Hello everyone

Several new offerings this time but I‘ve turned down samples of two as I‘m away soon and won‘t have time to try them. The other is pretty rare so I didn‘t even ask.

First up is from Whyte & Mackay owned Tamnavulin. First opened in 1966, the distillery was closed for 12 years but there was a brief spell of reopening in 2000 when this spirit was distilled and then matured for 25 years. The expression is Tamnavulin 25 Year Old Moscatel Cask 60th Anniversary. Big name but only 290 bottles globally. It‘s bottled at cask strength of 51.8% abv and, we are told, „…was matured for 20 years in American oak barrels for a signature Speyside taste, followed by five years in a Moscatel cask adding a delicate floral and bright citrus finish“.

Their official notes are: 

Nose: Oranges studded with cloves, poached pear, creamy custard and a hint of balsamic
Palate: Dark chocolate covered raisins, bright citrus, heather honey and sweet liquorice
Finish: Mandarin, roasted hazelnut and chocolate caramel ganache. 

Definitely one I‘d like to try but it‘s priced at around £260 (UK). It‘s available this month and will feature at Tamnavulin Distillery during the Spirit of Speyside festival celebrations from 29 April to 4 May. The markets where this limited bottles can be found are UK, Whisky Club Australia, Sweden, Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Asia, France, Bulgaria. Quite the collection of markets for so few special bottles so it may not be easy to find.

Kilchoman‘s latest expression has just launched – Loch Gorm 2026 (46% vol). This time it‘s a 10 year old sherry cask matured version. Their notes say:

Nose: Dried red fruits, barbecued meats, toasted walnuts and rich peat smoke.

Palate: Candied orange and tropical fruits, salted caramel and dried prunes with warming cinnamon, nutmeg and integrated rich smoke.

Finish: Lasting spices, toasted dark chocolate and liquorice with balanced peat smoke.

Twenty-three casks were used here, 20 of them first-fill, the remaining three being second-fill. The new Loch Gorm is available now in UK and Europe with farther flung markets getting it soon. Price is around £75 – £80 per bottle. Ilways look forward to the Loch Gorm releases so another I‘d like to try and sad to turn down the sample but I hope to taste it when on Islay for Feis Ile in late May.

House of Hazelwood‘s new collection was just announced – the 2026 Charles Gordon Collection. It‘s available from www.houseofhazelwood.com. Prices range from £3,200 to £4,000, with all expressions released in limited quantities of fewer than 300 bottles each worldwide. There are four whiskies in this one – alongside their comments below:

A Different World – 1977 Single Grain Scotch Whisky, 48 Years Old, 57.2% ABV, 219 bottles worldwide, UK RRSP £3,200. „This remarkable 1977 Single Grain carries with it a uniquely prominent thyme character that reflects both the nature of the base spirit and the nurturing of that spirit over time in cask. Distilled from a maize base on Girvan’s highly regarded original ‘one apps’, this release benefited from an unusual offtake point, leading to pronounced green notes in the new make profile, which evolved over 48 years in a single first refill sherry butt.“

The Silent Partner – 47-Year-Old Blended Scotch Whisky, 46.7% ABV, 228 bottles worldwide, UK RRSP £3,300. „This whisky is a showcase for the ability of peated malt whisky to ‘season’ a blend in a manner that adds character and depth without overwhelming the other components. Drawing on a classically sweet Lowland grain base with American and European oak aged Highland malts layered on top, the light touch of peated malt from one of the few Highland distilleries still using peat throughout the 1970s adds a unique lingering complexity that is hard to define yet impossible to ignore.“ 

A Fond Farewell – 46-Year-Old Blended Malt Scotch Whisky, 43.8% ABV, 252 bottles worldwide, UK RRSP £4,000. „For a short period in the 1970s, there was a tradition within the family business to fill casks on Hogmanay for onward aging – a way to bid farewell to the current year and welcome in the next. While such practices have long since ceased, the casks laid down decades ago have continued to age on, building in character with every year. This exceptional malt whisky is built exclusively from these rare ‘Hogmanay casks’.“

An Organised Whole – 45-Year-Old Blended Malt Whisky, 47.3% ABV, 267 bottles worldwide, UK RRSP £3,200. Bringing together varying profiles of whisky from across the Highland region, this nuanced malt has been painstakingly crafted by our team in pursuit of what Gestalt theorists might call An Organised Whole – something that is quite simply greater than the sum of its parts.“

Lastly for this time, Diageo‘s offerings for this year‘s Feis Ile are two from Lagavulin and one from Caol Ila. „From Lagavulin, a cask-strength, hand-filled bottling, ‘Skies of Fèis Ìle’ at 31 years old marks one of the oldest and rarest releases, alongside Lagavulin 14-year-old, finished for five years in Oloroso-seasoned American oak casks.“ These releases are „inspired by the celestial rarity of two moons rising during the festival month“. The 11 year old Tequila Caol Ila is „finished for the first time in former Don Julio tequila casks, revealing a herbal, citrus-forward twist from the agave influence to highlight its signature coastal smoke“.

So far, I‘ve not been a fan of whiskies finished in tequila casks but would still like to try this. Again, maybe I‘ll get the chance on Islay though I might be trying to fit too much into just a couple of days, given that my Sunday will be spent at Bruichladdich. The Skies of Feis Ile is priced at £2800, with the 14 Year Old at £240 and the Caol Ila is £145. They will be available only at the distilleries.

Well that‘s it from me before I go leaping off to Europe where I may get to try some more French or Belgian whiskies. Back mid-May with more.

Till then happy dramming.

Slainte mhath,

Caroline

Hello everyone

After a while with little by way of sample since Christmas, a number have popped up in recent weeks. As the last piece was an interview then it wasn‘t fair to include tasting notes for brands other than from the distillery in question last time. There are also releases for a couple of launches for which no sample has been made available.

So let‘s start first with Loch Lomond Oloroso Sherry Cask from The Original Series combines one existing single malt from Loch Lomond’s award-winning portfolio, with the addition of two new expressions.  The existing one is Loch Lomond The Original: Triple Oak, now joined by Loch Lomond Oloroso: Sherry Cask and Loch Lomond Peated: Rioja Cask. This sherry one is bottled at 40% abv and has been finished in ex-oloroso casks for 6 months.

Appearance: Light amber with old gold and orange highlights. Tears quite swift and close together.

Nose: Soft, sweet fruit; marshmallow, vanilla and light oak shavings. Fresh and airy. Some honey and baked apple. A touch of toffee. With water, flatter at first – a waxy aroma develops with soft sweet spices and lighter honey, crisp honeycomb and more obvious sultana. It remains waxy with peachy notes in the empty glass later.

Palate: Quite soft and silky. Oak, spice, citrus zest „zing“ on the tongue (clementine/orange) so a slight bitterness also. Vanilla from the oak. They say peach develops though I found it quite fleeting.

Finish: Medium length, peppery on the tongue and quite a dry finish.

A gentle yet flavoursome whisky.

The second one we come on to is Kilchoman Maury Cask Matured at 63.5% abv and 50ppm. Maury is a fortified wine from the Roussillon region of southern France and a new one to me.

Appearance: Rich amber with equally rich copper and pink/light red highlights. Tears slow to form and very sticky. Medium spacing.

Nose: Richly toasted, peaty barley. Sweaty wool sock. Behind that some dark fruits and refined smoke (not in your face) and a hint of bonfire embers. Dark caramel – sticky toffee pudding – and spices. A hint of lime zest. With water, oak comes out and a hint of rubber like the rubber note you find in nosing chianti.

Palate: Medium weight; a flavour like starting engine catching in the throat. Peaty, smoky, rich malted barley – smokier and peatier than on the nose. Then dark sugars, the slightest hint of toffee, spices and cigar box wood (yes, I have tried tasting that). Some of both the sweetness and bitterness of treacle.

Finish: Long, peaty, smoky and dry with a dab of salt and cocoa powder.

One I need to try again as it‘s not the immediate favourite from my Kilchoman memory bank but plenty in there to savour.

A sample of two recent Raasays was offered a few weeks back and who am I to say no? It took a while as the first lot never appeared but the Isle of Raasay The Chinkapin and their Isle of Raasay Bere Barley did finally arrive. The Chinkapin was released end of February at 50.2% abv and will be found at around £70 per bottle at UK prices though it will be available in around 50 markets worldwide. My impressions are:

Appearance: Rich barley gold with polished brass/old gold highlights. Tears are swift at first then slower and much stickier with medium spacing.

Nose: Soft, creamy with notes of barley and brown sugars and soft toffee. Warm oak and slight vanilla. An interesting but fleeting hint of mint. Sweet golden syrup and smoky bacon. With water, a more waxy note comes in; touch of yacht varnish. Baked sweet fruit and sweet cake spices with a soft smokiness. Like the Loch Lomond, there was a little flash of peach from the empty glass afterwards. I didn‘t confuse the two as they were nosed on different days.

Palate: This is where the smoke kicks in! Much peatier and smokier than on the nose so quite deceptive. Smoky and mouth-drying with some char and tar. Dark fruits and cocoa powder. Toasted grain and aromatic wood astringency in the throat.

Finish: Long, smoky, peaty with oak char and very dry, slightly medicinal.

The Chinkapin is the third permanent expression to join the distillery‘s core range. They reckon it‘s, „… the first-ever single malt Scotch whisky that is fully matured in a selection of fresh and refill Chinkapin oak casks, also known as Quercus muehlenbergii. This oak species is native to North America and is often referred to by co-founder and Master Distiller Alasdair Day as the distillery’s “superpower”. Chinkapin oak was only ever used as a cask finish, until…Isle of Raasay Distillery came on the scene in 2017 and used this rare type of virgin oak to mature their peated and unpeated spirit.“ The casks hold 190 litres of spirit and are specified with a high toast and high char, which gives the new make spirit more contact with the oak. It certainly tastes good.

The other sample, Isle of Raasay Bere Barley, is a different creature altogether on nose and palate. It was matured in ex-Bordeaux red wine casks and is bottled at 61.3% abv. This is the second of only two casks bottled and it‘s unpeated spirit, only a couple of months shy of four years old. Use of bere barley, in my experience, gives a very different nose to the whisky, as seen in a few other brands too. I wouldn‘t consider this a preferred Raasay for me, enjoying The Chinkapin much more but, as it‘s now sold out that‘s not relevant. On their website there are still a dozen bottles left of the other cask. Both casks produced just under 300 bottles each.

Douglas Laing & Co. have brought out a new Epicurean – The Epicurean Peated Edition. It‘s a limited one of only 1,800 bottles for worldwide distribution and a first for this range in being peated. It‘s been in selected markets in specialist stores from 10th April. Expect to find it at around £50 or 57 euros. This one is also not chill-filtered nor does it have added colour. Bottling strength is 50.5% abv therefore that price is not at all bad. Lovely packaging – all dark and brooding! No samples are being sent out so their official notes are: „On the nose, expect soft earthy peat smoke alongside thyme, green apple and toasted barley. The palate delivers honeyed cereal and malt, leading to smoky embers, a peppery warmth and a touch of oak spice. The finish reveals drying peat smoke and a gentle ashy quality, complemented by lemon peel and a whisper of vanilla“. The company was keen to see „…how peat could complement rather than overpower the Lowland style“ and they do say it‘s subtle peat. If any of you reading this get hold of some, I‘d love to hear your views.

The latest Jura range is all sherry cask and this first one is Jura 12 Year Old Oloroso Edition. Bottled at 46% abv it has no added colour and no chill-filtration. It‘s described in the release as „full finish in Oloroso sherry“ . It started off its maturation life in ex-bourbon barrels and was then finished in a combination of both US and European oak oloroso sherry hoggies. We‘re not told how long for, though. In terms of flavour they say it „ …has a sweet richness and a complex nuttiness that harmonises beautifully with our fruity and balanced house style“ and continue, „For those who already love our fruity, balanced character, this whisky offers layers of prune, caramelised walnut and dried citrus.” Now those are flavours I’d definitely try. It‘s not in the UK till later this year but some of you in other countries may find it now. The release schedule is: France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Slovenia in April 2026. Released in the UK, Spain, Italy and Poland in September 2026. Their own, slightly more detailed tasting notes are:

Nose: Floral and aromatic, with peach and apricot.

Palate: Stone fruit transitions to prune, while ripe citrus becomes dried and crystallised.

Finish: Dark chocolate.

Expect to find it at around £50 per bottle, dependent on your local taxes, in specialist whisky stores and online.

Well, that‘s it from me for this time. More to come nearer the end of this month. Till then, happy dramming.

Slainte mhath,

Caroline