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It’s A Rum Do! Sampling El Dorado’s Range Of Rums – Yum!

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El Dorado Rum – Yum!

I’m a newbie to Rum so last Wednesday nights @TweetTastings was a great opportunity for me to get my taste buds around this product. One which is getting extremely popular these days.

The rum in question was El Dorado Rums which are the only range of rums to be made from 100% Demerara sugar.

Demerara Distillers, the home of El Dorado Rum, has over 300 years of experience of sugar and rum production and have been integral to the history of British Naval Rum.

El Dorado rums are blended from batches of rums from different stills; Wooden Coffey Still, Wooden Pot Still (world’s only remaining) and French Savalle Still. They are then aged in American oak (Jack Daniel’s) barrels.

The Rums sampled were:-

  • El Dorado Rum 3 Year Old
  • El Dorado Rum 5 Year Old
  • El Dorado Rum 12 Year Old
  • El Dorado Rum 15 Year Old
  • El Dorado Rum 21 Year Old

If you want to catch up on what all the tweet tasters had to say you can view their comments by searching for the hash tag #ElDoradoRum on Twitter.

So, what did I think?

Here are my tasting notes … and the one which was my favourite on the night!

Tasting Notes – El Dorado Rum 3 Year Old (40%)

Cask Aged Demerara Rum from Guyana.

A clear rum, the colour of which is achieved by being filtered through charcoal. That seemed a bit of a strange thing to do to me but there you go!

Nose: Quite new-makey-spirit type aroma with popcorn featuring heavily. Sugary with hints of mashed bananas.

Palate: Mmm … that’s very much like new-make-spirit. Popcorn and a very ‘young’ palate with lots of raw alcohol.

Overall: Bit too ‘neat’ alcohol and young for me. It needs to develop and round off a bit more for me to enjoy it neat. It would be great as a mixer though – bring on those cocktails!
Available to buy from these Merchants:-

Tasting Notes – El Dorado Rum 5 Year Old (40%)

Cask Aged Demerara Rum from Guyana.


Nose: A sweeter aroma with more tropical fruits than the 3YO. It slowly opens up to release vanilla fudge, creamy caramel, coffee and burnt sugar.

Palate: Very smooth with caramel and some cheeky spice!

Finish: A liitle tropical fruitiness with very dry grapefruit on the finish.

Overall: Much tastier than the 3 year old but I think I’d still be tempted to cocktail this – maybe I’m being too harsh?
Available to buy from these Merchants:-

Tasting Notes – El Dorado Rum 12 Year Old (40%)

El Dorado Rum 12 Year Old, recently won Gold at the 2019 World Rum Awards, in the category for Pot and Column Still rums aged 11 years and over.

Nose: Plump raisins and port aromas with vanilla, leather and polish. After a while there’s juicy cherries and dark chocolate. I think this would develop more if I gave it time – but that’s not going to happen me thinks!

Palate: Oh! That IS nice!! So smooth with creamy vanilla, chocolate and molasses.

Finish: Plump raisins and hints of Xmas cake but it’s also got some very nice spice at the finish. Not too peppery though.

Overall: This is very nice – very sippable and one to savour and enjoy on it’s own.
Available to buy from these Merchants:-

Tasting Notes – El Dorado Rum 15 Year Old (43%)

Nose: Initially very similar to the 12YO – plump raisins and port aromas with vanilla caramel. Burnt sugar and honey are also very prominent.

Palate: Very rich & smooth! Cherries, sweet caramel, chocolate! Who could complain?

Finish: Getting lots of chocolate with hints of orange and even a little mint I think …

Overall: Another classy rum this. Getting smoother and more refined as we get older. Plenty to offer – much to give!

Available to buy from these Merchants:-

Tasting Notes – El Dorado Rum 21 Year Old (43%)

Produced using a blend of rums, aged from between 21 and 25 years of age

Nose: Antique leather, toffee, fudge, honey and chocolate. And don’t forget those cherries!

Palate: Similar to the 15 year old – Gorgeous alcohol infused cherries, plump raisins, caramel and chocolate but with a greater depth and old-worldiness about it!

Finish: “The cherry is strong in this one …” I also got tastes of blackcurrant Ribena which was very intriguing!

Overall: Real quality here. But I think I only touched the surface with regards to aromas and flavours as I’m certain it has a lot more to give. I shall need to do some more research!
Available to buy from these Merchants:-

My Favourite On The Night

Out of the 5? Well it has to be the 21 Year Old doesn’t it? Real quality and certainly a rum to consider if you deserve a treat (which we all do of course!)

But the 12 Year Old is also really fantastic AND great value for money – always a major plus in my book!

For me, this tasting was a great introduction to the wonderful world of Rum, something I have to admit I hadn’t really considered before. El Dorado has changed all that!

Many thanks to Steve at The Whisky Wire (@TweetTastings) for a great evening, Love Drinks (@Love_Drinks) for sending me the samples and, of course, El Dorado Rum (@ElDoradoRums) without whom!

My fellow Tweeters on the night were:-


@SpiritAndWood @WhiskyUnplugged @T_M_Cocktails @The_Lady_Sybil @RealDramRob @thedramble @Spiritus_Online @Whisky_And1 @TheArtpunk @SplashyWine @Exotictramp @WhiskynStuff @moonbites @MashtunandMeow @TheWhiskyNovice @kizzsmyth @NeilMacKinnon1 @jwbassman_ @ScotchB78 @neillmurphy @swimforce01

Sampling The Whisky Exchange’s Exclusive Foursquare Hereditas Rum – I’m Now A Rum Fan!

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Foursquare Hereditas

Foursquare Hereditas Rum – bottled exclusively for The Whisky Exchange!

The Whisky Exchange has introduced its first exclusive rum since unveiling a new classification system for the spirit earlier this month.

Foursquare Hereditas is bottled exclusively for
The Whisky Exchange!

Renowned Barbados distillery Foursquare has created Hereditas – a Single Traditional Blended Rum in the new classification – exclusively for the retailer.

Matured in Barbados for 14 years in a mixture of bourbon and sherry casks, it is rich and heavily-sherried – a style of spirit more often found in the whisky world.

It’s a release certain to excite rum and whisky drinkers alike!

The new classification system aims to give consumers and the trade a more informed understanding of the rum category based on flavour profiles and production methods, instead of the colour of the spirit.

The Whisky Exchange’s head buyer Dawn Davies has created the classification after extensive research and discussion with suppliers and producers.

They have taken inspiration from the classification system created by Luca Gargano of rum importer Velier and Richard Seale of Foursquare.

Davies has primarily focused on production method to create a technical classification and also devised a series of ‘flavour camps’ to give indication of how a rum will taste.

This gives rum drinkers more information to help them select their next purchase.

Foursquare Hereditas

Distilled at Foursquare Distillery in Barbados
A blend of pot- and column-distilled rum
Aged exclusively at origin for 14 years
Matured in a mixture of bourbon and sherry casks
Heavily sherried character
Our classification: Single Traditional Blended Rum
No added flavourings or sugar
Non chill filtered
Exclusively available from The Whisky Exchange

2520 bottles available.
70cl / 56%
£79.95

The Whisky Exchange has kindly sent me a sample to try (Thanks Whisky Exchange!).

So, what did I think? Here are my tasting notes …


Nose: A fine looking rum that coats the glass. On the nose there’s Plump raisins, tropical fruits which then opens up to bananas. There’s tasty vanilla aromas mixed with rich sherry flavours.

Palate: Luscious mouthfeel revealing plump fruit cake with dashes of vanilla and sherry.

Finish: Some serious spice – but not too peppery – coupled with rich dark chocolate. A little bit of dryness at the finish finishes off this lovely taste bud experience!

Overall: I’m not very experienced with Rum but from sampling this one I can see why rum is increasing in popularity. If you like sherried malt whiskies then you’ll love this.
The flavours are awesome with plenty of depth and character – I’m now a Rum Fan!

Sampling ‘Virtually’ – The SMWS Campbeltown Malts Festival Tasting!

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A pack of goodies for the virtual tasting event at the Campbeltown festival!

On Wednesday night The Scotch Malt Whisky Society brought together Society members and Whisky fans from across Europe (& the World!) as they hosted their second Virtual Tasting!

Streamed live on their Facebook page from the Ardshiel Hotel at the Campbeltown Malts festival. John McCheyne was joined by his “glamourous assistant” Matt Bailey – all the way from their Australian branch – to host a tasting of five exclusive festival bottlings from Speyside, Islay and last (but not least) Campbeltown.

The drams to be sampled and savoured were contained in The Scotch Malt Whisky Societies’ Festival Discovery Pack and they were:-

  • SMWS 9.161 Cream tea at the patisserie
  • SMWS 30.106 Succulent, scintillating and substantial
  • SMWS 29.260 A visceral, elemental experience
  • SMWS 10.168 Cuquillo black olives
  • SMWS 93.108 Earthy and masculine

If you want to catch up on what all the tasters had to say you can view the whole event here.

If you’re interested in joining the SMWS and taking advantage of their great whiskies you can find everything you need here.

So, what did I think?

Here are my tasting notes … and the one which was my favourite on the night!

Tasting Notes – SMWS 9.161 Cream tea at the patisserie (60.9%)

A Speyside (Glen Grant Distillery) 11 year old, 2nd. fill barrel ex-bourbon.

Nose: Heathery, lemon, apples, sweet fudge & tropical fruits.

Palate: Vanilla, fudge, apples, lemon and some surprising tropical fruits.

Finish: Heavy, spicy, peppery finish with well balanced sweet syrup.
Buy The Festival Discovery Pack

Tasting Notes – SMWS 30.106 Succulent, scintillating and substantial (57.2%)

A Speyside (Glenrothes Distillery) 21 year old, 2nd. fill butt ex-px.

Nose: WoW! Luscious sherry, hints of port, plump raisins, oranges and creamy, vanilla pastries!

Palate: Oily mouthfeel and basically all the flavours present in the nose which is unusual! i.e. luscious sherry, hints of port, plump raisins, oranges and creamy, vanilla pastries.

Finish: Very smooth finish, the palate flavours carry on through to the lovely finish and there’s no spiciness at all – lush through and through!

The nose on this dram gets better and better as time passes. the only problem is resisting the urge to sample it all!
Buy The Festival Discovery Pack

Tasting Notes – SMWS 29.260 A visceral, elemental experience (56.9%)

An Islay (Laphroaig Distillery) 19 year old, 1st. fill butt ex-oloroso.

Nose: An amazing treacle-like colour! On the nose there’s rich peat with hints of smoke and charred wood – Yum! Pleasantly antiseptic.

Palate: Peaty with smoke catching the back of my throat, oily, liquorice, sugary.

Finish: All the classdic, distinctive antiseptic flavours (typical of a Laphroaig), tanin, tobacco, old leather married with a treacle sweetness. Cheeky flavours of chilli at the very end – very morish!
Buy The Festival Discovery Pack

Tasting Notes – SMWS 10.168 Cuquillo black olives (61.8%)

An Islay (Bunnahabhain Distillery) 13 year old, 2nd. fill barrel ex-bourbon.

Nose: Pineapple and grapefruit straight off! A little wood and smokiness with tantalising peppermint.

Palate: Sherbet, syrupy sweet with developing grapefruit.

Finish: Sharp, dry finish with some punchy pepper.
Buy The Festival Discovery Pack

Tasting Notes – SMWS 93.108 Earthy and masculine (58%)

A Campbeltown (Glen Scotia Distillery) 10 year old, 1st. fill barrel ex-bourbon.

Nose: A bit subtle at first … patience required! And then dried pineapple chunks! Small amount of woodiness.

Palate: Rich, sweet and feisty pepper spice.

Finish: Suprisingly salty – tasty, salted caramels on the finish.
Buy The Festival Discovery Pack

My Favourite On The Night

All very subjective, of course, but out of the five, I think it’s got to be the 30.106 Succulent, scintillating and substantial followed by 29.260 A visceral, elemental experience as my Top Two.

Many thanks to SMWS (@SMWSUK) for sending the samples and for a great dram evening!

Sampling Kilchoman’s ‘STR’ Cask Matured 2019 – Let’s Get Toasty & Smokey!

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Kilchoman STR Cask Matured Limited Edition

Kilchoman has Released it’s first “STR” Cask Matured Limited Edition!

A creation of the late Dr Jim Swan, STR refers to a specific formula for the Shaving, Toasting and Re-Charring of Red Wine Hogsheads.

Kilchoman STR Cask Matured 2019 is Now Available!

A total of 30 casks filled in 2012 were selected by Anthony Wills, Kilchoman’s founder and Managing Director, bottled at a strength of 50%abv without chill-filtration or colouring.

The process of shaving, toasting and re-charring has had a huge influence on these casks and the flavours this single malt possesses. Kilchoman released a full maturation Red Wine Cask release in 2016 which took on lots of the big and bold wine flavours, however the STR cask provides a different approach.

The shaving has reduced some of the bolder flavours on the surface of the oak, producing a more subtle red wine influence.

The casks were then toasted and charred over a natural oak fire, fuelled exclusively using oak chips from used staves, removing harsh tannins and undelivered flavours as well as breaking down unwanted chemical bonds of lignin, celluloses, and hemicelluloses.

These undesirable characteristics are replaced with the creation of basic sugars, vanilla and spice notes.

The STR cask, created by the late Dr Jim Swan, balances influence from both the new and used oak to create a powerful combination of rich fruit, oak, spice and maritime peat smoke.
– Anthony Wills: Kilchoman Founder and Managing Director

The Shaving, Toasting and Re-Charring Process

Kilchoman STR Cask Matured 2019 is bottled with a Phenol level of 50ppm at 50% ABV and is available now – priced at around £78.95.

I was lucky enough to have received a sample of this dram – courtesy of Kilchoman (@Kilchomanwhisky) – thanks Kilchoman!

So, what did I think? Here are my tasting notes …

Tasting Notes – Kilchoman STR Cask Matured 2019 (ABV: 50% / Phenol level: 50ppm)

Nose: Sweet, peaty smoke with fireside wood and burning embers. There’s crisp, crunchy apples and toffee with a hint of cherry(!) All-in-all, aromas that really spoils your nose!

Palate: Vanilla toffee, smokey peat and charred wood.

Finish: Long, spicy, pepper with sweet vanilla, honey and shades of liquorice. Tobacco comes at the end.

Overall: The 50% gives this dram a satisfying, peaty, smokey, sweet punch. It has flavour a-plenty and all finely balanced. I really love the Kilchoman drams and they are always a pleasure to sample – the Kilchoman STR Cask Matured did NOT disappoint!

A hit for sure!

Kilchoman is available to buy from these Whisky Merchants:-

About Kilchoman

Kilchoman Distillery sits nestled amongst the traditional buildings of Rockside Farm on the north-west coast of Islay. Famous as Islay’s Farm Distillery, the distillery’s barley fields stretch west to the shores of Machir Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

Established in 2005, Kilchoman is unique in many ways, most notably for their 100% Islay range, Scotland’s only Single Farm Single Malt. True to Islay’s rich farm distilling heritage, Kilchoman uses local Islay cut peat, slowly distilling by hand, maturing in traditional dunnage warehouses and bottling on site without colouring or chill-filtration.

Since the first bottling was released in 2009, Kilchoman has quickly established itself as a high quality Islay Single Malt Whisky with these notable awards:

Kilchoman’s exceptional quality was recognised at the prestigious International Whisky Competition (IWC) when Anthony Wills was named Master Distiller of the Year 2013.
In 2016 both core expressions won major awards with Sanaig named Best Single Malt Scotch Whisky – no age statement at the IWSC and Machir Bay came first as Best Islay Single Malt Scotch in the International Whisky Competition.
Machir Bay was also awarded a Gold Medal in 2015 at the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) with Loch Gorm being awarded a Silver Outstanding Medal and 100% Islay a Silver at the prestigious awards.
Kilchoman won Malt Advocates Artisan Whisky of the Year 2011, only three years after the first bottling was released.

Sampling Johnnie Walker’s “White Walker” Whisky – But Is JW the ‘Night King’?

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Check out Johnnie Walker’s piercing blue eyes!

So, it’s time to don some medieval headgear, fire up the dragon and get all magical as the Final season of Games of Thrones is now truly upon us (who knew they’d be EIGHT Series?!)

The very collectable, fantastic bottle design

As a celebration of the final foray into the world where you’re life expectancy could be measured in a few episodes, Johnnie Walker have released a limited edition, celebratory drink of their famous brand. Here’s a spoiler alert: it’s guaranteed to freeze the cockles of your heart!

Created by whisky specialist George Harper, this whisky features malts from Clynelish and Cardhu.

Johnnie Walker “White Walker” Whisky is designed to be served chilled, which is unusual for a whisky!

So much so, that the very collectable, fantastic bottle design incorporates ‘thermochromic ink’ which reveals a message when frozen (Spoiler Alert: See image below.)

The concept of this release is to honour the “White Walkers beyond The Wall”, a bunch of baddies like no other and not to be messed with!

The Johnnie Walker bottle has a themed GOT look and Johnnie himself is wearing some natty armour. He also has the distinctive, piercing blue eyes, the un-mistakable sign of the White Walkers and don’t forget those fantastic horns!

31dover.com has very generously sent me some “White Walker” to try (thanks 31dover.com!).

So, what did I think? Here are my tasting notes …

Tasting Notes – Johnnie Walker “White Walker” Whisky (41.7%)

Available from 31dover.com and ON OFFER – WAS: £33.95 NOW: £28.00 (SAVE 9.97%) for 70cl.


Colour: Pale gold.

Nose: Green apples and vanilla with tuiti-fruiti tropical fruits. Shades of citrus which gives way to some white wood.

Palate: Very similar to the Nose with the addition of a little smoke and creamy vanilla fudge flavours. The crisp coldness gives it a morish quality that makes it very drinkable.
I drunk it way quicker than I would a room temperature dram!

Finish: Smooth, sweet finish with some smoke and increasing dryness. Right at the end there’s also some fiery spice coming through – must be the magic taking hold!

Overall: This is not a connoisseur whisky but it makes a great, fun, drink that should only be served straight from the fridge.

I haven’t included tasting notes at room temperature – it’s really not designed for that – it should be drunk well chilled – in the “spirit” of the whole GOT ice world.

Used in a cocktail “White Walker” will be to die for (there’s some ideas here) especially if we have a summer like last year, or even an Easter!

Interestingly, the addition of ice to increase the coldness seems to enhance the flavours rather than dulling them which is often the case.

Of course, it will taste great with a Coke but I thought I’d try something of my own.

My ‘Return of the Night King’ cocktail

I was thinking of calling my cocktail …


‘Return of the Night King’

  • To a tall glass add a “arrowhead mountain” * measure of Johnnie Walker “White Walker” Whisky.
  • Add a generous dash of Elderflower cordial.
  • Don’t forget to add plenty of ice.
  • Top up with Coke Zero (not as sweet.)
  • Add some Lemon juice if desired to give it some ‘bite’.

Superb! (“like the cracking of ice on a winter lake” **)

Be careful though, it has a “dragonglass” hit behind it!

GOT fans will certainly love this release, even with the bottle empty, which is not something that can be said of most whiskies!

But to be honest, Game of Thrones fan or not, this is a fun, refreshing and tasty way to experience whisky and I heartily recommended you to give it a try.

But one, burning, icy, question we all need to ask is: “Is Johnnie Walker the ‘Night King’?” ***

I’ll leave it up to you to decide!

“White Walker” reveals a message when frozen!


Apart from their website, You can also find 31dover on …

* It’s where the Walkers hail from.
** The White Walkers speak a language with the voice “like the cracking of ice on a winter lake”.
*** The ‘Night King’ is the apparent leader of The White Walkers – so it must be JW!

Masterclasses & Sampling Masses – The Cognac Show 2019!

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Masterclasses & Sampling Masses – The Cognac Show 2019!

Well The Cognac Show (Voted Best Drinks Event of 2018 by industry-authority The Drinks Business!) has come … and gone.

But apart from stating the obvious a good time was had by all. Well it certainly looked that way judging by the jovial hubbub and smiling faces that I saw on my visit!

As usual, I didn’t get round every stand, time and the throng of people prevented this; but I thought I’d do a mini-review of some of my highlights of the show.

Hardy Cognac

The Hardy Collection

First up was Hardy Cognac.

Nathalie Egreteau, Hardy’s Western Europe Area Manager, was there to give me a quick introduction to the Hardy Brands.

Maison Hardy owes its name to an authentic English gentleman, Anthony Hardy which he founded in 1863 together with it’s well known cockerel motif as their logo.

I only had time to sample a couple of their Cognacs, the Legend 1863 being one of them and I glad I did!

Released as a tribute to the Cognac world and to the Hardy’s family it has a lovely citrus and creamy vanilla flavour but the most surprising thing was the very satisfying coffee cappuccino flavours that come through at the end. Lovely!

Hardy’s Cognacs are currently only available from The Whisky Exchange but I sense that may change in the future!

Prunier Cognac

Maintaining family traditions – Thibault Maxion from Prunier

Going up to the top floor I was welcomed by the beaming smile of Thibault Maxion from Prunier.

For “eleven generations, the House of Prunier, one of the oldest cognac houses, has learnt how to keep its own history alive together with its identity and esteem for its products. Each member of the family has maintained the motto: quality and respect of local traditions.”

Carrying on this tradition are the current members of the family: Thibault and his brother.

Thibault is the Export Sales Director for Prunier. He concentrates on Sales & Marketing while his brother tends to growing their delicious product!

You can easily tell from listening to Thibault that he really knows his stuff, a Cognac geek, to be sure! He also loves and is justly proud of his families contribution to the Cognac story over the years.

I got to sample their Prunier Vintage 1969 Cognac Grande Champagne, a Grande Champagne Cognac with natural cask strength and limited to just a few hundred bottles.

It’s rich, smooth, fruity and satisfying and available for around the £300 mark which is quite amazing for a Cognac of such age.

Prunier’s Cognacs are available from The Whisky Exchange.

To be introduced to Thibault and his Cognac, check out their YouTube video!

You can also find Prunier on these sites:

Then I had to dash off to a Masterclass ….

Ferrand Cognac Masterclass

The masterclass title was Experimentation & Ageing with the knowledgable and enormously entertaining Alexandre Gabriel (owner and master blender of maisonferrand.com.)

Ferrand’s Alexandre Gabriel

He first treated us to 10 Generations Cognac ( 46%). It celebrates the Ferrand lineage who have passed down their expertise through ten generations, since 1630, ending with Mademoiselle Henriette.

Only made with Ugni-Blanc grapes and distilled slowly on fine lees, it is aged in French oak with 20% in Sauternes casks. This Cognac contains 15 eau de vie with an average age of 8 years old.
Nose: Sweet, vanilla, light apples, pear and plump raisins.
Palate: Sugar sweet, vanilla, light apples and a nice punch of chilli spice!

Ferrand’s 10 Generations – family images form the main design of the label!

Ferrand prefers to mature in a humid cellar, rather than a dry one, giving their Cognac a lush mouthfeel.

Alexandre says that although their cognac is matured in wine casks, if you taste the wine in their Cognac, then he considers he has failed. The cask maturation is designed to bring out the flavour characteristics of their spirit.

We then tried a selection of Cognacs (40% ABV) aged for two years in different barrels. Strictly speaking though, they can’t be called Cognac as they’re not aged in oak.

They were in fact aged in a variety of woods: Acacia, Ash, Sycamore and Wild Cherry to give different flavour characteristics.

This led us to our final tasting, that of Renegade Chestnut Wood (47.1%) (some people have described Alexandre as a bit of a Renegade!) which spent time in Oak and Chestnut wood barrels.

This is because in their archives of 1912 they found evidence of ageing in Chestnut and Ferrand’s philosophy is that their creativity feeds of heritage.

Again, it’s Not able to be called Cognac at the present time but things may change as it used to be possible back in the day. For now though, they call it an eau-de-vie de vin.

I enjoyed it though and found it nicely flavoursome!
Nose: Fudge, furniture polish.
Palate: Sweet and nutty intense with vanilla.

Ferrand is available to buy from these Merchants:-

Sampling Kilchoman’s Loch Gorm 2019 – Take A Day Trip To The Coast & Trip The “Taste” Fantastic!

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Loch Gorm 2019

Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2019 will be available worldwide from the 8th April 2019

KILCHOMAN LAUNCH LOCH GORM 2019

Loch Gorm is the name given to the annually released sherry cask matured limited edition from Kilchoman. The loch, murky and peaty in colour, reflects the dark copper tone of the sherry matured Loch Gorm release.

As the only release in the Kilchoman range to be fully matured in sherry casks, Loch Gorm has always attracted special attention from whisky fans, especially given that just 15,000 bottles will be released and made available around the world.

Over the years the Loch Gorm range of limited edition releases have been evolving, each new edition containing a different combination of casks. This, the 2019 edition, is no different. Twenty oloroso sherry butts from 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011 have been selected for this release, meaning that for the first time Loch Gorm will contain 12 and 13-year-old casks from the Kilchoman warehouses.

It has been fascinating to see first-hand how the character of our oloroso butts have developed over the years. Recent editions of Loch Gorm have seen a coming-of-age for the range, the addition 12 and 13-year-old casks add a fantastic balance and complexity.

Layers of stewed plums, pears and tropical fruit have become more defined in the casks as they age, complimenting the bold spicy and rich character of early releases to create a beautiful marriage of Kilchoman and oloroso sherry cask maturation. I’m delighted with the 2019 release and look forward seeing how it’s received.
– Anthony Wills: Kilchoman Founder and Managing Director

Kilchoman Distillery sits nestled amongst the traditional buildings of Rockside Farm on the north-west coast of Islay. Famous as Islay’s Farm Distillery, the distillery’s barley fields stretch west to the shores of Machir Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

Established in 2005, Kilchoman is unique in many ways, most notably for their 100% Islay range, Scotland’s only Single Farm Single Malt. True to Islay’s rich farm distilling heritage, Kilchoman uses local Islay cut peat, slowly distilling by hand, maturing in traditional dunnage warehouses and bottling on site without colouring or chill-filtration.

Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2019 is bottled at 46% ABV and will be available worldwide from the 8th April 2019.

I was lucky enough to have received a sample of this dram before the launch date – courtesy of Kilchoman – thanks Kilchoman!

So, what did I think? Here are my tasting notes …

Tasting Notes – Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2019 (46%)


Colour: Pale gold.

Nose: Peat n’ smoke with some green apple. Coastal with aromas of Damp, white wood. Leads to a sweet caramel later on.

Palate: Oily and coastal. There’s peat with wiffs of smoke and a rich, sweet, syrup.

Finish: A pleasing Rush of punchy spice and burnt ash coupled with a dry, salty sweetness leads to a satisfying finish.

Overall: There’s certainly a vibrant coastal feel to this dram with layers of peat and gently burning woodsmoke balanced with some sweetness. A lovely dram that I would truly recommend!
So, why not treat yourself? – Take A Day Trip To The Coast and Trip The Taste Fantastic!

Since the first bottling was released in 2009, Kilchoman has quickly established itself as a high quality Islay Single Malt Whisky with these notable awards:

Kilchoman’s exceptional quality was recognised at the prestigious International Whisky Competition (IWC) when Anthony Wills was named Master Distiller of the Year 2013.
In 2016 both core expressions won major awards with Sanaig named Best Single Malt Scotch Whisky – no age statement at the IWSC and Machir Bay came first as Best Islay Single Malt Scotch in the International Whisky Competition.
Machir Bay was also awarded a Gold Medal in 2015 at the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) with Loch Gorm being awarded a Silver Outstanding Medal and 100% Islay a Silver at the prestigious awards.
Kilchoman won Malt Advocates Artisan Whisky of the Year 2011, only three years after the first bottling was released.

Kilchoman is available to buy from these Whisky Merchants:-

Sampling The Whisky Exchange’s Exclusive Bottling – A 1973 Vintage Speyside – Taste Thats 43 Years In The Making!

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Great things come in small Sample bottles!

The Whisky Exchange has once again collaborated with German independent bottler The Whisky Agency to release a 1973-vintage Speyside blended malt whisky, aged for 43 years and bottled in 2017 from a refill sherry butt.

The Speyside Region Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

It is one of a small number of similar casks that have been released recently, all to critical acclaim. They capture a very particular style of early-1970s spirit, which has been allowed to develop slowly over the past five decades, bringing together fruity character from both cask and distillery.

The Whisky Exchange believes it has been matured in a fino sherry butt, rather than the more usual oloroso cask, adding an extra dimension of flavour.

The whisky’s style is incredibly reminiscent of similarly matured whisky from a renowned family-owned distillery, bottles of which sell for many times the price of this excellent release.

The Whisky Exchange has kindly sent me a sample to try (Thanks Whisky Exchange!).

So, what did I think? Here are my tasting notes …

Tasting Notes – The Whisky Exchange’s Exclusive Bottling Of A 1973 Vintage Speyside (47.4%)



Distilled: 1973
Age: 43 Years (Matured in a refill sherry butt)
Bottled: 2017 at 47.4%
Price: £399 (70cl.)


Nose: Massive, crisp, crunchy, green apple aromas hit you right out of the glass! There’s Vanilla, fudge and then glorious quantities of tropical fruits.
Following on comes some wood, old waxy polish and there’s a crisp, icing sugar headiness which increases the longer the dram is in the glass. Which wasn’t very long to be honest!

Palate: Bountiful Tropical fruits, hints of cherry and a nice, underlying vanilla creaminess.

Finish: Smooth and sweet with tropical fruitiness and vanilla. Spicy pepper is present to spice things up nicely! A slight dryness at the finish.

Overall: Smooth, creamy and tropical is a quick summary of this most excellent dram.
Getting hold of whiskies this old is getting increasingly difficult and getting hold of one at this price is nigh on impossible.
So if you fancy tasting a dram from a bygone age then this one could be for you!

The Borders Distillery Tweet Tasting – Four Great Styles To Sweeten Your Christmas!

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The Borders Distillery range of drinks

Monday nights @TweetTastings, the last one for this year, which was once again ably hosted by Steve from The Whisky Wire, gave us the opportunity to sample Borders Distillery range of drinks.

Based in Hawick, Borders Distillery, which was commissioned in March 2018, is the first Scotch whisky distillery in the Scottish Borders since 1837. Tours are available where you can see their carefully renovated buildings and learn about their distilling process!

On the night the styles sampled were:-

  • Borders Distillery New Make Spirit
  • Borders Distillery William Kerr’s Gin
  • Borders Distillery Small Batch Vodka
  • Borders Distillery Lower East Side Whisky

If you want to catch up on what all the tweet tasters had to say you can view the tweets by searching for the hash tag #BordersDistillery on Twitter.

So, what did I think?

Here are my tasting notes … and the one which was my favourite on the night!

Tasting Notes – Borders Distillery New Make Spirit (63.5%)

Available exclusively from the Borders Distillery shop for £39.95. Made entirely from Borders barley (concerto). The production uses two spirit and two wash pot stills for its spirit/whisky production which were made by Forsyths in Scotland.


Nose: Creamy vanilla and popcorn, moist cereal, apples and a hint of rum.

Palate: very sweet – almost icing sugarary with that familiar new make popcorn taste to accompany it! H2O opens up to some apples and fiery pepper – dry finish.

Overall: A pleasant new make really – compared to some new makes I’ve tried – I enjoyed it!

Tasting Notes – Borders Distillery William Kerr’s Gin (43%)

William Kerr’s Borders Gin – available from Borders Distillery is a “barley to bottle gin” They use their own malted barley spirit for re-distillation through its unique recipe of botanicals in its specially commissioned one-shot vapour Carter-Head still.

The botanicals used are: Macedonian Juniper, English Coriander, Scottish Heracleum, Bitter Orange, Sweet Orange, Lemon, Cassia, Angelica, Myrtle, Angelica, Orris, Almond and Liquorice.


Nose: Sweet grapefruit and lemons – very citrusy! Getting hints of licquorice.

Palate: Lovely and sweet with orange, grapefruit, lemon and tasty licquorice following on after – very smooth!

Overall: A great gin, one that is sweeter than some of the others out there. It would make a great cocktail base!

Tasting Notes – Borders Distillery Small Batch Vodka (40%)

Available exclusively from the Borders Distillery shop for £29.95. Made entirely from Borders Barley (concerto) in single batches, with active charcoal in the botanical baskets, using a one shot vapour system in their specially build Carter Head Still.


Nose: Very similar to the new make spirit …. strong creamy cereal nose with some rum hints.

Palate: Sweet, light, smooth with citrus elements and zesty pepper – very nice sweetness lingers like icing sugar dissolved in water for a glaze. Dry grapefruit at the end

Overall: Not your usual vodka this one – it actually has flavour and isn’t all fire – a tasty vodka indeed!

Tasting Notes – Borders Distillery Lower East Side Whisky (40%)

A Blended Malt Scotch Whisky – Available from Borders Distillery for a RRP of £32.99. The first blended whisky from Borders which is a lightly peated marriage of Highland and Lowland single malt whiskies. Designed to be an all-rounder; to be sipped straight-up, on the rocks or as a cocktail base.


Nose: Sugar rich, green apples with vanilla and honey cereal and a little light peat.

Palate: Sweet and sugary and smokey and peaty – a little of each – all rolled into one! Green apples but no real spice to discern.

Overall: A pleasant whisky, either as a sipper or used in a cocktail.

My Favourite On The Night

Although it’s not really fair to choose a favourite as each style is a different thing but out of the 4, I think it’s got to be the Borders Distillery Lower East Side Whisky – very easy going and sippable – a higher abv may have made it even better!

Many thanks to Steve at The Whisky Wire (@thewhiskywire) for a great evening and Borders Distillery (@BordersDstlry) for sending the samples and without whom!

Thanks to Borders for sending the samples!

The Walsh Whiskey Tweet Tasting – Chocolate, Tropical Fruit & Spice – Who Could Ask For More?!

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The Walsh Whiskey lineup!

Irish Whiskey, namely from the Walsh Whiskey Distillery was the subject of last Monday nights @TweetTastings hosted by Steve from The Whisky Wire.

Walsh Whiskey was founded in 1999, initially to create a better Irish Coffee and eventually leading to re-creating a Whiskey recipe to celebrate the golden era of 19th. century distilling in Ireland. They rapidly became a leading player in the revival of Irish Whiskey.

Since then, Walsh Whiskey, have gone from strength to strength. They officially opened their €25 million distillery at Royal Oak, County Carlow, Ireland in June 2016.

The distillery produces all three styles of Irish whiskey; pot still, malt and grain from its two production lines using both pot stills and column stills. The Walsh Whiskey Distillery is one of the largest in Ireland, with the capacity to produce 8.2 million bottles of whiskey a year.

Walsh Whiskey’s The Irishman and Writers Tears brands are currently sold in over 45 countries. By 2019 this will have increased to over 100!

On the night the Whiskies sampled from the Walsh range were:-

  • Writers Tears Copper Pot
  • The Irishman Single Malt
  • The Irishman Founder’s Reserve Caribbean Rum Finish
  • Writers Tears Cask Strength

If you want to catch up on what all the tweet tasters had to say you can view the tweets by searching for the hash tag #WalshWhiskey on Twitter.

So, what did I think?

Here are my tasting notes … and the one which was my favourite on the night!

Tasting Notes – Walsh Whiskey Writers Tears Copper Pot (40%)

A blend of single malt and single pot still whiskeys; 60% malt & 40% pot still. Triple distilled, non-peated and matured in American oak bourbon casks.

A gold Medal winner at the International Spirits Challenge in London and one of the highest rated Irish Whiskeys in Jim Murray’s Iconic “Whiskey Bible”. “Altogether a very unusual Irish Whiskey , a throwback to the last century where spiced Pure Pot Still whiskey was married with Floral Single Malt” – Jim Murray. It has also been added to Ian Buxton’s publication “101 Whiskeys to try before you die”.

Nose: Apples with some sugary vanilla. Quite floral with some oatiness thrown in. Very definite mintiness coming through with a little toffee and some spicy cinnamon.

Palate: Smooth and light with apples and floral flavours. Creamy vanilla custard with a smidge of mint!

Finish: Spice oils and oak balanced with fruity sweetness and a dry kick at the end.

Overall: A great whiskey with plenty of nosing aromas and flavour.

Tasting Notes – Walsh Whiskey The Irishman Single Malt (40%)

Matured in a combination of bourbon barrels and Oloroso sherry butts. Triple distilled, it won Whiskey of the Year and Overall Spirit of the Year at the London Spirits Competition 2018.

Nose: Crisp apples and malty oatcake biscuits – very nice! Sherry and a hint of those famous bananas the tweeters are talking about! After a while I’m getting a little tropical fruits with some fudge.

Palate: Luscious sweet fruits with some chocolate plus hints of cereal and grapefruit.

Finish: A fiery end with some tanin dryness and cereal – punchy, but in a good way!

Overall: Spicy and sweet with impressive fruit aromas and flavours.

Tasting Notes – Walsh Whiskey The Irishman Founder’s Reserve Caribbean Rum Finish (46%)

Produced using the original signature blend created by distillery founder Bernard Walsh, which is comprised of 70% Single Malt and 30% Single Pot Still. Finished for 6 months in The Chairman’s Reserve rum casks from the Caribbean island of St. Lucia.

Winner of Best Irish Single Cask of the Year at the Irish Whiskey Awards 2018.

Nose: Rum soaked wood and plump raisins – lovely! Very fruity with apples and a tropical cocktail but this dram takes a while to develop … vanilla fudge comes through as a finale.

Palate: Rich and sweet with LOADS of tropical fruits and apples. Only a hint of rum for me I’m afraid but it’s incredibly tasty all the same!

Finish: Some peppery spice that duels with the fruity sweetness admirably. I also got a real burst of yummy dark chocolate right at the end!

Overall: Not as rummy as I expected (and hoped for) but this is more than made up for in some great tropical fruits flavours and warming spice!

As an experiment, my fellow tweeters and I paired this up with some dark chocolate – an experience I’d highly recommend – chocolate alcohol heaven! Are we allowed to have so much fun on a Monday night?!

Tasting Notes – Walsh Whiskey Writers Tears Cask Strength (53%)

A rare vatting of aged Single Pot Still and Single Malt Whiskey’s. Triple distilled and matured in bourbon barrels and limited to just 5,175 bottles.

Cask Strength was a Gold Medal winner in “The Premium Irish Whiskey Category” at The Whiskey Masters.

Nose: Fresh apples and waxy sweetness with some wood in there as well. There’s chocolate and tropical fruits but it seems reluctant to give up all it’s secrets straight away! The chocolate gets creamier as time passes …

Palate: WoW! A chocolate and tropical fruit spicy hit! Creamy chocolate and tropical fruitiness.

Finish: Adding H2O smooths things out a lot – there’s chocolate, apples and vanilla with a punchy spice that not even water can tame!

Overall: Chocolate, tropical fruit and a spicy conclusion. What is there NOT to like? Very enjoyable indeed and if you add some water you can enjoy it all over again!

My Favourite On The Night

Out of the 4, I think it’s got to be the Writers Tears Cask Strength followed closely by The Irishman Founder’s Reserve Caribbean Rum Finish. The Cask Strength has such lovely chocolate flavours and two individual palates when you dram it neat or with water – double your fun and gorgeous with it!

Many thanks to Steve at The Whisky Wire (@TheWhiskyWire) for a great sampling evening and the team at Walsh Whiskey (@WalshWhiskey) for sending the samples and without whom!

My fellow Tweeters were:-


@TomsWhisky @TheWhiskyphiles @Whiskylassie @ScottNelson @Whisky_And1 @NikkiHayes1969 @brawspirit @SpiritAndWood @FiShoop @WhiskyUnplugged @simonrees73 @iheartwhisky @Marc_Whiskey @thatsdramgood @whiskeytalk2U @daveoc1980 @LaCaveDeCobalt @Girl_Whisky @dram_gazette @MrSingleMalt @whiskydram_ @MaltMusings @wetwewhistle

Walsh Whiskey is available to buy from:-

And other great retailers!

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