Birming-Dram

Know someone who loves their whisky? Not sure what to buy them for Christmas and have a limited budget to spend? Here are my top budget whisky picks for the festive season! Around £30 Aberlour 10 You can pick this little gem up for £25 without too much trouble. If you want a good all-rounder that everyone can enjoy, you can't go too wrong with this dram. It's a classic Speysider! Lot's of sweet ripe fruit and toffee notes in here with a healthy dab of woodiness thrown in for good measure. Well balanced with the mix of finishes (ex-bourbon and sherry) creating a very mature and fulfilling dram for the price point. Should be on every whisky-lover's shelf! Laphroaig 10 Do you know someone who loves peated whisky and you don't know where to start? Take it from me that every peat lover would be delighted to receive a bottle of Laphroaig 10. For most people this is their entry into the world of peat and it still stands up well against the rest. Again, the ...

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 ...

First off, i really must apologise. It's been months since I last wrote anything on here. It's been a busy few months but I am determined to get back into the swing of things. So let's kick things back off with a recent trip to Fettercairn distillery. Fettercairn is a cute little distillery quite out of the way from most others (the nearest is the tiny Glencadam). It is situated near the town of Laurencekirk roughly halfway between Dundee and Aberdeen so it sits within the “Highland” region of malts. The village of Fettercairn itself is really cute with a couple of pubs and shops and contains the most exuberant and over-sized memorial archway erected to commemorate the visit of Queen Victoria. You pass through the centre for about half a mile and then you come across the distillery. Now here was where I made my first mistake. Be warned that the distillery is only open during the summer months. I tried to visit last winter and was thoroughly disappointed to find it all...

So, I'm going to come clean here...until last week I knew next to nothing about Blair Athol. I knew they were a Diageo owned distillery and I knew that they were an important part of the Bell's Blend but that was about it. However, as I was in the area, popping in to find out more (and get another stamp in my "Friends of Clasic Malts Passport") was an opportunity I couldn't miss! Blair Athol is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland and stands in a lovely spot on the outskirts of the charming Pitlochry in the central Highlands region. We had a lovely drive across in the snow, down winding country roads and passing a frozen lake or two. When we finally arrived we were not disappointed! The distillery buildings are charming and our tour started in the original malting floor (long since defunct) before moving through the normal stages of the process. The distillery has a lauter mash tun, 6 stainless steel wash backs (they replaced the wood ones a few year...