Tag: Highland

Tomintoul 18 Year Old Sauternes Cask Finish

Posted on by Mike H

As brands become more comfortable controlling the result of a cask finish, we’re seeing them apply the process to older and older expressions: there is less hesitancy to risk ruining a valuable batch of aged spirit. One of these expressions is Tomintoul’s new 18 Year Old Sauternes Cask Finish.

Blair Athol Horizontal Tasting

Posted on by Mike H

Last week, I wrote about the experience of visiting the Blair Athol Distillery. A mainstay of Diageo’s portfolio of blends, only around 1% of the whisky from this distillery ends up in a bottle with a Blair Athol label. Is this a whisky so terrible that it’s only good for a blend, or is it a heavenly nectar too good for blenders to give up? Only a horizontal tasting will answer this question!

Blair Athol Distillery

Posted on by Mike H

The Blair Athol distillery is a bit of an oddity. It’s not in Blair Atholl, bottles hardly any of its own spirit, and, while adapted to handle large numbers of visitors, has no appreciable social media presence. To a curious whisky writer, this makes it well worth a visit.

Glencadam Aged 13 Years and Reserva Andalucia

Posted on by Mike H

Glencadam Distillery, part of the Angus Dundee Distillers family, is quickly becoming a favourite at the Water of Life. We first encountered the distillery during a vertical tasting in October. Given that I usually get most excited by innovative distillers, I was a little surprised by how much I enjoyed these offerings from Glencadam, which is about as traditional a distillery as you will find. Since then, the Angus Dundee team offered us a chance to try two more of their products, so naturally, we jumped at the opportunity. This time, we would be trying their Aged 13 Years, also dubbed “the re-awakening”, and their Reserva Andalucia, described as “Glencadam with a sherry influence”.