Whisky Ramblings on YouTube

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 481: Old Rhosdhu 29 Year Old 1993 for The Roots

Belgian bottler The Roots selected a hogshead from the Loch Lomond distillery that was filled in 1993 with a spirit type that they produced between 1966 and 2000. The malt was given the name Old Rhosdhu. The hogshead, on which this malt lay dormant for almost three decades, yielded 222 bottles at cask strength. The malt was neither colored nor chill filtered.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 482: Nc’nean Batch RA08

While the 'normal' batches continue unabated (at the time of writing Batch 18 was already a fact), Nc'nean launched two completely new batches in 2022 with a new system of numbering. In addition to this Batch RA08, there is also a Batch BU06. This first one (which is now also in my glass) was composed with 43% STR red wine casks, 55% former American whiskey barrels (the vast majority of which are first fill bourbon) and 2% oloroso sherry casks (and not 5% as I claim in the video – sorry about that!). Oh, yes, another small detail: the bottle is now not transparent green or opaque dark blue, but simply transparent – albeit with the same beautiful print.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 483: Glentauchers 13 Year Old 2009 Buds & Barrels

Independent bottler Buds & Barrels launched this summery Glentauchers in its 'sticky label' range at the end of last year, from a refill sherry butt. I confess, when I first read it, I looked surprised for a moment, because Manny and I had also bottled a Glentauchers 2009 from the same cask type in May of the same year. And then a monkey on the label too? I won't say anything else, but I'm going to taste it right away.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 484: Milk & Honey 4 Year Old 2018 for The Barrel Baron

This is already the second single cask that Marcel Kip – aka The Barrel Baron – bottles from this Israeli distillery. I had the privilege of judging a sample as early as June 2022. And now that it’s finally here, I'm very eager to re-taste it. This time it concerns a four-year-old malt that spent its life on an ex-Islay cask. Please take note of the alcohol percentage. And another tip in advance: pour it into your glass and let it catch its breath for five minutes. Let's get started!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 485: Port Ellen 19 Year Old 1982 Old Malt Cask

My friend Hans recently celebrated his 60th birthday and presented us with a line-up of closed distilleries. The grand finale was this 19 years old Port Ellen from 1982 in the Old Malt Cask series. It was outstanding, so I could not resist the urge to make a Rambling with this beauty.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 486: D.R.K.N.S.S. Batch 2 Asta Morris

Last year I tasted the first batch of D.R.K.N.S.S. – or Darkness for short – from Asta Morris. That was a sherry-aged Lowlander, 465 bottles strong. However, this second batch, which has just been released, is a Highland malt. Obviously also matured on a sherry cask and the release this time is no less than 601 bottles strong.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 487: Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask

Kavalan, the well-known distillery in Taiwan, has won numerous awards with their Solist single cask releases. Whether it’s an ex-bourbon cask, sherry cask, vinho barrique or port cask, they all perform very well indeed. I got hold of one such release from 2021, bottled at a whopping 58.6% ABV, drawn from a sherry cask. And what a belter that turned out to be!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 488: GlenAllachie 10 Year Old 2009 Sauternes Barrel

Before 2017, hardly anyone spoke about Glenallachie, but since Billy Walker took over in 2017, he has put this Speyside distillery on the map. Now it has become GlenAllachie, with a capital A in the middle. This malt was put in the barrel for the duration, but it was Billy who, after 10 years of maturation on a Sauternes wine barrel, found it ready to bottle at cask strength.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 489: Ledaig 25 Year Old 1995 Valinch & Mallet

I tasted this Ledaig for the first time at a tasting in Ghent, organized by Jeroen Moernaut, the owner of Care for Craft Spirits (which is the successor to his boutique The Bonding Dram). I really liked all but one bottle we tasted that night, but this one stood head and shoulders above the rest for me. This Ledaig was bottled by Valinch & Mallet in 2020 in their famous series The Lost Drams (which surprises me a bit, because Ledaig is still being made). It was distilled in 1995 and matured for a quarter of a century.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 490: Mortlach 14 Year Old 2008 Carn Mor

I recently got a visitor from Virginia, USA, and again my friend John brought some nice bottles. I think we should make this a tradition, John! This time it is a 14-year-old Mortlach – the Beast of Dufftown – that was bottled at 47.5% after a finish on Moscatel casks. I assume that this is not cask strength. The malt has been given a fantastic color by the wine.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 491: Evan Williams Single Barrel 2013

Evan Williams is a very accessible bourbon made by Heaven Hill. It is named after the man who founded one of the first commercial distilleries in Louisville, Kentucky in 1753. For decades the brand has been owned by Heaven Hill, which also markets a lot of other bourbons.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 492: Rittenhouse Straight Rye

While Rittenhouse is actually a style of rye whiskey from Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, to be exact), it's distilled at Heaven Hill, which took over the brand decades ago. The mashbill consists of 51% rye, 37% corn and the remaining 12% is malted barley. Note that he proudly mentions "Bottled-in-Bond" on the label. This means that it is a whiskey of one particular season, one distillery, has matured for at least 4 years in a warehouse that is supervised by the government and was also bottled at exactly 100 Proof (50% ABV).

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 493: Virginia Highland Malt Whisky Port Cask Finished

Recently my American friend John came by again. And once again he had a bottle with him that I hadn't seen before, let alone tasted. From Virginia, yes. The Virginia Distillery is located at the foot of the famous Blue Ridge Mountains. But when I read the label, I looked up, because it says very clearly: 'A marriage of Scotch malt whisky and American whisky finished in port wine casks'. This is actually a blended malt because the American whisky is also 100% single malt. I call it a hybrid, agreed? And you should know that the American in the mix matured for 5 years and that the whole thing was finished on port casks for another 12 months after marriage. The whisky has won the title of Best American Blended Malt 5 years and running at the World Whisky Awards in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021! I do wonder how many entries there were for that category. But enough of that, pop that bottle!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 494: Lindores Abbey Friar John Cor Chapter I

It was inevitable that Lindores would release a whisky under the label of Friar John Cor, of course – the monk of Lindores Abbey who is said to have distilled the first whisky (or whatever it was then) in 1494. It was this Cask Strength Congregation Chapter I – at a wholesome 60.2% – of which the vatting was composed with young single malt from the three classic cask types at Lindores (bourbon, sherry, STR wine barrels) and Monbazillac. The latter is a sweet French wine from Bergerac (southern France) made from the Semillon grape.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 495: Nc’nean Huntress 2023 Woodland Candy

Nc’nean has just released their new ‘summer whisky’ Huntress and this time they aptly named it ‘Woodland Candy’. It is created with no less than 4 different yeasts, including those used for the production or red and white wine, which results in a malt with lots of red fruit. I’m a fan!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 496: Nc’nean Aon 17-170 for Belgium

I've been a fan of Nc'nean since the very beginning, that's a public secret. I was therefore very pleasantly surprised when Premium Spirits – the Belgian importer – invited me and Dearly Beloved to a press dinner on 1 March of this year. In fact, I had the pleasure of sitting at the table next to the Leading Lady of Nc'nean and had a very pleasant and interesting chat with Annabel Thomas all evening long. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of a single ex-bourbon cask that was specially selected for the Netherlands and Belgium.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 497: Dublin Distilleries

I’ve just returned from a citytrip to Ireland’s capital Dublin, visiting all the distilleries: Pearse Lyons, Teeling, Dublin Liberties, Roe & Co and Jameson. Needless to say, it made for a lifetime of memories. Join me on this tour during this 15min long Rambling. Enjoy!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 498: Unnamed Orkney 16 Year Old 2006 The Ultimate

When the label says ‘Unnamed Orkney’, we all know what’s inside the bottle and it isn’t Scapa. In this case it’s a malt from 2006 matured for 16 years on a sherry cask and then bottled by the Dutch company van Wees in their famous The Ultimate series. Bit of a quirky nose, but lovely on the palate.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 499: Macduff 14 Year Old 2008 Liquid Art

Macduff is a little known distillery as most of their production goes into blend such as William Lawson’s. And they market their own single malt as The Deveron, named after a nearby stream. But I have the good fortune of trying a 14 year old from 2008 bottle at cask strength by the Belgian bottler Liquid Art.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 500: Auchentoshan’s 200th Anniversary Festival & more…

I’m sure you are aware that I am the Toshan Man, huge fan of the Lowland triple distilled malt Auchentoshan, founded in 1823. On 3 September 2023 Auchentoshan celebrated its 200th anniversary with a festival on the distillery grounds with cocktails, foodtrucks, local musicians, single malt (doh!) and – the icing on the cake – the release of a special 25 Year Old for the occasion. It goes without saying that I was there… this is my report. And it’s no coincidence that this is Rambling 500! Oh, right, lest I forget… we also visited the Glenkinchie Distillery, the Clydeside Distillery, the Port of Leith Distillery and the Johnnie Walker Experience.

A very happy 500th Mark's Whisky Rambling, Mark!

Thank you for your extensive contributions to Connosr since its beginnings!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 501: Auchentoshan 24 Year Old 1998 Thompson Brothers

Bottlings by the Thompson Brothers, who are also the proprietors of the Dornoch Distillery, sell out in the blink of an eye. So I felt very lucky to be able to add a few of these bottles from Auchentoshan to my collection. It’s a vatting of two refill barrels of my favourite triple distilled tipple, that yielded 321 bottles at cask strength. Let’s find out if this Toshan 1998 is any good, shall we?

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 502: Royal Salute 21 Year Old The Peated Blend

Royal Salute was created at the time to celebrate the coronation of Elizabeth II. It is a reference to the ceremonial cannon shots fired from the Tower of London. Several versions of the Royal Salute have already come on the market. For this special edition 'The Peated Blend' malts were also used that are no longer produced, namely Imperial and Caperdonich.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 503: Milk & Honey 3 Year Old 2020 Min Morsa

Min Morsa is Swedish for 'my mother' and is actually accompanied by a sad story. My good friend Dominic lost his mother in a traffic accident on June 2, 2023. She was born in 1946. On the day of the tragic accident, his brother Frédéric turned 46 years old. Hence the number of bottles bottled from this malt, which is a tribute to Mama. The label, full of symbolism, is beautiful. The contents of the bottle are unusual to say the least, as it is a young malt from Israel that matured on an Orange Wine Cask – the first of its kind at cask strength. I took the bottle with me to New York.

@markjedi1 A very interesting video Mark. People have so many different ways of honouring their loved ones and I think you handled that sensitively and tastefully.

You mentioned that there is an orange wine cask Apex release and I looked it up online. It looks good but even if any made it to Canada I suspect the OB would be out of my price range. I just wanted to mention that the Apex series is, as far as I know, cask strength, not 46%, and this one appears to be labeled at 61%.

Thanks as always for bringing this whisky to my attention.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 504: North British 26 Year Old 1996 Electric Coo

David Stirk published a very nice and informative book entitled 'Independent Scotch – The History of Independent Bottlers' thanks to the help of Crowdfunding. If you supported the project financially, you not only received a signed copy of the first edition, but also this bottle. I was one of the many supporters and could therefore add a bottle to my bar cabinet. It is a single grain from Edinburgh of no less than 26 years old, matured on a refill sherry cask.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 505: Cambus 30 Year Old 1991 Signatory Vintage

No less than 23 casks of Cambus 1991 have already been bottled in recent years by independent bottler Signatory Vintage in their well-known Cask Strength Collection – you know, in those beautiful, but clumsy decanters. This is one of the more recent, namely from 2022, from a refill sherry butt that yielded no less than 454 bottles at cask strength.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 506: Shizuoka 2018 World Symphony Series Private Cask #324

The Shizuoka Distillery started on February 25, 2017, after being founded by Gaia Flow, the importer of brands such as Blackadder, Mackmyra and the Belgian Asta Morris. They bought the distilling material from the legendary Karuizawa distillery, dismantled in 2011. Lovers of the golden nectar rubbed their hands, knowing that these stills would more than likely produce excellent whisky again. Well, yes, stills... in the end only one turned out to be usable, the other two were simply too old and are only set up in the new distillery as a tribute to the lost glory that is Karuizawa. In addition, they also have another still, which is fired with wood. That's why they're called Pot Still K and Pot Still W: Karuizawa and Wood fired still. In the meantime, Shizuoka already has a few things on the market, which is very well received, but what we open today is very special. Joseph Wang, my friend from Taiwan and president of the International Connoisseur Society, has also purchased some casks and is releasing them in a very luxurious package with accompanying story under the name World Symphony Series. Distilled on 24 October 2018 and bottled on 30 April 2022, after maturation in an ex-bourbon barrel. It's a mix of new make from both stills.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 507: Kentucky Owl Takumi Edition

A limited edition from Kentucky Owl, blended by a Japanese Master Blender… That’s unique to say the least. And lo and behold, the bourbon is quite kaizen indeed… Shot on top of the Mont Saint Michel in France. Enjoy!

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 508: Glen Moray 15 Year Old 2007 Thompson Bros

Glen Moray is one of those distilleries that often stays under the radar, producing primarily for blending purposes. But sometimes independent bottlers succeed in selecting an excellent single cask. This is one of those, bottled by Phil and Simon Thompson under their Thompson Bros label. It’s a single bourbon cask from 2007, bottled in 2023 at cask strength. And while it’s a UK exclusive, I was lucky enough to have a pal bring over a bottle.