Great King Street: Artist's Blend

This brand, Great King Street, is part of the Compass Box empire. The idea behind it is, I think, to bring great affordable blends back to the global hordes who love Scotch whisky - to fight the evil bottles of J&B and Dewar's and Cutty Sark that ruin and besmirch the good name of Scotch in liquor cabinets everywhere - all at a reasonable price. 

Longmorn 16 Year

This is one from the archives - I actually drafted this review back in 2014, when a friend gave me the final few drams of his bottle of Longmorn 16 - it was the first bottle he purchased for more than $100. My notes languished in my email until I decided to clean out my inbox this weekend. 

Longmorn is a Speyside distillery, located near Benriach (founded by the same man, John Duff) and Linkwood and Glen Elgin, and under the current Pernod Ricard ownership it has attempted to position itself as an ultra-premium product.

Glen Scotia Victoriana (NAS)

I was lucky enough to sample this elegant Campbeltown whisky at my favorite liquor store, Arrowine in Washington DC.  Every Thursday they do a liquor tasting, and on the menu today was this intriguing Glen Scotia. 

Campbeltown is the smallest region of Scotch whisky, with only three distilleries at present: Springbank, Glengyle, and Glen Scotia. The region is located on the long southwestern peninsula called the Mull of Kintyre, and is located close to the isles of Islay and Jura; Campbeltown itself is a small town near the end of the peninsula.  

Ardbeg Corryvreckan (Second Take)

Oh, Ardbeg. How I love thee. Corryvreckan is actually my second favorite, after Uigeadail, but is a tremendous whisky in its own right. I acquired a bottle during a nice sale, and thought I would revisit this powerful Islay brew. 

Corryvreckan was originally a "Committee Release," Ardbeg's fan club offering, and it replaced a beloved dram, Airigh Nam Beist, in 2009. Corryvreckan was supposed to be a limited release, but has continued unabated to this day. 

Lost Distillery Company: Lossit (Classic Selection)

The Lost Distillery Company (link here) is a company in the vein of Compass Box - premium quality blends of single malt scotch. However, they have a very specific ambition: as their name implies, they attempt to recreate long lost single malts by doing very extensive research and then blending whiskies together to approximate what the original might have been like. 

In the case of Lossit, an Islay distillery that stopped production in 1862 (!), I can't imagine there are any bottles left, so they must have really had their job cut out for them. Their website says they take ten different factors into account - things like ingredients, equipment, production method, location, etc. - when attempting to recreate something like Lossit, so theoretically this bottle uses single malts that draw from the same waters, the same type of barley from the same locations, use the same type of still, etc. 

ScotchTalk Vol. 5: The NAS Debate

NAS ("No Age Statement") refers to whiskies that decline to provide an age statement (10 years, 12 years, et al) for reasons that remain under intense debate. As a reminder, Scottish law requires that if a whisky distiller provides the age of a whisky, it must provide the age of the youngest whisky in the bottle. As many have noted, a bottle might contain 99% 50-year whisky and 1% 3-year whisky, and yet it must be marketed as a 3-year whisky. Which is misleading in its own way, and a little ridiculous. 

Caol Ila 12 Year (Second Take)

Here is another one that deserves a second look. When I first discovered Islay whisky, I did the usual triumvirate - Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin - and then branched out in the expected manner - Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Kilchoman, Caol Ila, Bunnahabhain. 

Of the second set, Caol Ila (Cool EE-lah) was a big winner, and something of a surprise, since I'd only ever heard about it in terms of its mammoth output capacity. 6,500,000 liters!