Old grains and peat in Irish malt

Waterford Feuille Morte 3

Waterford is bringing out a new Micro Cuvée, a malt based on an old forgotten Irish grain and their first peated malts.

The Waterford cuvées are assembled from different ‘Original Farm Origins’. They show us how an blend of different terroirs creates layers and complexity in the whisky even if it is still fairly young. Micro Cuvée Feuille Morte has not been released in Belgium, but we managed to get our hands on some bottles straight from the distillery.

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The Heritage series explores the aroma’s and flavours of old, forgotten grains. In this case they had to reintroduce Hunter barley, named after plant breeder Herbert Hunter who introduced it in 1959. It disappeared in the 1970’s superceded by more economically rewarding crosses, all that remained of Hunter was a 50 gram bag in the seed bank of the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine.

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And last but not least we have two new Arcadian Series members Ballybannon 1.1 and Fenniscourt 1.1. Ballybannon is peated up to 47ppm, while Fenniscourt is up to 38ppm. The peat levels were chosen specifically for each farm to make sure the character of the terroir is not lost behind to much peat.

What? No, Watt!

Watt Whisky expressions

Please let me introduce this ‘small’, Campbeltown based independent bottler.

Mark & Kate have together over 40 years of experience in the whisky industry. If you haven’t had the change to do a tasting with Mark I highly recommend it. You just have to love his ‘no bullshit’ explanation, no snobbery, but just good decent whisky and honesty.

And Kate is the person that opened the first door of a duty free warehouse I stepped through during my first steps into the whisky world. I will never forget that experience at Glenfarclas Distillery. When all other tour guides bullshitted us that it was forbidden to go into a duty free warehouse, she opened the gate to paradise. Thanks Kate 😉

You can read the meaning behind their weird logo, their maybe somewhat colorful flower power bottles and their full story on their website.

I want to get your attention on this unexpected, but fabulous 21yo Scotch. It really is something special and than I am not just talking about the price.

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Luminary, I know what you’re thinking

I know! I know!

For us, ‘whisky geeks’ (Ido say this in a positive sense), The Dalmore doesn’t seem to bring much to thetable. The core range products are mostly reduced to 40° or 43°. The packaging seems to be more important than what is inside the bottle. It always is this clean, polished whisky that is silky smooth and misses some character, while we do enjoy some rough edges now and then and a whisky with some punch to it.

I was hesitant when ordering this, fearing that it was just another prestigious Dalmore project with strong marketing. It does have that over the top story of collaborations
with ‘important’ people.

But still it triggered me. Especially when I started reading about the woods being used in the casks. So I took a jump in the dark …

… during Spirits in the Sky in Brussels I was able to taste The Dalmore Luminary and it was more than I could expect from The Dalmore. But it also needs to be said that you better forget everything you think you know about this brand.

The Luminary is completely different from everything I tried from Dalmore so far. It is even very distinctive in comparison with Scotch in general. So yes, it is  priced on the steep side for a 15yo, but I do think the whisky is special enough to make up for it.

Read more about it and order by clicking on the picture.

New from New-Zealand

Forget about age, this whisky is worth your while with very different flavors distinguishing themselves from Scotch. Try these newbies and realize why you need to keep an eye on this brand.

Scapegrace, New Zealand’s largest independent alcohol brand, has announced the launch of their highly anticipated first whisky, a limited range of single malts.

The announcement comes shortly after the announcement of the construction of a new distillery in Central Otago, a New Zealand $25 million project.

Crafted at the end of the world in Central Otago, New Zealand, Scapegrace whisky sees the light of day. New world whisky from the future. Whiskey beyond its time.

Located in the mountainous landscape of Lake Dunstan, the Central Otago Distillery will eventually produce the entire current portfolio of super premium gin and vodka, providing Scapegrace with the perfect climate and water quality for whiskey production. The 45th parallel (midway between the equator and the South Pole) runs directly through Scapegrace’s distillery, creating extreme hot and cold temperatures throughout the year – an optimal environment for whiskey maturing.

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