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!

Side by side: Four Distell Finishes

Distell own three distilleries in Scotland and four in South Africa producing whisky and brandy.

A recent sample swap delivered four cask strength drams from three of these distilleries.

Side by side: Bain's 18yo Single Grains

I've written about Bain's Single Grains before comparing the standard 5yo against it's 15yo old brother, now thanks to a whisky mule I'm able to try two of the 18yo!

Huge thanks to @DistilleryBikes for bringing these back from a recent trip to South Africa!

Side by side : Bain's Single Grains

A dram I recommend to everyone I talk to yet one I haven't actually reviewed yet! Now to put that right a straight side by side against it's elder brother.....

What whisky am I talking about? Bains Single Grain!

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.

Review of my whisky year - 2019

First of all thank you to all the people who have read my blog (c48,000 up from 29,000 last year) and followed me on Twitter (c2,600 up from 1,700 last year).

My highlights of 2019 were:

South African Twitter Tasting

I'm sure you've read my recent #FanBoy post about Bain's launching a 15yo Single Grain, the 'standard' NAS dram bring one of my favourites. Well a recent visit from the postman delivered an unexpected surprise!

Three large samples of @BainsWhisky 15yo Single Grain, @ThreeShipsSA 8yo and 10yo. A few tweets and I found out a few lucky whisky tweeters had received a similar parcel from @TheWhiskyMaker, so there was nothing else for it but to share out the samples and arrange a tasting!

Youtube clips

I've appeared in a few Youtube clips talking about whisky or doing reviews - here's an updated list of them!

The Whisky Family (Was Maltman Mike & Friends)

Glen Scotia Campbeltown 1832

#FanBoy alert - Bain's 15yo

OK - hands up I admit it, I'm a huge #FanBoy when it comes to Bain's Single Grain Whisky! It's one of only a handful of drams which I've bought more than one bottle of (so much whisky - so little time - so I don't buy multiples unless they really stand out). It made my top-ten list of favourite whiskies of 2017!

Review of my whisky year - 2017

First of all thank you to all the people who have read my blog (c16,500) and followed me on Twitter (c900) since I started back in January with my first whisky post.

Drinks by the Dram Advent Calendar Sneak Peek @TwitterTasting

#TweetTastings are coming thick and fast at the moment for @TheWhiskyWire and I was lucky enough to be selected for the latest one from @DrinksByTheDram, this one giving a sneak peak at one of their many Advent Calendars.

Each Advent Calendar is filled with 24 x 30ml of the most thrilling whiskies known to humankind, from a 50 year old Scotch to superb Irish and American whiskeys, and expressions from some of them most exciting world whisky distilleries. Everything from superb single grains to rare single malts, award-winning whiskies from famous distilleries from rich Speyside whiskies to smoky Island malts.

You've still got time to order one in time for 1st December - they are available from here.

For this #TweetTasting we received 5 samples in one of their standard boxes:

By 7pm many of us were in Festive Spirits and all ready to start!

First up was the Macallan 12yo Sherry Oak

My Thoughts:

Nose: Cereal, chocolate, spice, hint of porridge and fudge
Palate: Lots of spice on the tongue, quite drying but sweet with it, getting some chocolate, some wood and a little dried fruit. Not the full on Christmas Cake thought...

Other peoples opinions:

Second was the Bain's Cape Mountain Single Grain

My Thoughts:

Nose: Vanilla, love heart sweets, (Dried Banana Chips : From @RumDiariesBlog)
Palate: Oily buttery sweetness (this feels better than 40%), a little spice then a huge kick of them banana sweets at the end!

Other peoples opinions:

Third was The Blended Whisky Company's The Lost Distilleries Company Blend - Batch 10

My Thoughts:

Nose: The 51% hits you straight away, some apples and pears, wood, and a hint of spice in the background.
Palate: Lovely rich dried fruits - must have been soaked overnight in whisky! This is what the @The_Macallan should have been - Christmas Cake in a glass! Slightly drying and getting ginger and cinnamon spices too.

Other peoples opinions:

Fourth was Mackmyra's Brukswhisky

My Thoughts:

Nose: Limes, coconut, wet dog and a little spicy mint, nose is developing as it sits in the glass - porridge notes coming though and just a hint of smoke.
Palate: Very light, slightly oily, sweet and spicy, some orchard fruits and the porridge from the nose.

Other peoples opinions:

The final dram of the night was Kilchoman's Sanaig

My Thoughts:

Nose: Peat smoke hits you straight away but there is also the sweetness from the sherry, some saltiness and smoked fish?
Palate: Wow - slow down now - not sure about this at all - there is an awful lot of peanuts..... very spicy but can't get that peanut taste to go, very strange. Quite drying too. What an unusual dram!

Other peoples opinions:

Conclusion: I thought the Blended Whisky Co Blend was superb - Christmas in a glass, the Banes came a close second, Single Grains are really impressing me this year! The Kilchoman and  Mackmyra are great every day drams, perhaps a little young? I was actually disappointed with the Macallan - it just seemed ordinary.

Many thanks to Drinks by the Dram for supplying the #dramples, @WhiskyWire for organising and all my fellow #TweetTasters for making it a great evening and for kicking off Christmas!

Other reviews:

Peak Whisky