Birming-Dram

Hello Folks! So for my third and final installment from the TWE Whisky Show it's time for something completely different...a brand new distillery! What was great about the show this year was the large area dedicated to newer distilleries. There is so much exciting innovation in whisky at the moment and it was great to go and find all of this in one place. One exhibitor in particular caught our eye. The wonderful Ncn'ean! Pronounced "Nc-knee-anne", which according to their Facebook page is "an abbreviation of Neachneohain who was the “Queen of Spirits” in Gaelic legend. Neachneohain was a huntress, strong, independent and never afraid to walk her own path. She was also a fierce protector of nature". So, who are they? The brainchild of Annabel Thomas, they are the first certified fully organic Scottish Whisky Distillery. Situated on the Morvern Peninsula of Western Scotland. Whilst they are on the mainland, they sure are out of the way! They are c...

Hello Again Folks! As promised, I am back with one of my two special blogs, diving deeper into a few of the drams I tried at the TWE Whisky Show. This week it's Jura! So, let's start with some context. Jura completely overhauled its range in April of this year on what the company described as "The biggest launch in its history!" The new range brings with it a completely new flavour profile for the brand. Out goes the much loved Origin, Superstition, Diurach’s Own 16 Year Old and Prophecy and in comes Journey, 10 Year Old, 12 Year Old, Seven Wood and 18 Year Old. This is a clear move by Jura away from no age statement whiskies and back towards the years on the bottle being the benchmark for quality. But has it worked? The Whisky Show seemed like the perfect opportunity to find out! We worked our way up the range, starting with Journey and finishing with the 18 Year Old. Here are my tasting notes... Journey (40% ABV / RRP: £33.00) NAS, matured in American oak ex...

So, as promised I said it wouldn't be as long until my next entry and I have lots to tell you about over the next few blogs! A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the TWE Whisky Show in London and I thought I'd take a bit of time today to tell you about it. For those of you who are unacquainted with the show, it's the largest whisky show in the UK. This year there were somewhere in the region of 150 exhibitors there from the world of whisky plus a few extras from complementary industries such as salmon and cheese! Basically anyone who is anyone to do with making whisky is in attendance from distilleries to independent bottlers. It's a great opportunity for anyone to come along and try something they haven't tried before either because they haven't had the chance or moreover because it's new. There are over 600 whiskies to choose from. Pretty good, right? The show has been greatly expanded this year and there is now a whole ...