Author: Thistle Admin

Well, everyone knows you don’t buy Springbank, Longrow, Hazelburn, Kilkerran or Cadenhead’s because the bottles look so great or fancy. Not sure if the old designer is still around, but as far as the labels can tell, I would expect he still is and taking care of hand drawn labels. I guess he must be well in his eighties by now.

Personally I like it like that. It really gives an authentic, retro look to the ‘less fancy’ bottles of the ‘Mitchell family’. Recently they have announced a similar, ‘weird’ marketing strategy, which I applaud, because the real whisky enthusiast, who drinks what he buys will not give a flying f*** about it, but investors or gift buyers might think differently about it. From now on all core range products from the Springbank and Glengyle distilleries will have no packaging anymore and will appear naked on the shelfs (full article).

The first one we can present to you is Kilkerran Heavily Peated batch 5.

Enjoy while you can. It is rather hard to get decent stock of Springbank/Glengyle products at the moment.

Hell yeah, it was a live festival again. Although it was limited in the amount of people that were allowed in per day, which made I could only go one day. But what great fun it was.

SITS is one of the best day of the year. So many great brands under one roof in my city: Brussels. But it is also one of those moments where you scout for interesting bottles, try new or less familiar things. Normally I am not a big fan of Fettercairn, but the Daily Dram bottling is great for a reasonable price. The masterclass of Drouin was amazing; Calvados is really leaving its ‘old man’s drink’ reputation behind, but also in the classical style you do have some great stuff out there (check Le Domfrontais). And off course one of the best independent Scottish bottlers to find Cadenhead’s; nowadays I find they are releasing less older Scotches, but we did get our hands on some +20’s which I believe to be worth trying out.

So here is our SITS 2021 selection; all is now available on the website.

Like all Waterford whiskies, Waterford Biodynamic Luna 1.1 is bottled at 50%.

The whisky comes from the farms of Trevor Harris, Alan Mooney and John McDonnell, who grow barley biodynamically. This can be described as a regenerative agriculture (a method that is also used by many well-known wineries): an ultra-organic and self-sufficient form of agriculture in which soil, crops, people and the “spirit of place” are brought into harmony with each other.

For Waterford, this whiskey is the ultimate expression of their “terroir” exploration where flavours are produced according to almost forgotten cultivation techniques with rare barley varieties. Biodynamic Luna 1.1 is the world’s first biodynamically produced whiskey.

This is a pre-order. We do not know, yet, how many bottles will be allocated to us, but as Waterford becomes rapidly more popular we like to give you the opportunity to get a head start.

Pre-order here (no guarantees)

The weather is turning colder and wetter. Time to snuggle up underneath a blanket in front of the fireplace. The perfect time to pour your friends, family and obviously yourself a nice dram. But maybe it doesn’t always need to be whisky. Other spirit producers are also throwing off their dusty, traditional reputation and are experimenting with a lot of different things such as maturion in less traditional casks.

Have a look at these limited Calvados expressions by Maison Christian Drouin.

First of all they are great to drink, to share and to enjoy with friends, but if you like collecting, these beauties will fit nicely in any spirit collection.

THE WHOLE, GREATER THAN SIMPLY THE SUM OF THE PARTS

Influenced by the world’s greatest winemakers, Waterford obsessively brings the same intellectual drive, methodology and rigour to Single Malt whisky

Soon I will offer the single farm origins that have been released a while ago. I just didn’t come around uploading these bottles.

Any one Single Farm Origin represents a component farm – a solo voice. Waterford is further intrigued by what happens when these component farms are brought together – to layer the voices for more harmony & complexity in a Waterford Cuvée.

For now I offer you the Waterford Cuvée.

The Cuvée, a synthesis of Single Farm Origins, an enigmatic gestalt, a milestone in our journey. The definitive Waterford Whisky. Our LodeStar.

Head Distiller’s Observations

Appearance: Golden sunrise with intense oils.

Nose: Red apples, fresh dry soil, breadcrust, green foliage, lavender, digestive biscuits, oranges, barmbrack, over ripe banana skin, a summer flower bed, fresh mint, coffee cake.

Taste: Clove sweets, white pepper, oily, grapefruit, lemon zest, dark chocolate, dry toast, cherries, granola bar, dried herbs, aniseed, green olives, 3 peel marmalade.

Finish: Pepper up front with oily spiciness that softens, starts dry but then gets mouth-watering & lingers where I close my eyes and relax!