What is London Cocktail Week?

Now in its 14th year, London Cocktail Week is a celebration of the capital’s drinks scene. London has been at the forefront of cocktails since the term was invented, with famous bars and restaurants defining the spirit of innovation at the heart of the cocktail world. LCW taps into that and offers great deals and special drinks, as well as a huge range of events, this year running from 12 to 22 October.

Quite a lot of bars…

Its simple: buy a wristband online, turn up to one of the 200+ venues taking part across the city, collect your physical wristband from the bar, and then enjoy special menus and discounted drinks. The bars taking part stretch from Wood Green in the north to Brixton in the south, and Canning Town in the East to Shepherds Bush over in the west – so you should be able to find something near you.

You can find wristbands here and they only cost £15, with discounts on group bundles. You can find out more about the festival on the London Cocktail Week website.

The Connoisseur’s Collection

Along with great drinks and events through the week (well, eleven days) there is a small selection of very special tastings that focus on impressive drinks, including some which were exclusive to The Whisky Exchange when they were released. These bottles rarely get an outing these days, with most of them hidden away in collections or already drunk, so these events are great if you’re after something you won’t find elsewhere.

You can find a complete list of the Connoisseur’s Collection here, but one has very much caught our eye:

Top Shelf Whisky at Sexy Fish

£335 – Book now >

Sexy Fish is London’s top location for Japanese whisky. While, as the name suggests, it is mostly a restaurant specialising in Japanese-inspired takes on seafood, the bar is a whisky-lover’s dream, with long-sold out releases open and available to try.

The Top Shelf Whisky experience for LCW is particularly special, with a selection of whiskies that shocked even The Whisky Exchange team, including bottles that we thought long gone:

Hanyu  The Joker (Colour Label) – a strong opener, we launched this bottling back in 2014 (read all about it here on the blog) and it has since become a legendary expression from this lost distillery. It’s a complex mix of six vintages between 1985 and 2000 and seven different cask types, all pulled together by former Hanyu boss and Chichibu founder Ichiro Akuto.

Karuizawa 30yo Bourbon Cask #8606 First Geisha – maybe my favourite Karuizawa of all time, and a style that we have rarely seen. We launched this at Whisky Show way back in 2013 as the first in the Karuizawa Geishas series. The lost (and demolished) distillery is best known for its sherry-matured whiskies, but the rarely seen bourbon casks are the real stars for me – elegant old wood, wax polish, honey and layers of fruit, all wrapped up with a touch of incense. Stunning whisky.

Learn more about the distillery – What makes Karuizawa the world’s rarest whisky? >

Yamazaki Mizunara Cask 2013 Edition – one of those whiskies that passed under the radar only to pick up a fearsome reputation years later. The Yamazaki cask collection also featured the Yamazaki Sherry Cask release that Jim Murray named Best Whisky in the World, promptly catapulting Japanese whisky into the limelight and breaking the internet. However, for me it was the Mizunara cask that was the star of the range, eschewing a big sherry-cask punch for the more understated mizunara – Japanese oak. Layers of spice, incense and sandalwood, all well-integrated and complemented by the distillery’s underlying fruity character. A rarely seen treat.

Chichibu Sexy Fish Edition #5253 Chassagne-Montrachet Pinot Noir Cask – as the UK’s source of whisky from cult Japanese distillery Chichibu, we worked with Sexy Fish to select this single cask and get it on their bar. This has never been publicly for sale by the bottle (although a few have trickled out into the wild) and is sold only by the measure in the bar. If you want to try it, you have to go to Sexy Fish, which is not a hardship.

At £335, it’s not a cheap line-up, but considering the whiskies on the mat, it’s a relative bargain.

More cocktail week goodness

We thoroughly recommend digging through the bar list, seeking out events and taking a chance on something that looks interesting, especially if it’s a new experience. London Cocktail Week is the perfect chance to expand your drinking horizons, and with so many bars across town joining in, you’re sure to find something that’ll make your week.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – The Whisky Connoisseur’s Corner – London Cocktail Week

In celebration of these whiskies, on Thursday 26 October Billy Abbott, our ambassador, will be hosting a tasting at our Great Portland Street shop exploring a selection of our exclusive sherry-cask-aged drams including our Lagavulin 1991 Cask of Distinction. ⁠

Why sherry casks?

All whisky, with a very small number of exceptions, has to be aged in an oak cask. Particularly in the making of Scotch whisky, these tend to have aged something else previously, with one of the most important being casks that previously held sherry

Historically sherry was shipped to Scotland in huge 500-litre casks called butts, and these, once emptied of their contents, proved ideal for maturing whisky, adding layers of dried fruit and nutty flavours.

Learn more about sherry casks: What was a sherry cask? >

⁠There is an incredible variety of different sherry styles, from delicate fino and salty manzanilla to nutty oloroso, amontillado and sweet, treacly Pedro Ximénez.

These can each leave behind their own profiles as a ghostly presence within the cask. Oloroso, which is by far and away the most common sherry to be filled into whisky casks, brings notes of coffee and nuts to the final whisky, while Pedro Ximénez brings unctuous dried fruit.

How is sherry aged?

All of the different styles of sherry come from the Sherry Triangle in Andalusia in the south of Spain. Here they use an ancient and complex system of solera ageing to create wines in a consistent style.

Thanks to Ruben from SherryNotes.be for the diagram

Wine is bottled from the bottom of the solera, but the casks are never emptied. Instead, a third of the wine will be extracted for bottling and the casks will be refilled with wine from the layer above. They are in turn refilled with wine from the next layer up, with new wines filled into the top layer.

These solera casks are very seldom used to age anything other than sherry. In Scottish warehouses, they would repurpose casks that had transported the sherry to age their whisky. A notable modern exception is whisky from Millstone – distiller Patrick van Zuidam loves solera casks, and uses them to create a very different take on sherry-matured spirit, like our own exclusive Millstone 2017.

Learn more about soleras: What about soleras? >

The Present Day

Between sherry’s decline in popularity and a change in the law in the 1980s that stopped its export in casks, the amount of sherry-soaked wood available to age whisky has been seriously squeezed.

Whisky producers have had to step in and support sherry bodegas to ensure a consistent supply, with the value of the wood now greater than the liquid it once contained, and with whisky makers keen to get the most out of these precious vessels.

Sherry-cask-aged whiskies are some of the most exciting and most celebrated of drams and at The Whisky Exchange we are fortunate to have an incredible selection of exclusives to share with you.

The Tasting

On Thursday 26 October 2023, The Whisky Exchange’s ambassador Billy Abbott (That’s me – ed) will be hosting a tasting of some of our sherry-cask-matured exclusive bottlings. We haven’t revealed the entire line-up, as we like to make sure there are some surprises, but we can reveal that we will be tasting a range of drams to show the versatility of sherry casks. From a refill-butt-matured Benrinnes 2009 to the dark, smoky and sticky solera-cask-aged Millstone 2017, with a pit-stop at our Glenfarclas 25 Year Old London Edition, we’ll be showing off not only what you can do with a cask, but also the styles of sherry-matured whisky that we love.

This very much peaks with our very special Lagavulin 1991 31 Year Old Cask of Distinction, matured in a single first-fill Pedro Ximénez hogshead. It was one of the stars of Whisky Show 2023, and it’s a whisky we’re very much looking forward to sharing again.

If you’re new to sherry casks and want to learn more, or if you are a veteran wanting to taste some excellent whiskies, make sure you come along to the tasting.

Buy tickets >

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Exclusive Sherry Casks – October Tastings at The Whisky Exchange

What are the Diageo Special Releases?

If you’re new to the Special Releases, it’s quite simple. This range of bottlings pops up once year to showcase different takes on whiskies from Diageo’s various Scottish distilleries. There are old favourites that appear regularly, rare expressions from distilleries that don’t get much love and surprising twists on classic single malts. On top of that, the past few years have seen themes appearing across the range, tying the whole lot together under a unifying concept.

This year’s Special Releases are particulalry special to us, as they were launched at Whisky Show, our annual celebration of all things whisky. Stuart Morrison – the malt master behind the range – was on hand at the event to answer everyone’s questions, and give us an insight into how he created these remarkable bottlings.

If you’d like to learn more about previous years, check out the links at the end of the post or head to The Diageo Special Releases – What are they?

The 2023 Edition

The past few years have been all change in the Diageo blending rooms as Stuart Morrison has taken over Craig Wilson’s role as head of the Special Releases. Stuart’s moved things in a different direction to the past few years of Craig’s stewardship, and the Diageo Special Releases 2023 look beyond Scotland’ s borders for influences from other countries, wines, spirits and cultures.

Spirited Xchange

While Diageo is best known for its whiskies (and maybe a little bit for Guinness and Smirnoff), the company has its fingers in many other pies. Not only does it own distilleries around the world it also, through its Distill Ventures wing, supports new producers who are doing something a little different.

The 2023 Special Releases takes a selection of familiar names – and one less so – and looks at them through a lens of collaboration. The result is eight expressions influenced by a spirited (e)xchange of ideas.

And with that, it’s time to talk whisky…

The Singleton of Glendullan 14yo The Silken Gown

55% / £132

The first bottle in the range is from Glendullan distillery in Speyside. Inspired by the fashion houses of France, it showcases the distillery’s rounded and fruity spirit finished in Chardonnay de Bourgogne casks – white wine casks from Burgundy. The wine itself is a rich and rounded expression of the grape’s character which melds very well with the whisky, adding depth, complexity and yet more fruitiness to the spirit.

Nose: Sweet shops to begin: peach Haribo, rhubarb and custards, sherbet lemons and barley sugar. Notes of cream and sour apple develop over time.

Palate: We’ve moved down the road to the baker’s now, with lemon shortbread and custard slices joined by milk chocolate, speculoos spices and plump sultanas.

Finish: Floral notes initially dominate, slowly fading to reveal sultanas, toffee apples and more of the speculoos spiciness.

Buy The Singleton of Glendullan 14yo The Silken Gown >

Oban 11yo The Soul of Calypso

58% / £150

Oban is very much a seaside town, with a history tied closely to the sea. Its whisky is likewise coastal, with briny sea spray and oranges incongruously and pleasantly combined. When looking for an overseas pairing for this characterful single malt, our whisky makers looked to the Caribbean for inspiration. While the tropical islands of the Americas may not be the first place you might think of twinning with a fishing town on the west coast of Scotland, it’s the spirit that really brings the two locations together – Oban even has a couple of palm trees.

This expression has been finished in casks previously filled with Caribbean (exact origin undisclosed) pot-still rum, adding extra layers of fruit, toffee and spice to the distillery’s softly maritime spirit.

Nose: Apple, banana, barley sugar, white pepper, toffee touches and a hint of mint imperial. Waxy fruit notes develop, accompanied by soft, spring-meadow flowers.

Palate: Richly textured and layered. Red apples sit on top of flowers, and sweet and sharper green apple notes. Pepperiness builds with a background of slightly unripe mango and orange oil

Finish: Gently peppery spice, even more apples, orange peel and mango skin.

Buy Oban 11yo The Soul of Calypso >

Clynelish 10yo The jazz Crescendo

57.5% / £165

A second appearance in a row for Clynelish and, for those who remember the Select Reserve, it has an age statement – 10 years old. Clynelish makes a versatile spirit, and while older editions are sublime, more youthful expressions can be juicy and packed with flavour, especially when paired with sympathetic maturation in American oak, like this dram.

Its inspiration is the USA and its music, exclusively using first-fill bourbon casks to give a bit of extra weight, gravitas and a nod to the complexity of jazz.

Nose: Waxed red apples (we’re in proper Clynelish territory), dolly mixtures, barley sugar, lemon travel sweets, meadow flowers and piles of flower petals dusted with sugar.

Palate: Weightier than the nose suggests, with a rich texture balancing out thick juiciness, soft spice and layers of vanilla. The sweets and flowers from the nose return, along with a touch of oaky spice and wax-polished oak.

Finish: Vanilla, white pepper and sweet apple sauce.

Buy Clynelish 10yo The Jazz Crescendo >

Roseisle 12yo The Origami Kite

56.5% / £120

The one we’ve all been waiting for – the first release from Roseisle. Diageo’s newest Scottish distillery, affectionately known to whisky geeks as ‘The Death Star,’ is far more than a technological terror. Set up to be hugely versatile, with a variety of stills (and even an option to use stainless steel condensers, for all you meaty-spirit geeks), it can create a wide range of whisky styles, including some that replicate those found at other Diageo distilleries.

The spirit here is described as ‘medium bodied’ in the release notes, but that hides a complex combination of grassy, fruity and earthy spirits. The casks used are simply first and refill bourbon. letting us clearly see the complex compilation of spirits. The inspiration: the complex folds of origami, represented on the label by a delicate and floaty kite.

Nose: Moss, bracken and damp bark at first, with a muskiness that slowly recedes to reveal pear skin, classic bourbon-cask vanilla and toffee. Fruity apples, fresh figs, and grassy meadow notes develop.

Palate: Thick on the palate although with a crisper flavour than that might suggest. The apples from the nose are drizzles with cream, dotted with sultanas and dusted with oaky spice.

Finish: Layers of fruit, light and custardy vanilla, and a lingering musky oak spice. Very long.

Buy Roseisle 12yo The Origami Kite >

Glenkinchie 27yo The Floral Treasure

58.3% / £340

Glenkinchie has long been one of Diageo’s key single malts, rising to prominence as part of the Classic Malts range, and now remains one of the two lowland distilleries that have remained in production while others have closed, and now new ones have opened. We’ve not often seen a whisky from the distillery in the Special Releases, with only three previous bottlings, and none since 2016. As a lighter and more floral whisky, it doesn’t always get the spotlight that it deserves, and I’m pleased to see it pop up on the list here.

This elegant dram is inspired by the delicacy of Chinese porcelain, and is matured in refill casks – American and European oak barrels and butts – laid down at the distillery in its cool warehouses. Stuart Morrison used to look after Glenkinchie’s whiskies and has been keeping on eye on these casks for years, waiting for them to be ready. They’ve finally hit their mark, and the result is my favourite whisky of the line up.

Nose: Star fruit and white flowers. Crunchy apples, polished oak and floral perfume, backed up by old-fashioned sweetshop notes and a touch of white chocolate (the good stuff).

Palate: Hugely floral – the classic, old-fashioned Lowland style. Fresh and sweet apples, a touch of waxiness and wax polish, and well-integrated, well-structured oak.

Finish: Meadow flowers, freshly mown grass and gentle sweetness.

Buy Glenkinchie 27yo The Floral Treasure >

Mortlach The Katana’s Edge

58% / £250

Mortlach has become the meaty heart of the Special Releases range. Meatiness is very much the connective element here, looking eastwards to Japan and the country’s obsession with umami – the mysterious fifth, savoury taste. This release takes the rich Speyside spirit and combines it not only with ex-Pinot Noir red wine casks, but also ex-Japanese whisky casks from Kanosuke distillery in the south of Japan.

As a Japanophile and a big fan of Kanosuke (and the shochus that owners Komasa Jyozo make at their other distillery down the road – ask me about their crazy four-lyne-armed horizontal pot still if you find me in the pub) this is the whisky I was most looking forward to trying.

Nose: Sesame crackers, sultanas and cream to start. Sour Japanese plums, singed toffee, soft peppery notes and a gentle, almost incense-like muskiness.

Palate: Rich and creamy in texture, with the toffee from the nose leading into pear, crunchy spun sugar and cocoa. Drying oakiness is balanced by juicy apple sauce and black pepper, while candied fruit develops.

Finish: White chocolate and dark spice. Stewed apple and damp oak.

Buy Mortlach The Katana’s Edge >

Talisker The Wild Explorador

59.7% / £120

With this release, Talisker has cemented itself as a mainstay of the modern Special Releases line-up. As the blending team have experimented with different casks across Diageo’s entire range of distilleries, Talisker has been the beneficiary of a range of tried-and-tested finishes. This bottling continues the work that started with Craig Wilson’s Talisker Port Ruighe by looking to Portugal for inspiration and adding more types of port to the mix. This is finished in tawny, ruby and white port casks.

Nose: Rich and leathery, with briny smoke – fresh but dark. Salty seas turn to warm black rubber and sweet bacon dusted with barbecue salt. Lime peel emerges along side the distilleries trademark black pepper spice.

Palate: Very definitely Talisker on the palate: salty seas and freshly ground black pepper. Sweet sultanas and dried orchard fruit are balanced by savoury wood and leather notes, and an all-encompassing but gentle peaty smokiness.

Finish: The black-pepper spice lingers with roasted apples and crisp sweetness.

Buy Talisker The Wild Explorador >

Lagavulin 12yo The Ink of Legends

56.4% / £155

The Special Releases wouldn’t be the same without the Lagavulin 12 Year Old – a mainstay since the first ‘proper’ annual release in 2002. While it has traditionally been a raw Lagavulin with a focus on the distillery’s more elemental side, this year brings in inspiration from a spirit that has recently been controversial in whisky maturation: tequila.

While it might not seem traditional, the flavours of youthful whiskies – especially those from Islay – often cross over with the vegetal and spicy notes you find in tequila, and it seems both an obvious and strange match to me. This has been finished for a few months in casks that previous held Don Julio tequila, just enough to impart a little bit of the agave spirit’s peppery character.

Nose: The classic Lagavulin seaweed smokiness is slightly subdued, but is bolstered by mulchy leaves and sweet green peppers. Black pepper notes build, balanced by damp earth, peat smoke and brine.

Palate: Sweeter than the nose suggests, with a crisp smokiness and gentle spice. Leafy notes lead, both herbs and piles of damp, raked autumn leaves. Dark chocolate, mint and menthol hide at the back, with the middle ground covered with green peppers, black pepper and briny smoke.

Finish: Smoky liquorice, sweet orchard fruit and lingering green pepper.

Buy Lagavulin 12yo The Ink of Legends >

WHEN DO THE SPECIAL RELEASES 2022 ARRIVE?

They’re here! A little earlier than usual, but you can find all of the bottle (that we still have in stock) up on The Whisky Exchange website on our Diageo Special Releases 2023 page.

We also have stock in The Whisky Exchange’s London shops, so if you can’t find what you’re looking for online, give them a call to check what they have and pop buy to grab a bottle or two.

If you want to see what’s happened in previous years, we’ve got details and tasting notes for all the releases since 2008 here on the blog: 2008 pt1/2008 pt2, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

We still have a few bottles from previous year’s releases – you can find them on our Diageo Special Releases page.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Diageo Special Releases 2023 – Spirited Xchange

One of those leading lights is our own Billy Abbott, who earlier in the month will be hosting a tasting in our Covent Garden store on sake.

A Beginner’s Guide to Sake

6 September 2023, The Whisky Exchange Covent Garden,  WC2E 9HH

Hosted by Billy Abbott, this is a chance to really get to grips with this brilliant drink. As Billy says: “Sake is one of the world’s most misunderstood drinks, outside of Japan anyway. Fortunately, we now have access to some great sakes in the UK – it’s time to smash some misconceptions.”

Book now > 

Whisky Show 2023

29 September – 1 October 2023, Old Billingsgate, EC3R 6DX

One of the world’s leading celebrations of whisky, our Whisky Show is now in its 15th year. It takes a global community to bring an event like this to life, a diverse group of enthusiasts united by a shared passion. It is with that in mind that we dedicate Whisky Show 2023 to the people behind everything we do.

Always one of the highlights of the show, this year’s line up of masterclasses includes Dr Bill Lumsden sharing the secrets of Ardbeg, Dave Broom bringing together a constellation of whisky stars and Sukhinder Singh hosting an introduction to old & rare spirits.

Discover more >

To keep up to date on all of our upcoming events, sign up to The Whisky Exchange Events mailing list.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – September Tastings at The Whisky Exchange

The Chichibu London Edition 2022 landed recently (fashionably late, as usual), but along with it came a few more whiskies. A single cask release has already quietly gone out and sold out through our shops, but the next larger releases will be appearing over the coming few months: the aforementioned Chichibu Taboo Series.

Chichibu Taboo Series

This series of three single-cask whiskies shows Chichibu’s whisky at 7, 8 and ten years old, each from a different type of cask, with the middle expression also using peated barley. The labels were designed by Raj ‘Mr C’ Chavda, until recently our creative director and now leading the design team for our friends at Elixir Distillers.

Continuing Mr C’s previous work on Chichibu – he’s designed the labels for almost all of the UK single casks that have been released in the UK in the past decade – this is another triptych, showing three women as the Three Wise Monkeys of Japanese proverb: Mizaru (who sees no evil), Kikazaru (who hears no evil) and Iwazaru (who speaks no evil). It also explores the Japanese attitude to tattoos, themselves a frequent motif in Mr C’s work.

Tattoo Taboo

Japan has a long history with body art, with evidence of tattoos going back to prehistory. However, over time their cultural meaning in the country has changed, with a period of tattoos being used to permanently mark criminals in the 7th century starting a process of them becoming associated with organised crime. Eventually, they were banned in the late 1800s. The ban was lifted in 1948, but the stigma against them has continued into the present day.

However, over time more people in Japan have become interested in tattoos and, while they are still very much taboo today, attitudes do seem to be very slowly changing. Those who do get tattoos often hide them, and the labels of the Chichibu Taboo Series reflect this – to the naked eye the three wise women are uninked, but shine a UV torch on them and more will be revealed…

The Whiskies

Selected by The Whisky Exchange’s founder Sukhinder Singh, each of the whiskies shows a different aspect of Chichibu’s character. The casks have added their influence, although in a sympathetic way, emphasising the spirit’s flavours as well as adding their own.

Due to the popularity of Chichibu and the limited nature of these whiskies, we will be selling them by ballot over the coming three months – one bottle in each of August, September and October. There’s a link the ballot page for each bottle below – click through to sign up to receive notification when the ballots go live.

Chichibu 2012 10 Year Old Second-fill Bourbon Cask #1763 – See No Evil

70cl / 59.5% ABV / £225

Ballot 8-9 August 2023 – enter ballot >

Nose: Lemon-flavoured boiled sweets, lemon drizzle cake and candied lemon peel at first. Flapjack grain and hints of porridge hide underneath. Toffee and polished oak develop along with a touch of beeswax and floral honey, as well as fresh apricot and crisp apple.

Palate: Toffee sweetness kicks things off followed by intense apricot and stewed apple. Chocolate and polished oak become rich lemon tart and even more drizzle cake than the nose suggested. Floral notes build: meadow flowers and blossoming orchards. Dark-toasted grain hides at the back.

Finish: Apple tarts and lemon drops linger, with beeswax-polished tables and soft spice developing.

Comment: Fruity and complex, with balanced citrus sharpness and sweet orchard fruit. The cask may be a refill, but it’s added layers of toffee and gentle oakiness that keeps everything working together.

Chichibu 2013 8 Year Old First-fill Bourbon Cask #2666 (Peated) – Hear No Evil

70cl / 59.5% ABV / £199

Ballot 5-6 September 2023 – enter ballot >

Nose: Orange blossom and fruity honey with orange barley sugar and expressed orange peels. Singed pine needles, pine sap and incense smoke are joined by spiced sponge cake, rye crackers and grape jam. The smokiness develops, creating an aromatic contrast that ties the other aromas together.

Palate: Big orchard fruit kicks things off, with apples and oranges joined by the toffee, spiced fruit cake, hints of smacked mint and dark chocolate. The incense from the nose has become aromatic wood smoke, with crusty, freshly baked schwarzbrot and cherry jam developing alongside a touch of fruity jelly.

Finish: The fruit jelly slowly fades to leave polished oak, chocolate, toasted rye bread and lingering hints of incense.

Comment: While the description we were given of this says ‘heavily peated’, either the distillation process or time in the cask has tamed the smoke and integrated it well with the rich, grain-and-fruit character of the whisky. An exercise in balance and restraint.

Chichibu 2014 7  Year Old Red-win Cask #13337 – Speak No Evil

70cl / 59.5% ABV / £225

Ballot 7-8 November 2023 – enter ballot >

Nose: Herbal and aromatic: orange and apple blossom with Green leaves and spring meadows. Sweeter toffee notes build, with a touch of savoury grain: golden syrup sandwiches on brown bread (hold the butter). Toffee apples develo along with touches of barley sugar, fruity boiled sweets and vanilla cream.

Palate: Rich vanilla sponge cake with raisin jam, apple sauce and juicy sultanas. Mouthwatering fruity pineapple, mango, dried guava and a touch of mint follow. Buttery pastry with a dusting of nutmeg develops into a tropical tart. The mint becomes tarragon and green grass.

Finish: Stacks of orchard fruit stew down to a rich apple sauce with touches of pineapple.

Comment: I’m a well-known skeptic of red-wine-cask maturation, but this works perfectly, adding layers of fruit to an already fruity spirit without hiding its rich and grainy character.

…and there’s more

If you miss out on the ballots, don’t worry – these will all be available to try at Whisky Show, although tickets are now sold out.

And worry not: these aren’t the only Chichibus we have up our sleeves. Keep an eye out for another treat later this year.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – The Chichibu Taboo Series

AGAVE BARREL-TOP TASTING

10 August 2023, The Whisky Exchange London Bridge, SE1 1LL

Big, bold and funky, mezcal, along with Tequila, is fast becoming the latest drinks trend and we will be hosting an informal barrel-top tasting at our London Bridge store to celebrate both of these classics as well as some of Mexico’s other agave spirits. ⁠

As our own Alex Huskinson says “⁠agave spirits are a true reflection of a rich distilling culture which is not just steeped in tradition but also makes absolutely bloody delicious drinks.”

Book Now >

AMERICAN BARREL-TOP TASTING

23 August 2023, The Whisky Exchange Great Portland Street, W1W 7NT

Join us for one of our biggest barrel-top tastings to date, in this tour of American whiskey. The story of American whiskey is changing and it’s no longer just about the big bourbon distillers.

Rye, craft distillers and the rediscovery of different whisky-making traditions are all making the world of American whiskey an exciting place.

Book now >

To keep up to date on all of our upcoming events, sign up to The Whisky Exchange Events mailing list.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – August Tastings at The Whisky Exchange

Rum Show

14-15 July 2023, Glaziers Hall, London SE1 9DD

Our award-winning celebration of rum is back for another year. With more than 250 rums to try from 60 brands, Rum Show is you chance to discover one of the most complex, diverse and flavour-packed spirits in the world.

We have a full schedule of masterclasses brought to you by the rum world’s leading lights. Highlights from this year’s lineup include Black Tot’s Mitch Wilson and Matt “Cocktail Wonk” Pietrek exploring navy rum with Black Tot’s Last Consignment and a 1998 Caroni, and a deep dive into the cult Taiwanese Renaissance Distillery.

Book now >

Beginner’s Guide to Agave

26 July 2023, The Whisky Exchange Covent Garden, WC2E 9HH

Gone are the days when Tequila’s only role was to be necked with lime and salt. Tequila and the wider family of agave spirits have a rich history and some incredible craftsmanship which we are finally getting to see outside of Mexico.

These are fine spirits with flavours that you just cannot find anywhere else. Join our own Alex Huskinson for this introduction to Tequila, mezcal and beyond as he explains which to sip and which to shake into a cocktail.

Book now >

To keep up to date on all of our upcoming events, sign up to The Whisky Exchange Events mailing list

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – July Tastings at The Whisky Exchange

Watt Whisky Masterclass

8 June 2023, The Whisky Exchange Great Portland Street, W1W 7NT

Based in Campbelltown, Watt Whisky has taken the whisky world by storm. Husband-and-wife duo Mark and Kate Watt have more than 40 years experience in the Scotch whisky industry between them, and have turned their passion into the Watt Whisky range.⁠

⁠As indie bottlers their philosophy is that it’s all about the taste, and they bottle good, honest whisky, priced for drinking rather than collecting. Kate joins us this June for a masterclass at our Great Portland Street shop for dive into their range.

Book now >

Adelphi and Ardnamurchan Tasting

15 June 2023, The Whisky Exchange Covent Garden, WC2E 9HH

The Adelphi name has roots in the 19th century, but it is their work as an indie bottler since the 1990s that has secured Adelphi’s place in the whisky world.

More recently, in 2014, Adelphi started distilling their own whisky at the cult Ardnamurchan distillery. Join us later in June for a deep dive into Adelphi’s work as a blender, bottler and distiller.

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Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – June Tastings at The Whisky Exchange

Peaty Exclusives from The Whisky Exchange

4 May 2023, The Whisky Exchange Great Portland Street, W1W 7NT

Hosted by The Whisky Exchange ambassador Billy Abbott, this tasting is your chance to explore the world of peat with our favourite picks from our most recent raft of exclusives. The line-up features an Ardbeg 2000 and an Islay 1991 alongside four more exclusive whiskies from across Scotland and beyond. These are whiskies that have been released as part of the 50th anniversary of The Whisky Exchange’s co-founders’ family opening their original west London off-licence.

Start your Bank Holiday off right with a welcome drink on arrival before Billy guides you through the six exclusive whiskies. Peat has an incredible variety of flavours to discover from the beach bonfires of Ardbeg and Islay, through the combination of sherry and peat, to exciting flavours in whiskies from from unexpected sources.

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Kilchoman European Tour Tasting

24 May 2023, The Whisky Exchange Covent Garden, WC2E 9HH

Kilchoman have partnered with Land Rover and are heading off on a European tour with a limited-edition port-and-bourbon-matured bottling only available at tour stops or with a Land Rover purchase.

Hosted by George and James Wills, sons of the distillery’s founder, this tasting will feature not only the limited-edition release, but also the latest editions of the core range, examples of its new makes, and some new upcoming releases, showcasing Kilchoman’s love of experimenting with casks.

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Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – May Tastings at The Whisky Exchange

We helped launch Japanese whisky in the UK and supported releases from distilleries like Karuizawa when no one else did. We’ve championed in-person tastings in our shops and at our award-winning shows and put education at the core of what we do. Now, we embark on a new adventure, creating a category of spirit unlike any other.

Introducing The Gastronomy Selection: Fine Spirits for the Home or Professional Kitchen.

The journey of The Gastronomy Selection started many years ago, with experimentation in The Whisky Exchange co-founder Sukhinder Singh’s home kitchen. Already a dab hand with a frying pan, he turned his eye to improving the classic dishes that he had already mastered.

“Since the first time I replaced the white wine in my Bolognese with 1980s malt whisky I’ve never looked back,” he told us. “I know it’s not traditionally Italian, but it really brings an extra layer of complexity.”

From this eureka moment, Sukhinder has continued his experimentation, pairing different spirits and cuisines to create previously unthinkable combinations. Enlisting the help of head buyer and former sommelier Dawn Davies MW, he has finally made this decade-spanning dream a reality.

THE INAUGURAL RELEASE – 37 YEAR OLD BLENDED MALT

The first release in The Gastronomy Selection range launches today. It is a versatile 37-year-old blended malt, crafted by The Whisky Exchange’s blending team to lift any dish it is added to. We caught up with project leader and pathological Scotsman Gordon Oliver – who was at the time slaving over a vat of prototypical peated hollandaise – to get some background on this ground-breaking release.

“Blenders are the chefs of the whisky world. Casks are like their ingredients – their vegetables and meat and-so-on – and the blending vat is just a big saucepan if you think about it, right? Well anyway, we decided it was a strong enough analogy on which to launch our new range of cooking spirits.“

The Gastronomy Selection 37 Year Old Blended Malt, 51.3%

Nose: Fine Devon fudge and butter toffee, made with milk from undisturbed cows, the finest hand-spun cane sugar and sea-salted, long-cultured farmhouse butter. Freshly shelled hazelnuts and Swiss milk chocolate follow, a crunch-laden enrobing with a sprinkling of finely julienned orange zest. The creaminess builds, packed with gentle Madagascan vanilla character and hints of cream-laden coffee: thick, dark, sweet Rwandan beans, brewed over flame in a Japanese siphon.

Palate: The notes of creamy sweetness return, rolling over unsnapped single-origin chocolate shards into a pool of bobbing windfall apples: tart Granny Smith and sweet Pink Lady with a handful of transatlantic Honeycrisp. The nutty notes develop: hazelnuts from the bottom of the bowl with lightly toasted Spanish almonds, all lightly dusted with soft, golden caster sugar. Crunchy spun-sugar nests are draped over thinly sliced conference pears and freshly malted Golden Promise barley. Beeswax-polished oak is sprinkled with gently bruised mint leaves.

Finish: Rich, baked-apple purée builds in waves, lingering beyond developing mint and creamy caramel. Chocolate water-ganache, let down with cream, leads to polished oak off-cuts and honey-baked vanilla pods.

Comment: An excellent whisky, and an excellent ingredient. Its sweeter notes enhance and embolden desserts and naturally sweet savouries, while also contrasting and pairing with the best meats and roasted vegetables. This sweet and savoury combination make it perfect for use in a slow-cooked ragu, enhancing the meaty umami as well as amplifying the sweetness of tomato. A cooking whisky so good, you might be tempted to drink it on its own!

Buy The Gastronomy Selection 37 Year Old Blended Malt now >

How to Use it?

The Gastronomy Selection 37 Year Old blended malt Scotch whisky is incredibly versatile. While we started the project focusing on Italian sauces, we quickly realised that this was merely the tip of a tasty iceberg.

Both crunchy and delightful – deep fried Mars bar (image by Xian)

For home cooks, there are a number of dishes that we can recommend, including deep fried Mars Bars that utilise whisky instead of water in the batter. The alcohol in the whisky cooks off faster than water, leading to a crunchier chocolate treat, run through with all the charm of this Stonehaven classic.

We’ve also not forgotten vegans in our research. Tofu marinated in the Inaugural Release makes the perfect accompaniment to umami-rich mushroom dishes. The whisky actually alters the texture of this vegetarian favourite, making it an excellent substitute for pulled pork. And while we’re on the subject, once you’ve added a fine old malt whisky like this to your BBQ sauce, you’ll never have it any other way.

UNTRADITIONALLY TRADITIONAL

In preparation for future releases in the Gastronomy Selection series, The Whisky Exchange Test Kitchen (trademark application submitted), is experimenting with more whiskies from across the decades, using them as core ingredients as well as marinades and glazes.

Favourites so far include a 1960’s-vintage Bowmore, which the team have been drizzling over a variety of dishes as a finishing touch. While the whisky’s famed tropical fruit character makes an excellent addition to many desserts, it was a savoury treat that kicked the project from skunkworks to reality.

The famed Bowmore Bicentenary – classic pineapple pizza whisky

“Anyone who knows me will tell you, I am obsessed with Hawaiian pizza,” head buyer Dawn Davies told us while hungrily watching the Dominos delivery tracker. “A little spritz of Bowmore just as you open the takeaway box adds a depth of flavour that you just can’t beat.”

The Search for Fruit and Nut

Using Davies’s connections in the fine dining world, we enlisted a number of top chefs to help us explore the potential of the Gastronomy Selection, all of whom have asked to remain anonymous. Dishes currently in development with our testers in the field include chips dusted with powderised 1996 Ben Nevis and cask aged salad dressings. Maturing a waxy single malt like Clynelish with olive oil and seasonings in ex-bourbon barrels has shown to add layers of nuance and, in some cases, a crunchy texture.

Reports of some chefs simply drinking the whisky are untrue and should not be believed. This is a range of spirits specially created to be used when cooking. And while we’re starting off with a whisky, there’s much more to come.

The future

In the end, we see this as the future of spirits. As wine took over from water as the cooking liquid of choice, so will cooking spirits flush wine down the pan of history – wine’s just unfinished brandy anyway.

We are kickstarting the revolution with The Gastronomy Selection Blended Malt Scotch Whisky, and hope to see others follow in our wake.  A fine malt shouldn’t just be saved for special occasions, it should be enjoyed, in good company and in food. After all, we shouldn’t take whisky too seriously.

Happy April Fool’s Day, everyone!

However, the Gastronomy Selection 37 Year Old Blended Malt is real, and available from The Whisky Exchange website and our London shops. We recommend that you drink it – it’s a great, well-aged blended malt, packed with flavour, and much too good to hide in a ragu.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – The Gastronomy Selection Edition #1 – launching today!

Cask Type Barrel Top

2 March 2023, The Whisky Exchange London Bridge, SE1 1LL

For the whisky lovers among us, we have an informal Cask Type Barrel Top tasting at our London Bridge store on 2 March 2023. From fruity sherry-cask whiskies, creamy bourbon-cask drams and plenty of wild experiments, this is your chance to explore the wide world of whisky.

Our line-up brings together releases from Kavalan, Glen Moray, Tomatin, Stauning, The Lakes and Starward for a real globe-trotting adventure in flavour.⁠

Book now >

Cognac Show

10-11 March 2023, Glaziers Hall, London SE1 9DD

Back for another year at Glaziers Hall, Cognac Show brings more than 150 Cognacs, Armagnacs and Calvados to London’s Southbank. A chance to meet the passionate people behind not only familiar favourites in the business but also the boutique producers that make this region and spirit so special.

We have a host of masterclasses at the show including a deep dive into the evolving style of Martell featuring bottles from the private collection of Sukhinder Singh, The Whisky Exchange’s co-founder, as well as cocktails from Bar Luciole, the leading bar in Cognac.

Book now >

London Libations Barrel Top

24 March 2023, Glaziers Hall, London, SE1 9DD

To round the month of March out we return to Glaziers Hall for our London Libations Barrel Top tasting bringing together some of the best drinks brands in London for a real taste of the city from classic London Dry gin to novel takes on whisky.

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Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – March Tastings at The Whisky Exchange

To celebrate the occasion, we’re taking a closer look at this award-winning Island single malt–Ledaig 18 Year Old.

Island Spirit

The iconic colourful houses of Tobermory

The second largest island of the Inner Hebrides, the Isle of Mull lies off the coast of Argyll and Bute, west Scotland. The island’s capitol is the colourful town of Tobermory, most famous for the colourfully-painted houses that overlook the harbour and for being the home of Mull’s only whisky distillery. Named after the town, Tobermory distillery started life in the 1790s, first as a brewery and then a distillery, under the name Ledaig, from the Gaelic name of the area, meaning ‘safe haven’.

Rich, bold and smoky, peat works its way into every nook and cranny it can find, making it hard to produce both peated and unpeated spirit at the distillery. Still, for six months each year Tobermory produces heavily-peated single malt, and they call it Ledaig.

What does it taste like?

Ledaig 18 Year Old spent the first 16 years of its life in ex-bourbon casks before a final two years in sherry casks, which impart layers of sweet fruit and soft spice that complement the island character.

Buy Ledaig 18 Year Old >

Nose: Right off the bat there’s a big wave of savoury, almost meaty peat smoke, with undertones of malty marmite. Sweeter aromas of stewed plums, vanilla pods and raisins develop in the glass, over a backdrop of spicy peppercorns, seaweed and sweet oak.

Palate: Sweet and spicy, the palate initially brings notes of chilli flakes, ginger and honey, before chocolate-covered coffee beans join the fray. Soft tendrils of peat smoke appear, flanked by orange peel, walnuts and leafy, green herbs.

Finish: Sea salt crystals and bold peat smoke linger in the finish, as well as roasted coffee beans, seaweed and tobacco.

Comment: There is a good balance between savoury and sweet, the coastal character of the whisky is clear, it reminds me of bonfires on the beach. Its time in sherry casks has also left its mark, mingling with the peatiness without being overpowered.

Giving her thoughts on this year’s winner, our buying director Dawn Davies MW says ‘It is great to see the distilleries that are less well-known winning tastings like this. I think this Ledaig offers fantastic value for money for an 18-year-old, and always offers consistency across the range.’

To find out more about the shortlist and competition head over to The Whisky Exchange Whisky of the Year 2023 page.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Ledaig 18 Year Old – Whisky of the Year 2023

Orkney – almost as far north as you can go

Scapa is one of the Orkney islands’ pair of distilleries. However, it’s very much Orkney’s second distillery, with the running joke about the recent run of anonymous independent Highland Park releases being that they ‘aren’t Scapa’. With very few whiskies available from the distillery, it’s not hard to see why Orkney is dominated by Highland Park. However, even though it sits in its neighbour’s shadow, it’s a distillery with a following thanks to its excellently fruity whisky.

Situated on Orkney’s main island (Mainland) just outside of the capital of Kirkwall, Scapa distillery wasn’t a very welcoming place until relatively recently.  A sign outside famously said ‘No Visitors’ and whisky fans roaming nearby couldn’t get past the front gate.

In 2015, the distillery finally got a visitor centre and opened its doors to the public for the first time in its 130-year history.

Distilling manager Brian MacAuley takes a saw to the No Visitors sign

However, while Scapa fans could now see around the distillery, they still didn’t have much in the way of options when it came to drinking its single malt.

Scapa – a short history of its whisky

Scapa’s spirit is unique, with an apple/pineapple-forward character tinged with maritime touches that you can’t find anywhere else in Scotland. As such, it’s sought after by blenders, who use nearly every drop produced to create their whiskies. On top of that, the distillery was mostly closed – with only intermittent production – between 1994 and 2006, drastically limiting the amount of older whisky they’ve had available.

Scapa – right by the sea

Over the years, there have been a handful of distillery bottlings. The Scapa 14 Year Old of the early 2000s was very highly regarded, but disappeared in 2008. It was replaced by Scapa 16 Year Old, which also picked up lots of fans, but it too was discontinued as stocks of older whisky ran out, with the last bottles leaving the line in 2015.

Since then, Scapa Glansa and Skiren have flown the flag for the distillery, but while great examples of Scapa’s fruity spirit, they don’t quite fit the same niche as the previous longer-aged editions. Owner Chivas Brothers keeps a close rein on casks, and the few older whiskies they have don’t make their way out to independent bottlers very often, which makes any Scapa other than the current distillery bottlings very rare.

It’s for this reason that we jumped at the chance to have our own exclusive Scapa, not only bottled at batch strength, but also with some decent age – 19 years.

Scapa 2003 19 Years Old

A sister release to our exclusive Strathisla 2007 15 Year Old, our Scapa is similar in make up – a small-batch release matured solely in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, bottled at full batch strength. It was distilled in 2003, towards the end of the quiet years when they were starting to ramp up production again. As such, it’s about as old a whisky as Scapa can bottle, with only a scattered selection of older casks in the Chivas Brothers warehouses stretching back to 1994 and beyond.

As a big fan of the old 14 and 16-year-old releases – whiskies that helped me realise that I might be slightly obsessed with fruity flavours in spirits – I’ve been waiting for this since I heard it was on its way.

For me, Scapa is all about apples; for TWE co-founder Sukhinder Singh it’s pineapple. Whatever your flavour sensitivities, this whisky stacked with tropical-tinged orchard fruit, all drizzled with well-balanced, creamy, American-oak-influenced vanilla.

Buy Scapa 2003 19 Year Old >

Nose: Granny Smith apples and vanilla cream to start. Layers of apple and fruit build: sour sliced apples, boiled sweets, apple pies and apple sauce. That’s all quite green and fresh, balanced by some sultana and dried apricot fruitiness. Briny notes float around the edges, joined by building citrus – lemon zest and orange marmalade with peel.

Palate: More apples, this time with extra apricot, barley sugar and pear drops. Lemon sherbet sweets develop along with touches of violet and spiced shortbread. The marmalade from those nose hides underneath, along with wax polished oak, baking spices and a touch of honey.

Finish: Ryvita crackers with honey, sweet liquorice and buttered toast with apple jam.

The whisky arrived just in time for Whisky Show last year, and I spent the weekend grabbing whisky friends – both fans and industry folk – and pointing them towards the bottle on The Whisky Exchange stand. It went down very well, an unexpected treat and one that we hope heralds more from the all-too-quiet distillery.

Our exclusive Scapa 2003 is available from The Whisky Exchange website or our London shops. You can also find more bottles that are only available from us on our Exclusive to The Whisky Exchange page.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Scapa 2007 19 Year Old – Exclusive to The Whisky Exchange

Today, we’re starting off with the first of a pair of very exciting small-batch whiskies – Strathisla 2007 15 Year Old.

Chivas Brothers and the Independents

Chivas Brothers is the Scotch whisky wing of drinks giant (and TWE parent company) Pernod Ricard, and the owner of a wide range of distilleries across Scotland. While there’s some big names among them – Glenlivet, we’re mostly looking at you here – they are mostly lesser-known, with single malts available from independent bottlers rather than the distilleries themselves. However, some are often hard to find, including Strathisla.

Strathisla – a short history

Strathisla is very much at the heart of the Chivas Brothers portfolio and is key to making Chivas Regal. The company bought the run-down and bankrupt distillery in the 1950s and brought it back to life, changing its name from Milton (the name it was founded with and switched back to in 1890) to Strathisla (the name it had from 1870 to 1890). Chivas Regal whiskies had been around since the early years of the 20th century, but with Strathisla in the mix, the range expanded and continued to grow into the international favourite it is today.

Maybe Scotland’s most picturesque distillery

However, this did mean that there wasn’t as much Strathisla single malt around as there once was, and this has continued to the present day. Independent bottlers – especially Gordon & MacPhail, who used to bottle under the distillery’s own label – are the main source, releasing occasional single-cask and small-batch bottlings. Whisky from the distillery has also been occasionally available as a distillery bottling – usually as a Strathisla 12 Year Old – but not currently. In general supplies are rather scarce, with younger and more-affordable editions especially so.

Strathisla 2007 15 Year Old

With there not being many Strathisla bottlings out there, we were very happy to get the chance to grab an exclusive release for The Whisky Exchange. Company co-founder Sukhinder has long been a fan – with bottlings often popping up in our exclusive selections from Signatory Vintage – and this release shows off why he holds the distillery in high-regard.

While I am usually someone who claims that the Scotch whisky regions don’t have much of a place in modern whisky (with everyone making pretty much every style of whisky all over the country these days), Strathisla – and this Strathisla in particular – is the exception that proves the rule: it’s about as classic a Speyside as you can get. Matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks and bottled at full batch-strength, it’s a punchy dram packed with the stereotypical Speyside fruit and spice, all wrapped up in a creamy American-oak blanket.

Buy Strathisla 2003 15 Year Old >

Nose: Victoria sponge cake with raspberry jam, spiced shortbread, sultanas, baked apple, candied orange peel and ripe pear. The vanilla from the sponge becomes light custard and apples become apple pie. Creaminess builds along with banana hints.

Palate: A big hit of spice and fruit leads to barley sugar sweetness, orange milk-chocolate and lots of orchard fruit – fresh and cooked very ripe apples and pears. Garibaldi biscuits develop, along with berry fruit: blueberries and blackcurrants.

Finish: Spiced custard and shortbread with banana hints.

It’s rare that we get a chance to taste Strathisla at all, so this exclusive bottled at higher strength and without a cloak of sherry-cask maturation hiding the distillery’s character is really special. It’s available to purchase online and from our London shops.

You can also find more bottles that are only available from us on our Exclusive to The Whisky Exchange page.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Strathisla 2003 15 Year Old – Exclusive to The Whisky Exchange

To celebrate the occasion, we’re taking a closer look at this award-winning Appleton rum, starting with the most important question of all:

What does it taste like?

Nose: Rich molasses hits you right away followed by clove studded oranges, cinnamon, almonds, apricots and plums. In addition to the fruit and spice there’s also a pleasantly phenolic side with engine oil, a dab of shoe polish and a drop of tar. We’re definitely in Jamaica.

Palate: Brown sugar, really good orange curacao, guava and ginger root. There are some savoury notes around the edges – fennel and coriander seeds – that bring a great sense of complexity. Then green coffee beans, halva, black pepper, and toasted hazelnuts. Mellow and rich.

Finish: Long and nicely dry with leather, polished wood, caramel and shavings of dark chocolate.

Observations: Here we have an excellent example of rum bottled without added flavourings or sugar, as per Jamaican regulations. At 15 years old, it shows excellent maturity without too much oak influence obscuring the spirit character.

‘Appleton is a great distillery and this is a great rum,’ says our buying director Dawn Davies MW. ‘It shows the perfect balance between elegance and power and would be equally enjoyable for someone just dipping their toe into rum as those already in love with the category.’

What’s in the bottle?

It’s not unusual for distilleries around the world to import molasses to make their rums, but every bottle of Appleton Estate has its origins in its own cane fields in Jamaica’s Nassau Valley. – the estate that gives Appleton Estate its name. The rich soils and clement microclimate offer the perfect conditions for growing sugarcane, which has been cultivated there for centuries. Molasses derived from this single-estate cane is diluted with limestone-filtered water from the Black River – the lifeblood of Appleton since 1749 and the namesake of our rum of the year.

After carefully controlled fermentation with a proprietary cultured yeast, the fermented molasses is ready for distillation. A number of styles of rum are produced in the Appleton distillery using both stainless steel column stills and 5,000 litre copper pot stills. The Appleton Estate Black River Casks is a blend of heavier pot-still and lighter column-still rums, aged for a minimum of 15 years in American white oak casks.

The Jamaican climate has a profound impact on the spirit as it ages. All of the processes of maturation are intensified by the heat and humidity meaning that casks laid down in Appleton’s warehouses appear to age much faster than, for instance, a cask of whisky in the Scottish Highlands. After 15 years-or-so, Appleton’s rums show maturity and depth beyond their years. At this point, the casks set aside for this award-winning expression are ready for blending.

Who’s Behind it?

In the world of rum, there are few names as well-respected as Joy Spence. Raised in Kingston and studied in chemistry, Joy joined J Wray & Nephew – the owner of Appleton Estate – in 1981. In 1997,  her work and talents were recognised when she was promotion to the rank of master blender, making her the first woman across the global sprits industry to ever earn the title. She has created blends for royals and heads of state, she was instrumental in gaining GI status for Jamaican Rum, and she is involved in numerous philanthropic ventures that aid women around the world.

Decades after she arrived at Appleton Estate, Joy is still hands-on when it comes to selecting casks, developing new blends and ensuring consistency across the range of rums. The Black River Casks is her creation, introduced in 2021 as part of a broader revamp to the Appleton range. The Whisky Exchange Rum of the Year 2023 is just one of many awards accrued during a remarkable career with many achievements surely still ahead.

Where to next?

Appleton Estate 21 Year Old Nassau Valley Casks

If you enjoyed our rum of the year then this 21-year-old expression offers a logical progression in terms of style and maturity. Here we find the hallmark orange and spice notes from the 15-year-old greatly intensified and accompanied by stewed fruits, raisins, prunes and sweet, oaky notes of toffee and vanilla.

A very mellow style of Jamaican rum that nonetheless packs plenty of character. Just like our rum of the year, this is a blend of pot and column distillates aged at Appleton’s warehouses around the island.

Buy Appleton 21 Year Old Nassau Valley Casks >

Appleton 1984 37 Year Old Hearts Collection

For the die-hard fans out there we are very happy to offer this 100% pot still expression of Appleton Estate bottled in collaboration with Italian rum ultras Habitation Velier. Coming in at a punchy 63% ABV this is an intense, high-ester rum with bags of those industrial and tarry notes we found in the Black River Casks. It’s dry on the palate with aromatic spices, coconut and tobacco leaves. That familiar citrus note comes back right at the end in the form of orange bitters and burnt orange peel.

Very serious stuff indeed. It’s a real treat to try a Jamaican rum of this age, especially a rare traditional pot still bottling of Appleton. One for the hardcore rum drinker or the serious spirits collector.

Buy Appleton 1984 37 Year Old Hearts Collection >

If you’re looking for more from the distillery, you can find our complete range on The Whisky Exchange’s Appleton Estate Rum page. For more information on our other Of the Year winners, head over to our Rum of the Year page.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Rum of the Year 2023 – Appleton Estate 15 Year Old Black River Casks

Rebujito

A popular way to beat the heat in southern Spain, the classic Rebujito is a simple highball of dry sherry and Sprite or 7up. It’s a fine drink as-is, but if you take the time to juice some fresh citrus – effectively making it like a Tom Collins – then the Rebujito really comes into its own.

Ingredients

50ml Valdespino Fino Inocente 
10ml Lemon juice
10ml Lime Juice
20ml 1:1 simple syrup
Soda Water
6 Mint leaves

Method

Pour the sherry, citrus juice, sugar and mint leaves into a highball glass. Lightly muddle the mint leaves to wake them up a bit and then fill the glass to the brim with ice cubes. Top with soda water and enjoy. You can easily scale this recipe up and serve it by the pitcher. It makes a nice little appetite-lifter to serve pre-dinner, particularly when the weather starts to warm up.

Valdespino is a little fuller than your average Fino, with a palate of toasted almonds and salted caramel that stands up nicely to the citrus and mint. A bottle will keep for about two weeks in the fridge after opening so you don’t have to finish it all in one night.

Bamboo

Fills a Martini-shaped hole without the large helping of gin. The Bamboo found its way into the cocktail canon in the late 19^th century, when it began gracing the bar at the Yokohama Grand Hotel.

Ingredients

50ml La Gitana En Rama Manzanilla
50ml Carpano Bianco Vermouth
2 Dashes Regans’ Orange Bitters

Method

Put a cocktail glass into the freezer ahead of time, you’ll appreciate the extra few degrees you shave off when it comes time to drink. Stir all ingredients with ice until nicely chilled. Strain into your frozen cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Any dry sherry will do the job here, but the fresh saltiness of Manzanilla lifts the botanicals in the vermouth nicely. La Gitana En Rama is unfiltered, showing lots of body and character, even when stirred down over ice. You could also use a dry, nutty Oloroso and a sweet red vermouth – but you’ll wind up with more of a digestif than an aperitif.

Sherry Cobbler

The Cobbler Is one of the earliest cocktails, arriving in American barrooms with its cousin the julep in the 1820s-or-so, around the time that block ice became commercially available. Drinks historian David Wondrich suggests that the relatively low-octane Sherry Cobbler occupied a similar role to modern soft drinks and helped to popularise both ice and the drinking straw.

Ingredients

75ml Gonzalez Byass Leonor Palo Cortado
2 Orange slices
1 Lemon Slice
20ml 1:1 simple syrup

Method

Muddle your sliced citrus fruit with the sherry and simple syrup in the bottom of a shaker. Add ice cubes and shake hard. Strain into a highball glass filled with crushed ice and top with a fresh orange slice. Cobblers are supposed to be pretty, so a sprig of mint, or some more fresh fruit for garnish makes a great addition – just use whatever you have to hand.

The Gonzales Byass Palo Cortado is dry and nutty, but also has a fruity, citrusy side that shows really nicely in a cobbler. A dash of orange liqueur or Maraschino will add an extra dimension, as will a few berries or some diced pineapple in the shaker. Like many classic cocktails, the format affords plenty of room to riff and remix.

PX Flip

A serious desert cocktail, the flip takes a little booze and a whole egg and gives you a glass of silky, creamy goodness. Lighter than the lactose-laden likes of a Brandy Alexander, the PX flip satisfies in a similar way as a cream liqueur but fresher and less cloying.

Ingredients

60ml Triana Pedro Ximenez
1 Whole egg
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Nutmeg

Method

Chill down a large cocktail glass in the freezer. Shake all ingredients as hard as you can with ice. When you’re trying to whip up a whole egg you need to make sure you’re shaking for at least 60 seconds. Fine strain into the chilled cocktail glass and you’ll be rewarded with a light but creamy cocktail that tastes of raisins, toasted nuts and baking spices. Garnish with a little grating of nutmeg and serve.

A little slug of good dark rum will add some extra backbone if the situation demands it, as would a little Anejo Tequila if you’re feeling adventurous. Such additions will start to raise the ABV, of course, but even 15ml-or-so will make a difference to the flavour.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Sherry Cocktails – Lower Your ABV

Many of us will be starting off the year by cutting all alcohol from our diets for 31 days and providing our livers with a bit of respite, but there are some who choose to follow the old ‘everything in moderation’ method instead. Not completely cutting anything out of our lives, but not overindulging either, which is why I’ve tracked down some of the best low-ABV cocktails to enjoy this year.

Grapefruit SpirtZ – Spritz it up

Most famous for its regular appearance in beer gardens across the country during summer, the classic Aperol spritz is a tasty cocktail that’s easy to make, and even easy to add flair to. This grapefruit spritzer is a refreshing twist on this timeless low-abv cocktail.

Ingredients

135ml grapefruit juice
15ml Aperol
225ml tonic water
Grapefruit slices for garnish.

Method

Fill a glass with ice, add the grapefruit juice and Aperol then fill to the top with tonic water, add a slice of grapefruit to garnish and enjoy!

Americano – Bittersweet Symphony

Low-ABV cocktails don’t have to compromise on flavour or sophistication and the Americano is proof of this. Made with both Campari and sweet vermouth, this bittersweet, aromatic cocktail is perfect for happy hour, or accompanying a creamy pasta dish, such as carbonara.

Ingredients

45ml Campari
45ml sweet vermouth
225ml Club Soda

Method

Add Campari and sweet vermouth to a highball glass before filling the glass with ice, then top up with club soda, stir and enjoy.

Mimosa – Light and bubbly

A staple at brunch, the Mimosa is a well-known low-ABV cocktail with just two ingredients – Champagne and orange juice. But I like to be different (and grew up in an orange-free home), so here is a pomegranate-based version of the classic Champagne cocktail.

Ingredients

125ml Champagne
15ml pomegranate juice
1 teaspoon pomegranate seeds to garnish

Method

Pour the Champagne into a flute, then top up with pomegranate juice, garnish with pomegranate seeds and enjoy!

Floppy Disk – Retro Fun

Some of you may remember floppy disks, the predecessor to the memory stick that was immortalised in the save symbol on Microsoft. This next cocktail is a version of Jenner Cormier’s low-abv cocktail of the same name, from Bar Kismet in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Ingredients

225ml grapefruit juice
225ml sparkling water
15ml Cynar
15ml dry curacao
10ml mezcal
Grapefruit slice to garnish

Method

Add all ingredients except sparkling water in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake well and strain into a chilled glass. Top with sparkling water and garnish with a slice of grapefruit

Find more cocktails over on The Whisky Exchange’s cocktails page >

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Low ABV Cocktails – Not Quite Dry January

This year’s dram is…drum roll please…a 16-year-old whisky from Caol Ila distillery.

The complete Black Friday range from The Whisky Exchange – six great whiskies

Over the years we’ve bottled some great drams in the Black Friday range, starting with a 16-year-old Glenfarclas and then moving on through an18-year-old unnamed (it’s not Scapa) Orkney, a 21-year-old Glenburgie, a 22-year-old Ardmore and an unknown (we really don’t know where it’s from) 22-year-old Speyside.

Joining that illustrious group for 2022 we have a 16-year-old whisky from Caol Ila, distilled in 2006.

Black Friday 2022 – Caol Ila 2006 16 Year Old

It’s a classic whisky from Caol Ila, producer of many of my very favourite modern Islay whiskies. It sits on the dividing line between the two styles I find from the distillery – young and feisty, and mature and mellow – with the sea spray and some of the peatiness of a younger dram allied with the softened smoke, depth of flavour and fruit of an older whisky. It’s a vatting of a few casks, with an outturn of 2000 bottles, and is bottled at full batch strength of 53.2%

Nose: Smouldering green leaves and a side of smoke lead – mint and tarragon with a touch of maple-cured bacon. Sweet pastry pokes through the smoke, followed by apple and pear pies, roasted pineapple, singed oranges, chocolate lime sweets and a handful of wine gums. Tarry ropes and briny hints hide at the back.

Palate: Coal dust and peat fires jump out of the glass, diving into sharp apple, more chocolate limes and liquorice. Meaty notes sit in the middle – sweet bacon and burnt edges. Green leaves, soft spice and the wine gums from the nose slowly develop, with the spice building alongside the fruit. There’s a burst of crashing-wave ozone and iodine and then a descent into tar and chocolate.

Finish: Green and briny at first with building cocoa, lime and sharp apple. Oatcakes and rye crackers build alongside anise and mint imperials.

Buy Black Friday 2022 > 

It’s available from 6am on Black Friday 2022, 25 November 2022, and costs just £94.95 per bottle. Based on previous years, we don’t think it will last long. Grab a bottle or two, and let us know what you reckon.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Black Friday Whisky 2022

Scotch Whisky

Old-school whisky sampling at Aberlour distillery

Lots of countries around the world use the same terminology as the Scottish whisky makers, so it’s useful to understand their traditions and types of whisky.

Malt Whisky –  this is whisky made using 100% malted barley (aka malt). There are other rules as well (all listed in the Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, if you like looking at legal texts), but the most important other detail is that malt whisky must be made using copper pot stills – the old fashioned copper kettles you find in traditional distilleries around the world. In general, they are rich and complex spirits.

Grain Whisky – the ‘other’ type of whisky made in Scotland. This is made using grains other than malted barley (mostly a mix of a little bit of malt and something else) and/or using a still that isn’t a traditional copper pot still. In general, they are lighter and more delicate spirits.

Single Malt Whisky – malt whisky (the malt part at the name) made at one distillery and not mixed with whisky from other distilleries (the single part). This is the whisky most commonly thought of as ‘best’, although there are great whiskies of all styles available.

Blended Malt Whisky – a mixture of malt whiskies made at different distilleries. These are much less common than single malts, and bring together flavours from different producers to create something that you couldn’t get from one distillery alone.

Blended Whisky – a mixture of grain whisky and malt whisky. This is the most popular style of Scotch whisky, with brands like Johnnie Walker and Chivas Regal the biggest in the world. They range from very affordable up to very expensive, and cover styles from rich and deeply-flavoured to light and delicate.

Peat – peat is a fuel used around the world: burn it and it provides heat. It’s composed of decomposed vegetation that has been compressed over years into a rich earthy material – like a muddy, softer coal – which burns very well when dried. When used to dry barley that’s used to make whisky, it adds a smoky flavour that lasts all the way from the beginning of the whisky making process into the final spirit. It’s not as common a flavour as people often think, but it is very popular among Scotch whisky fans.

Independent Bottler – not all whisky is bottled by the people who make it. Behind the scenes, casks of whisky are traded not only between companies making blended whisky (who need the varied flavours that different distilleries provide) but also independent bottling companies, who select casks and bottle them under their own label. Companies like Signatory Vintage, Gordon & MacPhail, Douglas and Hunter Laing, and Elixir Distillers are well known for choosing great casks, which often show a different side to a distillery’s character than their own bottlings.

Find out more – 20 independent whisky bottlers you need to know >

Irish Whiskey

The pot stills at Waterford, one of Ireland’s new wave of distilleries

The styles and traditions of Irish whiskey are quite similar to those in Scotland. However:

Pot Still Whiskey – this traditional style is now being made in other countries, but originated in Ireland. Rather than just using malted barley, it also uses a proportion of unmalted barley in the mix, as well as other grains, all run through a traditional pot still. While this would be called grain whisky in Scotland, in Ireland it’s a separate category and creates a richer and more complex spirit than you usually find in Scottish grain.

Bonders – the tradition of independent bottling has a long history in Ireland, but due to there only being a handful of Irish distilleries until recently, it’s not been common for decades. With the resurgence in Irish distilling (there are now tens of distilleries starting up across the country, up from just three in the 1980s) bonders, as indie bottlers are known across the Irish sea, are again becoming an important part of the Irish whiskey scene.

Find out more – What is Irish whiskey? >

American Whiskey

Liquid gold at Buffalo Trace

The USA’s whiskey scene is very different to that around the world, with a very different set of production techniques and categories (although, single malt is starting to pick up a following). Lots of these rarely leave the USA (blended whiskey, which means something very different in America, and spirit whiskey being two examples), but the ones that do are quite well known:

Bourbon whiskey – a whiskey made using a recipe that includes at least 50% maize (aka corn). The rest of the recipe is usually made with a bit of malted barley and then other grains including rye and wheat among others. It has to be aged in new oak casks, something that gives American whiskey its punchy, sweet and woody character. The corn also adds a chunk of perceived sweetness to the final spirit, which doesn’t actually contain any sugar.

Rye/Wheat/Oat/etc whiskey – a whiskey made using a recipe that is made up of at least 50% rye/wheat/oats/etc. Basically the same as bourbon, but with a different dominant grain. Rye adds spiciness, wheat is soft, oats are creamy…

Corn whiskey – just to ensure that American whiskey categories aren’t simple, Corn whiskey has to be made with at least 80% maize and is either unaged or aged in used casks.

Tennessee Whiskey – while Jack Daniel’s is the most famous Tennessee whiskey, there are other distilleries now popping up over the state. To call itself Tennessee whiskey, a spirit must meet all of the rules for bourbon, be made in Tennessee and be filtered through charcoal before being filled into cask…just like Jack Daniel’s is.

Straight whiskey – a slightly confusing term which means that a whiskey has been aged for at least two years in oak. However, if it has been aged for less than four years, it has to say how long on the label.

Bottled in Bond – a legal term with a few different pieces to it, but in general it means that the whiskey is bottled at 50% and has been supervised more stringently during its maturation.

Find out more – Bourbon vs Scotch: what’s the difference? >

World Whisky

Shelter Point – making single malt on Vancouver Island in Canada since 2011

While Scotland, Ireland and America (along with Canada and Japan, depending on how you judge things) are the big distilling nations, you can now find whisky pretty much everywhere around the world. Keep an eye out for whisky from Taiwan, Sweden, Mexico, South Africa, Australia and even…England.

It’s mostly made in a similar way to whisky from Scotland and Ireland (other than Canada, which mixes that with a touch of US technique and ingredients), but there are loads of local variations, styles, ingredients and traditions which make a whole host of different flavours.

Where to find out more

The Whisky Exchange is dedicated to not only finding you great drinks, but also helping you find out more about those great drinks. There’s a whole host of information here on the site, as well as educational Focus On pages and regular new features over on our website.

We also have a selection of whisky books, including our own – Everything you Need to Know about Whisky (but are too afraid to ask) – and even mine: The Philosophy of Whisky.

And, if all else fails, don’t hesitate to drop us a line – our customer service team and in-house experts are always happy to offer advice on what your next bottle should be.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Whisky 101 – Part Two: whisk(e)y around the world

What is Whisky?

The first question and one that surprisingly hard to pin down. The definition I use, which covers 99.9% of whisky around the world, is:

A distilled spirit made from grain and aged in wooden casks.

But there’s a whole lot more to it than that.

Whisky or Whiskey?

One of the biggest confusions in the whisk(e)y is how to spell the word itself.

In short: it doesn’t really matter.

In slightly longer: most American and Irish distillers call their spirit whiskey, and pretty much everyone else calls it whisky. There are a few exceptions (especially in the US and Ireland), but that rules mostly holds. However, there are much more important things in life than worrying about whether there’s an E or not.

Find out more – whisky vs whiskey: the differences explained >

How long does whisky need to be aged?

A key feature of many – but far from all – whiskies is a note on the label saying how long it’s spent in a cask. This is not a sign of quality – being older doesn’t mean a whisky is better, it just means it’s had more time to pick up woody flavour from its cask and develop more mature and less youthful character – but there are rules in most places in the world about it.

In the UK, EU, Canada and most of the rest of the world, whisky must be aged for at least three years in oak. That is also the case for all whisky imported into the EU/UK, even if the rules where it’s made don’t line up.

In the USA, different categories of whiskey have different rules, but in general, the spirit must have been in a cask for ‘some time’. This is generally considered to be at least overnight, but it’s rare to see whisky younger than at least months, if not years.

In Australia: two years. Just to be different.

However, if there is a mixture of whiskies of different ages in your bottle, then in almost every part of the world, any age stated on the front will be the age of the youngest whisky in the mix.  So a 10 year old whisky won’t have anything younger than 10 years old in the bottle, but it might have older.

Also, you don’t normally have to put an age on the label of a whisky. In those cases, we generally call them ‘no age statement’ whiskies, aka NAS.

Find out more – is older whisky better? >

What sort of casks are used?

Generally, the casks used to mature whisky are made out of oak – it’s readily available, watertight when turned into a well-made cask and the flavours that a spirit pulls from the wood are pretty tasty. While some whisky is matured in brand-new oak casks – notably most American whiskey (see below for more details) – most is matured in a cask that has already been used at least once.

These second-hand casks can have had a whole host of different drinks inside beforehand, but the two most common are American whiskey and sherry. The former generally leads to whiskies getting creamy, toffee and fresh fruit flavours, while the latter tend more to richer dried fruit and darker notes.

Also, the same cask may not be used for all of a whisky’s time in wood – the technique of moving a whisky from one cask to another is called reracking. While some whiskies can be made up using a complex sets of reracking operations, moving spirit from cask to cask over the years, it’s usually much simpler: the whisky spends most of its life in one cask and then is moved to a different cask to ‘finish’ for a short time. Each reracking will give the new cask a chance to influence the flavour of a whisky, and a finish just allows an extra polish or bump to the character of the spirit, often all a whisky might need.

Find out more – what was a sherry casks? >

Cask Terminology

Casks are really complicated but there are a few bits of terminology that are useful to make heads or tale of them:

First-fill – this is the description of a cask that has been filled with something prior to it being filled with whisky. So, a cask that used to contain sherry and now contains whisky would be called a first-fill sherry cask. If that cask goes on to be reused again, it is called a second-fill cask, and so on. Often, anything after a first-fill is referred to as simply a ‘refill cask’.

Single Cask – most bottles of whisky are filled with a mixture of lots of casks, combined to create specific character and flavour. However, there are also bottles that are filled from just a single cask. These are called, helpfully, single-cask whiskies. While the whisky maker doesn’t have the opportunity to bring lots of flavours together with a single cask, relying on the wood, spirit and time to have created something magic, these can be some of the best whiskies on the market.

Cask Strength – most whisky is watered down before bottling, usually to 40%, 43% or 46% ABV. These are popular drinking strengths and for most drinkers something higher is too strong and can be overpowering. However, some whiskies are bottled at the strength they were drawn from the cask, without any dilution – these are cask-strength whiskies. While many people like cask-strength whiskies for their intensity and strength (as most, but not all, whiskies are bottled at a higher ABV then diluted) they are also very versatile whiskies – you get to choose how much water you add. Don’t be afraid of adding water, and if a whisky is a bit much for your current mood, add a few drops, cask strength or not – it could turn a dram into your new favourite.

Find out more – casks: a glossary of terms >

Where to find out more

The Whisky Exchange is dedicated to not only finding you great drinks, but also helping you find out more about those great drinks. There’s a whole host of information here on the site, as well as educational Focus On pages and regular new features over on our website.

We also have a selection of whisky books, including our own – Everything you Need to Know about Whisky (but are too afraid to ask) – and even mine: The Philosophy of Whisky.

And, if all else fails, don’t hesitate to drop us a line – our customer service team and in-house experts are always happy to offer advice on what your next bottle should be.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Whisky 101 – Part one: a beginner’s guide