Background

Laphroaig certainly doesn’t need any fancy introduction, so I’ll instead give a quick but hearty toast to Jack Rose for reopening their basement cellar bar to tastings (and now the bottle shop) again. This speakeasy-esque space has laid dormant since the world shut down. At the start of covid, Jack Rose pulled nearly every bottle (which is a considerable number!) off of their shelf and sold them off to stay afloat and take care of employees. While they’ve since rebuilt their considerable collection, this reopening felt like the last ghost of covid finally exiting the building. It was a relaxed, joyous tasting.

Quick point of order before we get into the reviews, I’ve already review Cairdeas 2023 and Jack Rose’s “Welcome to Islay” pick, which I’ve linked below along with all of my other Laphroaig posts.

Background

Welcome to part two of my review of the recent Jack Rose tasting! For those interested, part one is here. This particular tasting was put on by Westland and Bruichladdich, both of which are owned by Rémy Cointreau, and hosted by National Brand Ambassador Jason Cousins. This part will cover the Bruichladdich offerings, of which there were three plus a MYSTERY POUR. An important disclaimer before we start: I can’t tell you how many times I Googled the correct spelling of “Bruichladdich” while writing this. That “i” before the “c” can go to hell. These scores were unaffected by my annoyance with Scottish spelling.

Background

Another SMWS outturn tasting review! As always, this tasting was held at the illustrious Jack Rose in DC. And, as with any outturn tasting, a fair number of whiskies (6) at the event. Just like the last few outturn tastings, this review was compiled completely blind, where we had to guess the age, distillery, cask(s) used in aging, and SMWS flavor profile. As such, you'll note a few of my overviews are a bit… guess-y. Sometimes you taste something and get ideas in your head that end up being right (rarely) or wrong (often). A full list of everything covered in this outturn:

• 19.97 “Enigma Variation” (Glen Garioch)

• 48.155 “That’s Real Swell” (Balmenach)

• 68.105 “Musty Mulchy” (Blair Athol)

• 85.82 “Bringing Abundance” (Glen Elgin)

• 66.249 “Happily Ever After” (Ardmore)

• 53.468 “Step Forward, Inhabitant” (Caol Ila)

Background

I have a problem. The problem is that, when faced with a single malt induced bit of purchasing or tasting indecision, I tend to panic and then immediately look for a Highland Park offering. Comfort in the familiar, and independent bottlings of Highland Park have become a consistent point of enjoyment for me. I like the salinity, the gentle peat, and what that distillate does in a variety of casks. Not too long ago, I reviewed three Highland Park SMWS offerings, and enjoyed them all. My overburdened shelf has started to become a bit of a comical exercise in “which Highland Park would I like to drink today?”

Anyways, the panic. I had the good fortune recently of taking an extended vacation to Japan with my wife. There I quickly learned that Japan, particularly Tokyo, is a land where you walk into a liquor store and are immediately confronted with an overwhelming amount of choice. Look, I’m not wildly far along in my journey of drinking and reviewing scotch. More well versed readers must at least acknowledge this is not the most approachable of hobbies. Therefore, I will admit I am somewhat hopeless at being able to ascertain value when facing a wall of options. So there I sat, in a liquor store, staring at a wide array of options while the yen crashed around me and my wife exuded more patience than I ever would if we were shopping for her. I see a familiar name- Orkney… HIGHLAND PARK! And an exclusive for Japan no less, what a souvenir. Purchase made, shame at my inability to branch out engaged.

Background

For those of us unable to attend Fèis Ìle 2023, Kilchoman was kind enough to put together a sampler pack and virtual tasting. Just one catch - that virtual tasting took place at 9 AM EST, and I like my day job. Full disclaimer, I tasted these meant to watch the tasting after the fact… anddddd still haven't. So welcome to my thoughts on these, unencumbered by any preconceived notions from Kilchoman!

Some details on each item in the tasting below, and then rolling right into the notes!

• Loch Gorm 2023 Edition - An annual oloroso cask release from Kilchoman, this edition comprises 22 casks: 8 distilled in 2013, 6 distilled in 2014, and 8 distilled in 2015.

• Cognac Matured 2023 - Distilled in 2016 and fully matured in 31 Cognac barriques. This will be their first fully matured in Cognac casks offering.

• Fino Sherry Cask Matured 2023 - The second Fino sherry matured release from Kilchoman. It’s matured for a minimum of five years in Fino sherry butts previously used by Jose y Miguel Martin.

• Fèis Ìle 2023 - This release was only available to buy at the distillery on Fèis Ìle Day and is made up of three casks, two bourbon and one sherry, distilled in 2011 & 2012. Those casks were then vatted together and bottled at cask strength.

Background

The Ardbeg Masters of Smoke Tour rolled through DC this past weekend, comprising a full blind tasting at Jack Rose of past special releases. I’ll be entirely honest that I’ve had a few Ardbeg offerings before, but mostly in passing and I’ve never sat down to formally review any. Therefore, I opted not to guess which offering was which in the blind tasting! But, all of the notes and rankings were done without knowing what I was drinking, excepting the Spectacular which was poured at the end. I’ll review them in the exact order of the blind and then reveal which number is which at the bottom. Including in the tasting, in case you want to guess along with my notes, were:

• Ardbeg Arrrrrrrdbeg! (Not pictured)

• Ardbeg Spectacular (Not blinded)

• Ardbeg Supernova 2014

• Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist 2008

• Ardbeg Hypernova

• Ardbeg Perpetuum

• Ardbeg Blaaack Committee Release

Background

Time to recap the April SMWS outturn tasting at Jack Rose in DC! As with any outturn tasting, quite a few whiskies (6) at the event, so going to get right to the review. This review was blind, where we had to guess the age, distillery, cask(s) used in aging, and SMWS flavor profile. As such, you'll note a few of my overviews are a bit… guess-y. Sometimes you taste something and get ideas in your head that end up being right (rarely) or wrong (often). A full list of everything covered in this outturn:

Background

Back at Jack Rose in DC, for a tasting that is fast becoming one of, if not my favorite, annual event- the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society (SMWS) Tasting Panel. For the uninitiated, we're tasting through six unbottled whiskies. Our job is to taste through all six, rank them, suggest names and flavor profiles for them. The top three whiskies from tonight's tasting, as well as from tasting panels happening all over the country, will be bottled. If you’re curious how last year’s tasting panel went, details are here. Before we get into the reviews, a quick shout out as well to my partner in crime at many of these Jack Rose tastings, he shall remain nameless but I forgot to note ages and proofs and he dutifully did.

Background

Third straight week writing up a Jack Rose tasting! Should I just email them and ask if they can start giving me a press badge?! The past two weeks have covered a lot of bourbon, so I’m thrilled to be drinking some proper scotch with a hearty (and impressive) Laphroaig tasting. Last year I covered Jack Rose’s last single barrel pick, and today’s tasting, led by National Brand Ambassador Simon Brooking, includes the launch of their latest pick. Without further delay, let’s begin because we have a plethora of whiskey to cover.

Background

I’m a bit of a sucker for Highland Park, I’ll be honest. I fully understand that, much like their Edrington brethren, Macallan, they are churning out high concept marketing exercises at a dizzying and off putting pace. But I really enjoy the delicate peat and coastal influence that underpin their distillate.

One of my favorite all time SMWS releases was also a Highland Park offering from last year’s March Outturn, “A Proper Summer Dram” (4.304). A bottle I purchased and has just continued to grow on me as I drink it and share it copiously with friends… which is a bit of a forced segue into this Kirkwall Calling Distillery Dive! Whiskey is, of course, best shared and enjoyed, and I was fortunate enough to have a few friends help facilitate my Highland Park addiction by agreeing to bottle split this collection.

Background

As with pretty much all of the large Jack Rose tastings, I'm going to keep the background as brief as possible to get into the reviews! This year's lineup features eight single malt whiskies, each with a unique twist. Seven of these, with the Singleton being the only one missing, were present at Jack Rose’s recent tasting:

• Roseisle 12 (first fill ex-bourbon and refill casks)

• Clynelish 10 (first fill ex-bourbon casks)

• Mortlach NAS (finished in ex-Kanosuke Japanese whisky and ex-Pinot Noir casks)

• Lagavulin 12 (finished in Don Julio Añejo Tequila casks)

• Talisker NAS (finished in a combination of White, Tawny and Ruby Port Casks)

• Oban 11 (finished in Caribbean Rum casks)

• Glenkinchie 27 (refill American and European oak casks)

We hopped around a bit during this event, so I’ll be reviewing them in the order we tasted them (as opposed to the order in the pictures). Let’s get to it!

Background

In 2017, Macallan released the first edition of their “Classic Cut” series, which is a series designed to- I am honestly not sure what, except fulfill a bunch of marketing promises! Per Macallan it’s meant to “...celebrate our ongoing commitment to seek out the extraordinary and in doing so, create whiskies of unique character.” Sick!

I may be giving Macallan some shit (that it surely can take), but I’ll be damned if I haven’t enjoyed virtually every drop of their cask strength liquid that I’ve had the good fortune of tasting. Based on their marketing materials for this series, it does seem like they give themselves some wiggle room on the casks that go into each edition. For example, both the 2020 and 2021 mention the use of ex-bourbon casks. The 2017, by comparison, seems to only include sherry seasoned American and European oak casks. Let’s dig into this offering and see how it holds up!

Background

A little late on this review, but finally got around to putting metaphorical pen to paper on my notes from last week’s November SMWS outturn tasting at Jack Rose. As with any outturn tasting, quite a few whiskies (6) at the event, so going to get right to the review. This review was blind, where we had to guess the age, distillery, cask(s) used in aging, and SMWS flavor profile. Just for fun, I’ve included my guess on the flavor profile vs what it ended up being with each review below. A full list of everything that was on offer:

• 35.316 “Fine Fragrances” (Glen Moray)

• 28.92 “A Walk in the Countryside” (Tullibardine)

• 82.48 “The Big Yellow” (Glencadam)

• 64.140 “A Stroll in the Garden” (Mannochmore)

• 44.169 “In the Wooden Box” (Craigellachie)

• 66.238 “Blackbeard’s Treasure” (Ardmore)

Background

It’s time for yet another Campbeltown review, facilitated once again by the incomparable photographer and reviewer Rye Am Legend. After reviewing a pair of Hazelburn releases last go around, This time we’re checking in on two eight year Kilkerran’s: Batch 9 of the Sherry Cask Matured and Batch 8 of the Bourbon Cask Matured. Some quick Kilkerran fun facts before we dive into the notes:

• They use local, Crosshill Loch water throughout their production process.

• Malting happens at neighboring Springbank distillery, as does maturation and bottling.

• Their first casks were laid down in 2004, which means their oldest stocks are approaching 20 years.

And with that, let's review these two pours!

Background

For the Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s 40th Anniversary, they decided to celebrate in style- by setting a Guinness World Record for the World’s Biggest Virtual Whisky tasting. The plan was simple: order your $45 sample pack, SMWS ships you a pack of samples, then you log into the Zoom and join the World’s Largest Virtual Whiskey Tasting. That was the plan at least, from what I heard the Zoom quickly hit max capacity and things took a little while to get off the ground. “From what I heard” is a very deliberate turn of phrase in this instance, because I absolutely planned to join and then promptly slept through the 9 AM EST Saturday event. Whoops.

All was not lost though, as SMWS did set the record with 447 attendees. Congrats! Because the Guinness Book of World records doesn’t miss an opportunity to make a little extra dough, participants are able to order a Certificate of Participation at $25 a pop. I’ll pass on the cert since it would be a big fat lie for me to say I attended. However I’m still left with three samples with which I have nothing else to do, so why not review!

Background

Those reading this are almost certainly familiar with Hazelburn, which is produced by Springbank and sits at the unpeated end of their production spectrum. Springbank and Longrow, by comparison, have malt phenol levels of 8-10 PPM and 50 PPM, respectively.

Named after an 18th century distillery that went belly-up in 1925, Springbank first bottled Hazelburn as an 8 year offering in 2005 and have since continued to expand the product line. Today’s review will cover the 2022 releases of Hazelburn 12 year and 15 year, both of which were matured entirely in Oloroso casks. Big thanks to Rye Am Legend for the samples, and now to the reviews!

Background

I’ve been meaning to write this review for a while, particularly since reviewing t8ke and Green River Farms’ Laphroaig selection back in May. That was a (delicious) 2014 heavy toast virgin French Oak cask, and naturally led me to wonder how Jack Rose’s medium toast French Oak selection turned out! A quick disclaimer that I’m WAYYYY late to the party on these two whiskies, the other being a PX cask selection “PX I Love You Too” from Julio’s Liquor/Loch and K(e)y Society. I missed the initial tasting and release in January. Then, to compound my misery, I missed the second iteration in March, this time with Distillery Manager Barry Macaffer and including Laphroaig 33. I believe it’s safe to assume Jack Rose and Julio’s swapped a few cases of their respective picks though, as both of these have been for sale in Jack Rose’s bottle shop at varying points. Given I’m fresh out of additional background anecdotes, let’s get into the notes!

Background

SMWS has been on a bit of a summer hiatus with events here in DC, the last one having occurred in June. This means there's a hole in my heart where the outturn tastings normally are, I figured why not review a trio of Speyside offerings from the Deep, Rich, & Dried Fruits taste profile! Here we have:

• 37.138 “After the Party” (Cragganmore)

• 95.53 “Boozy Basket” (Auchroisk / Singleton)

• 18.45 “Hola!” (Inchgower)

With each review below, I’ve included any relevant details on the casks utilized during maturation. Let’s get right into the notes!

Background

Modern GlenDronach came into existence in the early 00s, reopening in 2002 and acquired by the Chivas Brothers/Pernod Richard in 2005. This early 00s run was spearheaded in large part by Billy Walker, who at this point was essentially sizing up mothballed distilleries and bringing in Chivas to bring them back. First BenRiach, then GlenDronach, and finally Glenglassaugh. At the latter too in particular, he brought a signature and highly sherried style with him.

In 2016, Brown-Forman bought out this trio of distilleries and in the same year Dr. Rachel Barrie was appointed Master Blender, a position she still holds today at all three distilleries. Which brings us to GlenDronach Cask Strength, blended from PX and Oloroso casks selected by Dr. Barrie and released annually. With this year’s batch (12) just hitting the market, I figured it’s time to check in on Batch 11!

Background

Càirdeas, meaning ‘friendship’ in Gaelic, so named because Friends of Laphroaig are the first to know about the annual release. This year's edition, Càirdeas 2023, is a limited-edition single malt whiskey that combines the flavors of Madeira casks and White Port casks. Three quarters of the whiskey is matured in second-fill Madeira casks. The final quarter has been finished in first-fill Port casks; the majority of which are white port. It’s personally my first experience with the Càirdeas line, so I’m excited to dig into this and see what I’ve been missing!