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In the introduction to David Stirk’s Independent Scotch, Serge Valentin of WhiskyFun fame, recalls the first time he came across Independently Bottled Whisky, describing it as “unknown distilleries, all packaged the same”. (Spoiler: It won’t be the last time you hear about this book in this series). For whisky drinkers…
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In case you missed my previous post, for the next eight or so weeks, I will focus my posts on Independent Bottlers (IBs), alternating between introductory information for those who are maybe just approaching whisky, or new to IBs and reviews of independently bottled whiskies more in keeping with the…
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I have been looking forward to starting this new series on Independent Bottlers for a while. As I started jotting down my drafts, I was focusing mainly on writing reviews of Independently Bottled Whiskies. But then I stumbled on a few discussions on a couple of Discord servers I frequent,…
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For this last (at least for now) of this series looking at alternatives to popular whiskies, I am turning to peat. Today, I will suggest five alternatives to Ledaig 10. This one is a bit of an odd one out. If the previous three posts on alternatives to Glenfiddich 12,…
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In this part 3 (of 4, in case you were wondering) on alternatives to popular entry-level malts, I am turning to Sherry-cask influence. Rather than leaning gently into it, like I did last week with the Aberlour 12 alternatives, I am going full throttle. Specifically, I’ll be exploring five alternatives…
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For the next four weeks, I will take a break from whisky reviews and my personal exploration of whisky. Instead, I am casting my eyes back to the early days of this blog. There are a few reviews that keep receiving significant traffic month after month. Understandably so: they cover…
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It’s review 100 for Road to Dram so t is time to celebrate this small but proud landmark with a look at WM Cadenhead’s February 2025 Releases. From fruit bomb to maritime peat gem, there is something for everyone.
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For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be focusing on cask finishes to explore how different types of casks affect the flavour of whisky and how well (or not) these work. Today, I start with a review of whisky finished in Madeira casks, the Murray McDavid Inchgower, from the Cask Craft series.
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As I get close to the end of my look at Blended Malts, I am closing my mini-series on peated blended malts. After Douglas Laing’s Big Peat and Compass Box the Peat Moster, I review the Elements of Islay Cask Edit.
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Another Blended Malt review today, with one of the most famous peated options: Compass Box The Peat Monster. This blend has had a few iterations through that time. It’s one of the first Compass Box I tried about 15 years back. How much has it changed?
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