Review of my whisky year - 2024

Firstly thanks to all of you who have read my blog (c296,000 up from 228,000 last year) and followed me on social media.

This blog has been going for 8 years now and this is the 759th blog post! In that time I've reviewed over 2,060 whiskies! Let's review 2024!

#BTC49 BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes and results from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 49th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Cliff @KingsofYearron

Side by Side : A Trio of Man With The Hat Releases

@SouthportWhisky club founder Victor Porter @onekv regularly releases Indie bottles with his own distinct labels designed by the maestro @jwbassman_.

But I think @uk_whisky Peter Hunt from the club chose the latest 3 single cask  releases and sent me samples to try!

Signatory Vintage 100 Proof

Signatory Vintage have been releasing a series of 100 Proof bottlings over the last 6 months or so...

Let's find out a little more.

#BTC39 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes and results from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 39th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Paul @pswhisky

#BTC32 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

 These are my tasting notes from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 32nd #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Duncan @whiskytip

Virtual tasting : Fragrant Drops with NEWAS

The North East Whisky Appreciate Society @eastwhisky is a great little group based in the north east of England who organise regular virtual tastings, this one featured @FragrantDrops

The tasting was hosted by Rachel and George from Fib.

Side by side: An Ardmore flight

I've written before about how good Ardmore's spirit is, especially from Indie bottlers - here I try 10 side by side.

Let's see what they are like!

A.D. Rattray @TweetTastings

@ADRattrayWhisky Whisky celebrated the release of their 65th Cask Collection with a @TweetTastings with @TheWhiskyWire

I was lucky enough to be picked - here's my thoughts and those of a few friends!

BTC8 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 8th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Stew @stewedwhisky

Whisky 'machinery' - the Malt Mill

A new series looking at some of the 'machinery' used in a distillery to create whisky - this time the Malt Mill.

Glen Moray's Porteus Malt Mill

I've covered the basic process of creating whisky here, but I'm going to explore the machinery a little more in this series.

BTC5 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

 These are my tasting notes from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 5th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Simon @TheWhiskyNovice

What Ardmore can really be like

Ardmore gets a bad wrap for it's cheap supermarket NAS, most of its output goes into the Teacher's range of blends.

In this blog I'm trying an older distillery bottling and 4 independent bottlings.

The Sipping Shed @TweetTastings

There's a new Independent bottler on the scene and Steve introduced them at his latest @TweetTastings

A plain looking box revealed an interesting use of some biodegradable packaging and four single cask bottles.

Ardmore 20yo

Outside of those in the know, Ardmore is thought of as small distillery producing a cheap supermarket 40% NAS called Legacy.

Although it's a single malt Legacy doesn't cost much more than a bottle of Teacher's Highland Cream blend that it goes into.

#MiniTasting - Chorlton single casks

@ChorltonWhisky is an independent bottler based in Manchester with some really nice bottle labels on each of their drams.

They have bottled over 25 casks, at the time of writing, @ScotchB78 supplied 3 drams for @jwbassman_ @WhiskynStuff, and myself to try!

Mini-review: French No.63?

Blind sample from @GregsWhiskyG

In the glass : Interesting brown coloured bottle so I had no idea of colour before I opened it. But it is quite a dark coloured dram, swirls cling to the glass and not much in the way of legs.... High ABV?

Nose: This seems quite complex - there's a little dunnage warehouse, some damp hay, maybe even a hint of smoke? After a little time in the glass there's some honey and toffee coming through too.

Palate: Lots of honey, very sweet, a little toffee. Not getting any of the smoke from the nose and not much in the way of spice. I think I'll reverse my thoughts on a high ABV - this seems to be a low 40s% ABV. From the honey notes I'd suggest a Speyside or maybe a Highlander?

Finish: A hint of spice on the finish, and again maybe some smoke? Lovely malty finish - very warming. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest a Benromach ?

Mini-review: Cheap Peat!

Ardmore Legacy 40%

Nose: hint of peat hidden behind vanilla and pears

Palate: sweet runny honey, slightly chewy?

Finish: more of that peat smoke and a nice spicy kick

Notes: a great little uncomplicated dram, I paid £10.77 but you can usually pick it up for around £20, I found a bargain! Hint of peat smoke on the nose and finish are a great way to introducer newcomers into the wonderful world of peat before heading to Islay!