Brian's Malt Musings: 2022

Saturday, 31 December 2022

Review of my whisky year - 2022

Firstly thanks to all of you who have read my blog (c147,000 up from 114,000 last year) and followed me on Twitter (c5,300 up from 3,800 last year).

This blog has been going for 6 years now and this is the 600th blog post! In that time I've reviewed over 1,620 whiskies! Let's review 2022!

Whisky Advent Calendar 2022 - Dram reviews

Those great people at @DrinksByTheDram sent me an Advent Calendar for the run up to Christmas! For the whisky fans amongst us this makes much more sense than a chocolate one!

Now the idea with an Advent Calendar is that you open 1 door each day from the 1st December through to Christmas Eve... But please enjoy your whisky responsibly! Sometimes it may not possible to open a dram each day, you could share with mates or save a couple to enjoy at the weekend?

Side by side : An unusual Bourbon flight

For this side by side I've had a rummage through my sample boxes and come up with 4 bourbons.

They are all a little different - let's see what they are like.

Bowmore @TweetTastings

@Bowmore Distillery shared some of their recent bottlings with us in a @TweetTastings.

Here's my thoughts and those of a few friends!

Core Range: Bowmore

Continuing the series of posts showing a distillery's core range of bottlings.

This time looking at Bowmore.

Loch Lomond Distillery Edition One

One of my favourite distilleries have just launched their first Distillery Edition, oooh you might say - a new distillery? Well no this is an old one, but due to their very industrial nature they don't have a Visitor's Centre.

So how do you get a Distillery Edition? Well it's only available on their website.

Core Range: Highland Park

Continuing the series of posts showing a distillery's core range of bottlings.

This time looking at Highland Park

Dunphail's The Dava Way - First Release

The Dava Way is the new independent bottling arm of @TheDunphail Distillery, the same team behind @BimberLondon Distillery!

Let's take a little walk...

Lindores Abbey @TweetTastings

@LindoresAbbey Distillery shared some of their bottlings with us in a recent @TweetTastings.

Here's my thoughts and those of a few friends!

Bimber The 1st Peated

@BimberLondon has just launched their first peated barley release The 1st Peated, this come on the back of a number of masterclass bottlings which weren't released.

Let's try this first official release!

Limestone Branch @TweetTastings

Limestone Branch Distillery teased us with some of their bottlings in a recent @TweetTastings.

Here's my thoughts and those of a few friends!

#BTC27 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 27th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Duncan @whiskytip

Whisky Advent Calendar 2022

Those great people at @DrinksByTheDram sent me an Advent Calendar for the run up to Christmas! For the whisky fans amongst us this makes much more sense than a chocolate one!

Side by side : Lagavulin flight

It's been over 5 years since I've reviewed drams from @LagavulinWhisky

Here I'll try five distillery bottlings.

Newer Distilleries : Weetwood

This is the latest in an occasional series about newer distilleries, this entry is about the Weetwood Distillery.

Including a look at their first release: The Cheshire.

Side by side : Stevie's Drams' Glasgow 1770 Single Casks.

I prefer to use small independent whisky shops whenever possible, unlike the bigger retailers they get to know you and will tell you when something similar to something you like comes up again.

@DramsStevies have done that recently telling me about their 2nd @GlasgowDC exclusive single cask release, I bought one immediately.

Side by side: An indie Tormore flight

There's a huge fanbase for Tormore but I've not really connected with them before - the spreadsheet indicated I'd accumulated 4 samples so enough to try a side by side!

These are all from indie bottlers, let's see what they are like!

Brave New Spirits #TweetTastings

New indie bottler Brave New Spirits @BNS_Whisky chose a @TweetTastings to launch their Cask Noir bottlings.

Here's my thoughts and those of a few friends!

Side by side : Bimber Selfridges

With the imminent release of @BimberLondon's third @Selfridges bottling, here's a look at the first two.

Let see what they are like!

Side by side: Hunter Laing's Journeys

On a recent visit to @HLaingWhisky's Ardnahoe Distillery on Islay I picked up a little tasting box.

It featured samples from their Journey series - lets see what they are like.

Whyte & MacKay #TweetTastings

@whyteandmackay shared four of their singe malts from their portfolio in a recent @TweetTastings

Here's my thoughts and those of a few friends!

Glen Scotia - Double Cask Rum Cask Finish

@GlenScotiaMalts' Double Cask was launched in 2015 a 5 year old ish FF bourbon barrel whisky finished for 12 months in PX sherry casks.

This month they've launched a Rum finished version - let's see what this one is like...

Elements of Islay - Core Trilogy

If you haven't come across @ElementsOfIslay 50cl 'chemistry' bottles before you've missed a treat! Rather than distillery names they use chemical symbols!

They have now introduced a core range of blended malts - let's find out more:

Dava Way - Orkney 17yo

The Dava Way is the new independent bottling arm of @TheDunphail Distillery, the same team behind @BimberLondon Distillery!

Let's take a little walk...

Glen Scotia 2022 Seasonal Release - Amontillado Casks

Now on to it's third year @GlenScotiaMalts' Seasonal Release continues the theme of age statemented, cask strength, unpeated bottlings.

This years has been finished in Amontillado Sherry Casks - let's see what it's like...

Mackmyra Destination

Having finished their Säsongswhisky 'seasonal' releases Swedish distillery @Mackmyra have come up with something along the same lines with Destination.

It's an invitation to whisky lovers all around the world to come and visit them at one of their many destinations. Let's see what it's like...

#BTC26 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 26th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Paul @Newckie

Borders Distillery WS:01 - Malt & Rye

Yet to release a single malt, Borders Distillery are teasing us with a single blend, not a term you'll find in the SWA handbook but one which a number of distilleries can now produce.

Let's see what it's like...

Flash Blog: Lux Row Distillers' Rebel 10yo Single Barrel Bourbon

Another month, another Flash Mob! Again it's a new release from Lux Row Distillers.

Let's see what this one is like:

Islay - Branded Glencairns

As well as distillery tours, warehouse tastings, meetings friends old and new and buying whisky there's one more thing you need to do on a whisky road trip...