Campbeltown Chronicles – Part 3: Scorchio!
On the third day of the festival, the Wee Toon decided to change its name to… the Costa del Campbeltown. As it was absolutely scorchio, we decided to make the most of the sunshine and walk to Springbank from our cottage. Our tasting wasn’t until 3:30pm so we had plenty of time to head in at a leisurely pace. Or so we thought… Either Google lied to us or we were walking much slower than we thought. Quite possibly the latter bearing in mind that both Florian and Stefan were wearing lederhosen. Yes… actual lederhosen. Their gait suggested that this attire was not ...
Campbeltown Chronicles: Part 2
My previous (and first) visit to Campbeltown was in March 2015. On this occasion, I had booked a place at the Campbeltown Backpackers Bunkhouse; a refurbished old schoolhouse which now functions as an unstaffed hostel. The place looked great but, upon my arrival, I realised that the only other guest was a guy who, at best, could be described as resembling the villain from Scooby Doo. As images of me scrambling around on the floor shouting “My glasses! I can’t see without my glasses” came into my head, I decided to check into a cosy B&B just up the road instead. ...
Campbeltown Chronicles: Part 1
The Campbeltown Malts Festival takes place in May each year and the drive there was both entertaining and enlightening due, in no uncertain terms, to the inimitable and refreshingly un-British Viva Lenoir. After picking Viva up at 8:30am, before we had even hit the Maybury junction, I concluded that the wonderful Scottish expression ‘aff yer heid’ could well have been invented just for her. Our first stop en route to the wee Toon was Auchentoshan.The tour ended with a tasting of three of the core range: American Oak, 12 years and Three Wood. There was also an ...
Ballechin 10 years
Ballechin is the name given to the peated whisky (50 ppm) from Edradour distillery, the production of which started in 2003. The Ballechin 10 years was first released in 2014, which explains why I don’t recall seeing it on the shelves during my previous visit to the distillery. Although I don’t remember exactly, this must have been in 2008 and, at that time, Edradour was still able to confidently market itself as the ‘smallest distillery in Scotland’. So a recent visit to Pitlochry granted me the opportunity to take another wee nosey around and pick up a miniature ...
The Fife Whisky Trail
A wee while ago, I wrote a blog piece for the lovely people at Angels' Share Glass and completely forgot to post it to my own site. So, here it is; better late than never... The Kingdom of Fife is currently undergoing a renaissance in whisky making. With Douglas Clement’s ‘Dream to Dram’ creation of Kingsbarns distillery, Eden Mill’s innovative new wood policy, the opening of Lindores distillery in autumn this year, the ingenuity of Inchdairnie, the huge presence of Cameronbridge grain distillery, all whilst waiting for the first release from Daftmill, the future ...
Why ‘women in whisky’ has to be a thing!
Thankfully the whisky community, for the most part, is one that embraces healthy debate. In itself, it reflects the opinions of what makes a good whisky; entirely subjective but with a willingness to respect another’s point of view.It’s with this in mind that I feel obliged to write a response to The Whisky Lady’s recent opinion piece entitled “Women in whisky shouldn’t be a thing!” As a woman, who has been appreciating whisky for many years, I maintain unequivocally that ‘women in whisky’ has to be a thing.Nowadays, with the sheer amount of ...
Cadenhead’s Heaven Hill 19 years
Let it be known from the outset that I consider myself to be a complete bourbon novice; having not tasted that many, I don't have a huge amount to compare this dram to. However, what I can tell you is that, I thought it was absolutely delicious! A sample kindly donated by Jo Lawson (@AlpacaJo on twitter; @jo.lawson3 on instagram), here are my tasting notes:
Glenmorangie Burgundy Wood Finish
Whilst studying in Besançon, I became familiar with, and particularly interested in, Burgundy wines. Indeed, I still have a copy of my sales and marketing dissertation on ‘les vins blancs de Bourgogne’ and, to this day, they’re the only white wines I see the point of drinking. Therefore, during a visit to the Glenmorangie distillery in July 2015, you’ll understand why my attention was grabbed by a basket of miniatures with the words ‘Burgundy Wood Finish’ on them. This miniature has been lurking at the back of the sample cupboard since then. Not forgotten; ...
Battle of the Blends 2
Last year's Battle of the Blends, organised by Whisky Magazine, saw Dave Broom pitted against Neil Ridley to create the 'finest blend the world has ever tasted'. In a case of 'winner stays on', this year Neil Ridley is defending his title against George Keeble, the manager of Soho Whisky Club. Neil Ridley used a port seasoned cask and filled it with a blend of Auchentoshan Three Wood, Springbank 10, Ardbeg Uigeadail, Lagavulin 16, Glenfiddich 12, 15 & 18, Teeling Single Grain, Royal Brackla 12 and Clynelish 14. George Keeble used an Oloroso Sherry seasoned cask ...
