Bunnahabhain 16 Year (Blackadder Raw Cask)

 

Here we go again - I found another excellent deal on a Blackadder Raw Cask and - as always - simply could not say no. I should have said no, this exhausts my budget for the rest of the month for whisky or anything else, but ... a 16 year peated Bunnahabhain, with giant flakes of cask floating in the bottle? Another Dram Hunter selection from Raj Sabharwal?? Sign me up, I'll go for broke. 

Ardmore 13 Year (SMWS 66.202 "Sneaky Peat")

 

Delicious, delicious Ardmore. How I love thee. This is a limited single cask from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") who must have a very healthy relationship with Ardmore because they release a ton of it. Ardmore, as I have noted many a time, has a very unusual spirit profile: it's soft, delicate, industrial/metallic, fruity, smoky, salty. A very interesting Highland style. 

MGP 5 Year Old Rye (SMWS RW5.1 "The Spice of Life")

I won't lie to you, dear reader: I hardly know anything about rye whisky. Only that I like it, especially "high rye" mashbills - this one is 95% rye, 5% barley - and I often get really interesting flavors like bubble gum and mint and smoke and other intriguing things. But my exposure is low, and I haven't had very many at all. So I bought this bottle of Indiana distiller MGP's rye from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS," who also occasionally releases other spirits like rum, gin, bourbon, etc.) on a whim, purely out of curiosity. 

Fettercairn 12 Year (SMWS 94.18 "Balanced as a Bird on a Wire")

 

This is the first Fettercairn I've ever had - a single cask independent bottling from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), a nice standard 12 year ex-bourbon cask version. Should be a nice way to get to know the distillery, which is owned by Whyte and Mackay (who also own Dalmore and Jura). 

Croftongea 15 year (SMWS 122.46 "The Inland Shore")

 

Croftongea is the heavily peated imprint of distiller Loch Lomond, and the other ones I've had have been pretty funky indeed. This is easily the oldest I've seen in the wild, a 15 year from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") that I picked up as part of their Black Friday sale. Thought I'd give it a spin, the price was reasonable and I always appreciate the flavor risks that Loch Lomond takes. They aren't afraid of releasing some really crazy juice. 

Tomatin 10 Year (Blackadder Raw Cask, USA Exclusive)

 

Another Blackadder Raw Cask independent bottle for me, I got a good deal on this: a 10 year Tomatin entirely matured in a first fill Pedro Ximenez sherry cask. Yes, the whisky really is that dark directly from the cask: this being a Raw Cask, there is no coloring or filtration of any kind whatsoever, and there are myriad pieces of the cask swirling around the bottle. 

Speaking of Blackadder, I managed to turn up this little nugget online: 

"Blackadder International was established in 1995 by Robin Tucek who, together with daughter Hannah and son Michael runs the family business. Robin Tucek is also co-author with John Lamond of The Malt Whisky File – one of the most respected books about malt whisky."

Ledaig 16 Year (Blackadder Raw Cask, USA Exclusive)

 

Another amazing Raw Cask offering from independent bottler Blackadder, this time a 16 year Ledaig, part of the "Glass Revolution Dram Hunter Selection" whatever in hell that means. It's USA exclusive, that's all I know. 

Ledaig (the peated version of Tobermory, a very well-regarded distillery on the Isle of Mull) is highly sought after these days, as one of the preeminent non-Islay peated whiskies. Many people feel it has a similar-yet-richer flavor profile as Ardbeg, and with Ardbeg prices going crazy lately that makes Ledaig a very attractive and enticing proposition. So when I saw this older bottling, I basically couldn't resist.

Ardmore 23 Year (SMWS 66.198 "Serene Sunset Satisfaction")

 

This is the second of the two 23-year Ardmores from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") I've had recently - sister casks, each featuring a different finish. The first bottle, numbered 66.197 and called "Let The World Fall Apart" and was finished in a sherry cask; this bottle, numbered 66.198 is called "Serene Sunset Satisfaction" and was finished in a wine barrique (presumably red wine?).