Tag Archives: Blair Athol

New Releases from Wemyss Vintage Malts

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By Mike Lord

The shelves are beginning to groan with all the new releases coming in and some right crackers have arrived in from Wemyss.

Wemyss Blair Athol 1986 Autumn Berries

Strawberry Starbusts and orange peel on the nose.  Very citrus.  For me distinct cognac notes and Grand Marnier on the palate.  Not my usual drink but I think that's what it is.

Wemyss Laphroaig 1998 Beach Bonfires

An outstanding Laphroaig for me.   Unusually sweet on the palate at first but has great balls of smoke from burning paper with a great citrus edge.

Wemyss Caol Ila 1996 Lemon Smoke

Very much starts with all that singed icing sugar I expect from Caol Ila but then has buckets (fruit baskets?) full of lemon and orange juice.  There's all great caramelised sugar which may have just started to catch in the pan and I definitely got Mars bars.

Wemyss Aultmore 1982 Sugared Almonds

For me lots more nuts that just almonds but there all definitely sugar coated.  And my Dad's Walnut cake.

Wemyss Tormore 1988 White Chocolate Torte

I didn't really get the chocolate on this but I did get lots of classic old ex-bourbon cask matured whisky notes.  Loads of melon, pastry and marzipan.  Also quite an unusual taste for me to identify which I in the end decided was the full on glass of fruit salad Pimms.

New in from Douglas Laing

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Here are the 6 new releases we have in the shop from Douglas Liang:

Provenance Craigellachie 1999 12 Years Old:  Another rare sherried Craigellachie from Douglas Laing.  This has a couple of years on the previous expressions and that has helped develop the sherry qualities in to rich toffee notes.

Old Malt Cask Rosebank 21 Years Old (DL Ref - 0000): This is another great Rosebank from DL.  This is the second cask os 21 Years Old from 1990 that they have released this year.

Old Malt Cask Port Ellen 1983 28 Years Old: Port Ellen is getting ever rare and the price reflects that.  We suspect DL will move all future releases up to Old & Rare soon so they will get even more expensive.  That said this is a great example which is more peated than some.

Directors' Cut Blair Athol 1995 16 Years Old: The Director's cut is a new range from DL and sits between Old Malt Cask and Old & Rare.  The packaging is extremely nice and this one holds a cracking sherried Blair Athol,

Old & Rare Caol Ila 1980 30 Years Old:  This is a prime example of an old Caol Ila.  The smoke is more subtle on the palate allowing lots of sweet barley to come through.

Old & Rare Laphroaig 1986 25 Years Old: I love old Laphroaigs and this one is no disappointment.  The smoke has settled but it's still there - more prominent than whiskies of the same age from its contemporaries, and there is lots of citrus and honey emerging through.

To see all our whiskies from Douglas Laing click here.

Lots of New Single Malts in from Douglas Laing

This entry was posted in Blog, New Whisky Releases and Bottlings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on by .

By Mike Lord

Old Malt Cask Littlemill 1991 19 Years Old

This Old Malt Cask Littlemill 1991 19 Yeas Old is full of citrus fruit and barley sugar and has some spices which develop on the pallet. 340 bottles were obtained from a refill hogshead. It's getting rarer and rarer to see a Littlemill and this is a great example.

Old Malt Cask Blair Athol 1995 15 Years Old

This Old Malt Cask Blair Athol 1995 15 Years Old is from a sherry butt but don't think the Flora & Fauna distillery bottling. The colour and flavours suggest a refill giving that orange characteristics you would get from a double maturation.

Old Malt Cask Laphroaig 1993 17 Years Old

Sometimes age makes an Islay whisky more refinded but that is not the case with the nose of this Old Malt Cask Laphroaig 1993 17 Years Old. It is only when you taste it does the complexity of age show through. Just 150 bottles came from this refill hogshead.

Old Malt Cask St Magdelene 1982 28 Years Old

I have a soft spot for this distillery and this Old Malt Cask St Magdelene 1982 28 Years Old is a great examples - peaches and honey. 439 bottles came from this refill butt.

Old Malt Cask Glen Grant 1990 20 Years Old

This Old Malt Cask Glen Grant 1990 20 Years Old is from a sherry butt and has all those fabulous rich flavours you would expect after 20 years. A superb dram.

A complex elderly whisky from a refill Hogshead which gave up only 202 bottles. This Old Malt Cask Glenlivet 1977 33 Years Old is a great example of the rich spices that develop from a refill ex-bourbon barrel.

This Old Malt Cask Linkwood 1989 21 Years Old is full of bananas, oranges and nuts. It is from a refill butt which produced 484 bottles.
45 years in a sherry hogshead - what more do you need to know? This is a big whisky but it's not over done. Old & Rare Probably Speyside's Finest 1965 45 Years Old - so fine if it has stayed at the distillery it would probably have been a Family Cask.