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I wrote a lot about @glenmorangie’s “Private Edition" series last year, and why I think they were a great thing for the whisky community. Whilst that series is now done, it's great to see Glenmo have kept the "spirit" alive with this year's not-private edition, "A Tale of Cake". Anyone who has concerns this could be a below-par whisky wrapped up in a gimmick needn't worry - it's a tasty drop (sweet, yes, but not overly so), good fun, and it's not stupidly priced or terribly hard to get! Full tasting notes are up at TimeforWhisky.com. 👏🏼 again, Glenmorangie! -- #glenmorangie #ATaleofCake #LetThemEatCake #CakeCakeCake #Dram #whisky #InstaWhisky #Instadram #WhiskyGram #RareWhisky #WhiskyTasting #WhiskyGeek #WhiskyBlogger #TimeforWhisky #DramFull #WhiskyHK #WhiskySYD #WhiskyFabric #WhiskyLover #威士忌 #ウイスキー #위스키 #WhiskyLife #HongKongWhisky #🥃
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The wonderful team @lastdropdistillers recently sent me a little care package, containing not only their 56yo Blended whisky (release No.16), but 7, yes, *SEVEN* separate samples of ~50yo Glenrothes casks from 1968, 1969 and 1970 (releases No.12, No.15 and No.18 respectively). I have to admit, I was a bit confused at first, thinking they'd sent me multiples of the same whiskies, but then I realised they were all separate casks (2 from 1968, 2 from 1969 and 3 from 1970). How good is that!? It's not every day you get to try back to back ~50yo whisky from sister casks (especially when some of these casks only yielded less than 90 full bottles)! All the detailed tasting notes are over on the blog (see bio for link), and for something different this time around I had @kamdaswani, aka @adramtoremember (of @dramgoodstuff) join me to work through them - so some of the tasting notes are mine, some are his. All were typically excellent (as I've come to expect from The Last Drop, having tasted close to half their range now, including the oldest alcoholic drink I've ever tried @ 148 years old) and satisfyingly, even the sister casks from the same vintages showed some real differences. We can’t wait to see what 2021 brings, especially with @scotchwhiskycolin on board (after a 47yr career with Chivas Bros!) and some exciting recent “malternative” releases including a 1976 Rum, 1959 Cognac and 1980 Bourbon. Oh, and that blend in the front? Fantastic. Almost as good as the 50yo released a few years ago, which still to this day, is the best blended Scotch I've ever had (notes for that one are also on the blog). Cheers! -- #TheLastDrop #TheLastDropDistillers #50yoWhisky #50yo #Glenrothes #SingleCask #whisky #InstaWhisky #Instadram #WhiskyGram #RareWhisky #WhiskyTasting #WhiskyGeek #WhiskyBlogger #TimeforWhisky #DramFull #WhiskyHK #WhiskySYD #WhiskyFabric #WhiskyLover #威士忌 #ウイスキー #위스키 #WhiskyLife #HongKongWhisky #🥃
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So who else has been getting into “Malternatives” of late? Don’t get me wrong...my love for whisky isn’t going anywhere, but there’s some fantastic value and delicious spirits outside the whisky category (especially in the world of rum, Armagnac and Cognac) that I’m really starting to enjoy. Probably my favourite of these (apart from Caroni run) has been @cognac_vallein_tercinier. I came across it a few years ago when I was given a sample of an independent bottling from Maltbarn, and I thought “hey, if a respected whisky bottler like Maltbarn is getting into it, maybe it’s worth a look”. It helped that it was absolutely delicious, too. I then did some reading, seeing others had referred to it as “the cognac for malt whisky lovers” and found Serge at WhiskyFun had given some of it some pretty high scores, including 93 points for this one! I don’t buy spirits solely on Serge’s score, and I don’t always agree with them (that’s the beauty of personal opinions!) but he was right on this one. I cracked this Lot65 (distilled in 1965, bottled in 2016, so ~50yo) to celebrate @kamdaswani’s birthday recently, and since then it hasn’t lasted too long (I’ve saved a few samples for fellow “Tropic Thunder” fanatics 🏝 ). Happy to have several others in waiting...because you’re not going to find 50yo spirits of this quality in malt whisky anymore unfortunately! Anyone else getting into malternatives in a big way? Anything we should be keeping an eye out for? 👁 🥃 . — #cognac #ValleinTercinier #Malternative #Caroni #50yo #InstaCognac #Instadram #CognacGram #RareWhisky #RareCognac #WhiskyTasting #WhiskyGeek #WhiskyBlogger #TimeforWhisky #DramFull #WhiskyHK #WhiskySYD #威士忌 #ウイスキー #위스키 #HongKongWhisky #🥃 #HKCognac
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I had the pleasure of trying this @glenmorangie "Truffle Oak Reserve" recently, a limited release of 1000 bottles which saw 1993 distillate undergo 10 years of regular maturation, followed by a 16 year "finish" in "Truffle Oak" (sourced from Germany's Black Forest). Not much has been written about this bottle, with barely any tasting notes available online. I suspect that's because Moët Hennessy might be focusing on marketing and selling it via intimate events with private clients (like this one at the beautiful @tatlerhongkong House @upperhouse_hkg), rather than samples being sent out to bloggers etc... Interestingly, this isn't the first Truffle Oak release. The same liquid was actually given a 2 year Truffle Oak finish before being bottled in a limited 886 bottle run in 2005. The remainder (from 4 casks) underwent a further *14 years* finishing, and resulted in the whisky you see here. It's a shame most won't get to try this, as it's an absolutely stunning Glenmo - possibly one of the best I've had (definitely up there with the earliest Signets, which contained 40+ year old Glenmorangie, and the 1963 I tried a few years ago). A big, rich mouth-filling whisky with notes of damp earth, nuttiness, mushrooms, evolving into hints of peaches and raspberry. A hugely complex dram with the Truffle Oak clearly having a significant influence (as you'd expect after 16 years of "finishing"). With exclusivity and quality though, comes cost, with Truffle Oak tipping the scales at $21,500HKD (or over $3,500AUD). Compared to the 1991 grand vintage (also 26yo) at $5,795HKD, it's not a cheap dram...but it is an incredible one. Tasting notes up on TimeforWhisky.com shortly. Have you had any incredible Glenmorangie? -- #Glenmorangie #TruffleOak #RareWhisky #InstaWhisky #Instadram #WhiskyGram #WhiskyTasting #WhiskyGeek #WhiskyBlogger #TimeforWhisky #DramFull #WhiskyHK #WhiskySYD #WhiskyFabric #WhiskyLover #威士忌 #ウイスキー #위스키 #WhiskyLife #HongKongWhisky #🥃
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TimeforWhisky.com hit a pretty big milestone today - our 500th Tasting post! In keeping with tradition for the "100s" (#200 was a 60yo Glenfarclas, #300 was a 65yo Macallan, #400 was a 50yo OB Balvenie), I had to choose something special, and this OB Diageo "Prima & Ultima" 40yo Port Ellen from 1979 fitted the bill perfectly (thanks to @dramgoodstuff)! When I started the website over 8 years ago, I didn't really know where it would lead, but it's fair to say I didn't expect that after all this time it would still be running with regular updates, spanning two countries with two writers (myself and @hendyo)....nor that we'd be writing our 500th tasting post! Yet here we are, still loving it. I was lucky enough to try the whole P&A range in the one sitting, and whilst this Port Ellen was certainly special, for me it was edged out (just) by the 48yo 1971 Cragganmore (which judging by the colour alone, looked like it could've been an oak monster, but wasn't) and the 35yo Caol Ila from 1984. What is it about well-aged Caol Ila!? Just magic stuff. Apretty fantastic afternoon spent with the ever-generous @kamdaswani. Whisky lovers sharing some rare drams - that's the goal, right? 😊. If you've tasted any "Prima & Ultima" bottlings yet, do you have a favourite? -- #PrimaandUltima #PortEllen #PortEllen40 #DiageoRareMalts #Cragganmore #whisky #InstaWhisky #Instadram #WhiskyGram #RareWhisky #WhiskyTasting #WhiskyGeek #WhiskyBlogger #TimeforWhisky #DramFull #WhiskyHK #WhiskySYD #WhiskyFabric #WhiskyLover #威士忌 #ウイスキー #위스키 #WhiskyLife #HongKongWhisky #🥃
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Some whisky lovers focus their whisky buying on a particular theme - it might be independent bottles, "blue chip distilleries", investment bottles, vintage-only, etc... Me personally? I buy a variety of bottles, but one type of whisky I'll *always* try to get my hands on is anything bottled by or for Hong Kong bars (and Aussie and Japanese bars too for that matter). Why? A few reasons: ✔️ It's nice to have something unique to a specific market (I often take my HK bar bottles to Sydney, and vice-versa, to share whiskies that most of my friends won't have tried). ✔️ It's nice to support these awesome bars (ESPECIALLY in 2020) - many run by people I now count as friends. ✔️ These are bottled by genuine whisky lovers, so you know they'll be good! ✔️ They're typically fun, good value whisky - the sort of bottles you just want to pop the cork on right away. ...like this single cask 20yo 1999 Macall...err..."secret speyside" bottle, released a month or so ago. Bottled for @clubqing, @tiffanysnybar, @housewelley, @caskyhk, @butler_the_japanese_bar_hk and @whiskyhk, and featuring a label depicting the Cheung Chau Bun Festival (太平清醮) by artist @kt518.art, there were only 120 bottles released. Matured in a Sherry Hogshead, it has notes of old school Macall, err..."Charlestown" character, but in my opinion some lighter vanilla notes too, reminiscent of some of those excellent @wmcadenheads ex-Bourbon Macallans. Did the whisky start its life in an ex-Bourbon cask before moving? Who knows...but I do know it's a tasty, enjoyable dram. Bring on the next one! 🥃🥃 -- #HongKongWhisky #🥃 #HKBars #ClubQing #TiffanysNYBar #HouseWelley #WhiskyHK #Casky #ButlerBar #whisky #InstaWhisky #Instadram #WhiskyGram #RareWhisky #WhiskyTasting #WhiskyGeek #WhiskyBlogger #TimeforWhisky #WhiskyFabric #WhiskyLover #威士忌 #ウイスキー #위스키 #WhiskyLife
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Absolutely thrilled to be featured in @ingvarronde's #MaltWhiskyYearbook 2021, under "Websites to Watch" 😍. I've been a big fan of the Malt Whisky Yearbook ever since picking up a copy on a Scottish distillery trip with my dad in 2008. I still consider it the gold standard in annual whisky books - layout, content, writing and coverage is all top-notch. As well as covering 665(!) malt whisky distilleries, the book has over 200 tasting notes, a feature on seven whisky legends with a combined 358 years in the industry, 150 whisky shops (of course @oakbarrel & @milroysofsoho get a mention), a summary of the "year that was" in whisky (with some fascinating stats), info on latest bottlings from a heap of distilleries, and stats on 2019's most-sold whiskies (spoiler: most whisky lovers won't have even heard of the first four!) @ingvarronde was ahead of his time covering "world whisky" distilleries too way back when the book began, and that's continued in 2021, with a large section dedicated to non-Scotch distilleries. All up, well worth the £14.95 for any whisky lover! Available at maltwhiskyyearbook.com (full disclosure: Ingvar sent me this copy, though I would've bought it anyway!) -- #whiskywhisky #Distillery #whisky #InstaWhisky #Instadram #WhiskyGram #RareWhisky #WhiskyTasting #WhiskyGeek #WhiskyBlogger #TimeforWhisky #DramFull #WhiskyHK #WhiskySYD #WhiskyFabric #WhiskyLover #威士忌 #ウイスキー #위스키 #WhiskyLife #HongKongWhisky #🥃
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I recently had the honour of being one of only 6 people to feature in the launch video for @rosebankwhisky's new 30yo "Release 1" release - the first in a new annual series of Rosebank releases. See the full video in IGTV or my profile. Joining the likes of @alicelascelles, @schriebergfr, @officialwordsofwhisky & @mamoru.tsuchiya (some of the world's most authoritative sources on whisky and spirits) was pretty awesome, and the whole process was a boatload of fun. In front of the camera is not somewhere I usually find myself, but having a dram of @rosebankwhisky 30yo certainly helped - as did being in the familiar surroundings of @tiffanysnybar Hong Kong! The whisky (as you might imagine, being a Rosebank of 30 years) was excellent, and you can read my detailed thoughts over on the blog (link in bio). Cheers @rosebankwhisky, Ian Macleod Distillers, @thisiswire and @trickyvicky_ for the fun experience! -- #Rosebank #Rosebank30 #WhiskyFun #FaceforRadio #whisky #InstaWhisky #Instadram #WhiskyGram #RareWhisky #WhiskyTasting #WhiskyGeek #WhiskyBlogger #TimeforWhisky #DramFull #WhiskyHK #WhiskySYD #WhiskyFabric #WhiskyLover #威士忌 #ウイスキー #위스키 #WhiskyLife #HongKongWhisky #🥃
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Remembering that time I cracked open this @clubqing 1973 Speyside 43yo Single Malt to celebrate the birth of my son, joined by a Cohiba Talisman for good measure. A delicious combination! These 1973 Speysiders were all the rage a few years ago, and no wonder - they were just awesome! Often sold at incredibly fair prices and containing some incredible liquid (many were said to be ex-Fino Glenfarclas... 🤷🏼♂️). A bottle of this recently sold for nearly $25k HKD at auction, so it seems the desire isn't waning! Edit: As @mraaronchan points out, the auction lot included the original print by @kt518.art featured on the label. This one's long since been emptied though...helped by a session with some good friends (second photo) where @kamdaswani kindly shared his impeccably-maintained early-2000s Cohiba Siglo VIs - probably the best cigar I've had to this day! -- #ClubQing #1973Speyside #SingleCask #SigloVI #Cohiba #40yoWhisky #whisky #InstaWhisky #Instadram #WhiskyGram #RareWhisky #WhiskyTasting #WhiskyGeek #WhiskyBlogger #TimeforWhisky #DramFull #WhiskyHK #WhiskySYD #WhiskyFabric #WhiskyLover #威士忌 #ウイスキー #위스키 #WhiskyLife #HongKongWhisky #🥃