People often ask me: “Michael, what are your favorite Scottish distilleries? You know so much about Scotch whisky, I really want to pick your brain and find out which distilleries you keep coming back to!” Just kidding. No one has ever asked me that, although I have often wished someone would ask me about my …
Continue reading My favorite malt distilleries (and some thoughts on other distilleries, too!)
The Basics: Do I recommend it?: It’s solid. Availability: Some specialty retail and auction. ABV: 59.7% (cask strength) Presentation: Unspecified General information: Finished in port casks. Bottling type: Proprietary Character: Fruity, spicy and smoky. Score: 89/100 The details: Like stable-mate Clynelish, Talisker's early history is closely tied to the brutal Highland clearances, where subsistence farmers …
Continue reading Talisker “The Wild Explorador,” (2023 Special Releases)
You can breath, now. Diageo has finally officially announced their 2025 Special Releases, dubbed "Horizons Unbound," and for those of you itching to get your hands on them, the usual suspects in UK specialty retail have them for sale. I know we've all been losing sleep over this! Let's face it, the Special Releases have …
It's been awhile since I published anything, so plenty has happened around the whisky industry since my last update. I'm not even going to make an effort to be comprehensive in my coverage, rather I'll stick with a handful of news items that have stood out for me. First off, it's always exciting when a …
Diageo doesn’t officially announce their annual special releases until the Fall, however, people seem to have gotten pretty good at getting a line on what’s coming down the pike. Last year Whisky Notes posted a preview of the releases in the Spring which proved to be perfectly accurate. Several weeks ago, he did the same …
Whisky Considered 