In 2017, the good folk at Highland Park really doubled down on promoting their Viking roots as part of their Orcadian history. The chunky, rectangular bottles were replaced with a new bottom-heavy curved design, laden with embossed markings inspired by the Viking carvings at Orkney’s Urnes Stave Church and assorted Viking paraphernalia. With that rebrand, … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Highland Park – 18 Years Old (Viking Pride)
Talisker is one of the first names that scotch whisky drinkers will encounter on their spirit(ed) journey. Its name evokes mental images of the rugged Isle of Skye and their whiskies’ flavours make those images come to life. That might all sound a bit grand and romantic but that’s my impression of Talisker and it … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Talisker – Storm
I don’t think that much more can be said about what a weird year 2020 was. I am forever an optimist though, and whilst I can’t deny the horrible times that we’ve had, I still think it important to look back and take stock: as I write this, I can say that I’ve made it … Continue reading 2020 Unplugged: Our Top Ten Whiskies Of The Year
Each month in the first half of this year I picked up one or two of the Game of Thrones (‘GoT’) single malt whiskies and now have a complete set. Though I love whisky and have loved the TV show, this is not a collection for collecting’s sake - this is for drinking and I … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Talisker – Select Reserve (Game Of Thrones – House Greyjoy)
Here we have the first whisky to be released by Colonsay Beverages. As the name suggests, the company is based on the Scottish Isle of Colonsay within the Inner Hebrides and indeed the whisky brand gets its name from the port and village that the company are based in. Colonsay Beverages operates a microbrewery and … Continue reading Tasting Notes: The Scalasaig – Island Hopper (Maiden Voyage)
212. That's the population of Jura. The human population, that is. The people are outnumbered by deer by 30 to 1 on the rugged island, but here we are concerned with the Two-One-Two. Following a fairly recent revamp of their core range and travel retail bottlings, this new release from Jura is being sold as … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Jura – Two-One-Two (2019)
This whisky represents the third and final part of Highland Park’s Viking Legend series. The trilogy started with Valkyrie in 2017, followed by Valknut in 2018, and now this closing release of 2019: Valfather. Each release has been supported by heavy Viking imagery and mythology alongside designs from Danish designer Jim Lyngvild. The Valfather himself … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Highland Park – Valfather
