of the best selling single malts in Scotland itself and expanded into the luxury international market, driven by cask finishing started in the 1980s. This history of cask management is evident in the “Barrel Select Release” Series, where this Glenmorangie 13 Year Cognac Finish was released in 2021. A little different than many finishes that occur at the very end of maturation (hence the term “finishing”), the initial maturation in ex-bourbon casks lasted 8 years before being transferred to ex-Cognac casks that had been used already several times for the remaining years.

By Adam | August 15, 2024 | Highland | No Comments |

While Teeling Distillery was founded in 2015, a quick look at their offerings will show releases carrying much older age statements. This is because when John Teeling sold the Cooley Distillery to what is now Beam Suntory, one of the stipulations of the sale was the family taking 16,000 casks of whiskey with them. It is from these casks that many of their older bottlings are derived, whiskey essentially sourced from themselves. The Brabazon series from Teeling kicked off in 2017 and was named after William Brabazon, the 3rd Earl of Meath, who oversaw the development of the New Market area in Dublin that would eventually become the Liberties district where the current distillery resides. There have been four entries in this series as of this writing. The Brabazon 2 was bottled in September 2017 and matured in a various sizes of ex-port casks.

By Adam | March 17, 2024 | Foreign | No Comments |