Since first releasing blended malt whiskies in 2005, the Wemyss Malts team have continued to develop a stable core range of products that best example some of scotch whisky's key unique identifiers: sweet, spicy and smoky. These three characteristics are represented within the three unique expressions that comprise their core range: The Hive, Spice King... Continue Reading →
Tasting Notes: MacNair’s – Lum Reek
Despite the fact that this post relates to a new series of blended malt scotch whiskies, the origins of the whiskies actually start with a single malt whisky distillery under a new vision from 2017, originally built in 1967, a Victorian inventor and distiller, and an even older, traditional Hogmanay greeting. To go back and... Continue Reading →
Tasting Notes: Mackinlay’s – Shackleton
Ask yourself this: what would I need to take with me when heading out on an incredibly perilous, unpredictable and life-threatening expedition to unchartered territories in Antarctica? Bear in mind that the year that you are asking yourself this question is 1907 too, so iPhones, laptops and complex geo-positioning devices are not even the stuff... Continue Reading →
Tasting Notes: Sheep Dip – Original
The brand Sheep Dip has a great little story behind its origins, which, despite being a blend of malt scotch whiskies, originally started in Gloucestershire in 1974. In the beginning, the whisky was packaged as 'The Original Oldbury Sheep Dip', named after the pub that it was crafted in, in Oldbury-on-Severn, as an 8-year old... Continue Reading →
Triple Tipple: Douglas Laing’s Timorous Beastie
With their Remarkable Regional Malts series, the team at Douglas Laing have now produced a premium blended malt whisky range for each of the 6 traditional whisky producing regions of Scotland: Campbeltown - The Gauldrons Islay - Big Peat The Highlands - Timorous Beastie The Islands - Rock Oyster The Lowlands - The Epicurean Speyside... Continue Reading →
Tasting Notes: Compass Box – No Name
As with all Compass Box whiskies, the name of the game here is quality and transparency, even if the name of the whisky itself is "No Name". What is more unusual however is that, whenever Islay whiskies are used in blends, then the original distillery tends to hide its identity within a shroud of mystery... Continue Reading →