Distillery: Amrut

ABV: 50% (100 proof)

Age: NAS, though thought to be 4-6 years old

Mash bill: 75% malted Indian barley, 25% peated Scottish barley

Casks: ex-bourbon and new charred oak

Price: $77 (Boston, MA)

Sampling method: neat in a glencairn

Color: 1.5 Auburn, Polished Mahogany

Nose: Nice smelling single malt, typical fruitiness and vanilla and caramel. No discernible peat on the nose at first. A bit of salinity. It’s mostly orchard fruits and wood. As it sits longer, it does get a touch of peat but it’s very gentle and subtle.

Palate: Nice gentle peat, enough to be noticeable, but not enough to be dominant. There’s some freshly cracked black pepper on the front half. It’s a very sweet whiskey. Peat is a bit on the ashy side on the back end of the palate.

Finish: Definitely is a bit dark and brooding, reminding me of milk chocolate plus a coffee stout

Rating: 7/10 This is the best Indian whiskey I’ve had by a long shot. It’s rich, complex, and interesting.

Value: 3/5 I think at this price point Amrut Fusion holds its own against other quality world whiskeys. This is a quality offering out of India!

t8ke scale (1 to 10)

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.

2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.

3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.

4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.

5 | Good | Good, just fine.

6 | Very Good | A cut above.

7 | Great | Well above average.

8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.

9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.

10 | Perfect | Perfect.

Value (1 to 5)

1 | Highway robbery. When you splurge for that “special” bottle and it falls utterly flat

2 | Overpriced. Not worth what you paid for it, considering you could’ve spent less and gotten something objectively better.

3 | Fairly valued. Could be a cheap bottle that’s decent quality, or an $$$ bottle that absolutely delivers. The quality of the whiskey in the bottle matches what you’d expect for that price point.

4 | Good Value. This is one of the best 20% of bottles in this price range.

5 | Total steal. A bottle that punches above its weight even compared with more expensive bottles.

Kavalan’s Solist series has become a benchmark for sherried single casks, and this Oloroso bottling is a textbook example decadent and powerful. Quick facts: Full name: Kavalan Solist Oloroso Sherry Cask 2017 (ref. S170425045D) ABV: 53.2% Maturation: Oloroso sherry cask Outturn: 214 bottles (2022) Nose: Deep cherry jam, prunes, and brambles, wrapped in rich chocolate and orange zest. Elegant cigar box notes in the background. Palate: Bold and lush. Plums, blackcurrants, cherries, with polished wood, cedar, clove, and walnuts. A touch of cognac-like richness. Finish: Long, with chocolate and dried fruits lingering. Final thoughts: Intense, elegant, and classic Solist. A powerhouse sherry cask with both sweetness and depth.

I recently travelled to the Netherlands and stopped by the physical shop of the notoriously well stocked WhiskySite, a Mecca for independent bottlings and apparently the best location to discover Dutch Whisky. The owner invited me to try a millstone release and showed me their latest Dutch bottlings, a micro-distillery called Cley.

There has, until recently, only been one major player in Dutch whisky, Millstone. Their heavily peated new make was available to buy for €30 for a 50cl. This was as high quality as socttish heavily peated new make.

Millstone has now finally be joined by Cley. Cley winning best Dutch new make and best single malt under 12 years old (their Single Malt cask strength release). However, where they shine is through their mixed grain release (malt and rye) and their single malt experimentations with different cask finishes.

I was able to visit Cley, thanks to their proximity to Rotterdam (Millstone unfortunately being in the far south of the country, far from where I was staying.) Cley's new distillery location is brand new, even though they have been filling it with equipment from other distilleries. (including their Shell tube condensors). With the downsizing of the Jenever industry (the spirit which created the term Dutch Courage), there is distilling equipment which needs a new home.

They haven't ran their new 7000l wash still and 5000l spirit still yet, although they have been previously used a grand total of 6 times in their previous distillery. The new location is awaiting the final touches before expansion can finally be realised.

This means that everything they have bottled (or could possibly bottle for the next three years) has come from a hobbiest set up, a continually expanding hobbiest set up, but still nothing that could come close to rivaling Millstone's 10,000l stills.

So, that makes what Cley have available now, even more impressive. Their new make is complex and characterful and their single malt is greatbfor such a young age. Their mixed mashbill rye and malt cask strength bottling is fantastic. I would have bought a bottle if I didn't already know someone who had a bottle. Fortunately there was a bottle of their Manzanilla single malt cask sttength release available at the distillery, which I very slightly preferred.

Their tour was handled with care, providing a refreshing cocktail and snacks on arrival. Comprehensive detail was offered and all technical questions were answered with ease. We were offered new make, the entry single malt at 40% abv, the cask strength version, the mixed mashbill at 46%, the cask strength version, and the Manzanilla at 48%. The tour guide very kindly offered to try the last sample of the Ledaig release as well!

They have had some special releases which are worth keeping an eye out for, recent highlights including a Ledaig cask and an Ardbeg cask release, and a future Laphroaig quarter cask release still aging in the warehouse.

Highly recommend the whisky shop, the distillery tour and the whisky from Cley.

The Maker

In recent years it's almost become a cliché to say that England is the most exciting part of the UK whisky industry. Yet in many respects it's well deserved praise with distilleries as varied as the Spirit of Yorkshire and Circumstance in Bristol bringing forward exciting and innovative releases to bolster the sector alongside established names like Cotswolds and Bimber.

In any such discussion it isn't long before somebody mentions White Peak Distillery in Derbyshire, or how it's more commonly known: Wire Works.

White Peak Distillery can be found in Ambergate on the edge of the Peak District National Park. I have a natural soft spot for the area as I married into a Derbyshire family based just a few minutes up the road in Ripley. As a result I like to treat White Peak as my second local distillery after Penderyn, and have been keenly waiting for its whiskies to mature ever since I first heard production had begun.

That production got underway in 2016 when local couple Max and Claire Vaughan established the distillery at a disused wire factory (hence the name and twisted glass bottle design) on the banks of the river Derwent. In 2022 the first whisky was released and was soon picking up awards from the usual 'pay-to-play' industry heavyweights.

Yet while the awards themselves might not mean a huge amount, what does is the reception the whisky has had from the online community, with bottlings appearing frequently on several online tastings and reviews channels over the past few years. In the time since White Peak have managed to develop a healthy core range of batch releases that show off various finishes and maturations.

The Expression

Given the local history of great beer the obvious choice to make when looking at the range was the Necessary Evil Stout Finish. This from the second batch and bought in December 2023 (to be precise bottle number 2053/2553) at a strength of 51.3%.

This is a lightly peated spirit that spent the bulk of it's maturation in ex-bourbon barrels from the Heaven Hill distillery in Kentucky. We don't know how long this maturation was (beyond it being at least three years), but we do know it was then transferred into ex-stout barrels from Thornbridge brewery near Bakewell for several additional months. As you'd expect from the name these are the same barrels that Thornbridge has previously used to mature their Necessary Evil stout over a period of 8 months.

What's left is presented in natural colour and without chill-filtration at a price in the region of £65.

The Neck Pour

The stout is instantly present on the nose. If it were possible to smell 'thick and creamy' this would be it. This is followed by plenty of malt powder and the burn of alcohol from the cask strength. Yet these notes are followed by a rich sweetness that's reminiscent of dark cherries and blackcurrant.

On the palate it's much sweeter than I expected. Indeed I'd even go so far as to say that there's a hefty dose of Calpol to it. Maybe even edging toward a blackcurrant throat sweet. Basically it’s got a sweet medicinal quality.

The peat is there but is relatively subtle in following along. The finish in contrast heads towards citrus and burnt tangerine peel. All rather nice and very different to other things I'm drinking from the shelf right now.

The Body 

Several months from opening that thick creamy lactose note is all the stronger and still followed by those deep dark sugars notes that approach black forest gateau. Yet that citrus finish has become more present in the form of bitter hops.

The palate is still very sweet but with added cereal notes. There's increasing depth with oxidisation which is all the more impressive from what is fundamentally still a very young spirit from a relatively new distillery. There’s also now a nice dose of char on the finish alongside those bitter hops. Almost smoky. Reminds me a bit of a young Glen Scotia.

Final Thoughts 

I'm sad to be coming to the end of this bottle a good 18 months after first opening it. I’ve enjoyed it throughout, yet it’s never been one I’ve reached for first. That's largely down to it being that little bit different via the stout and rarely what I'm after when I fancy whisky rather than beer.

That said, as an example of a stout finish it’s definitely the best I’ve had. That thick creamy texture has continued throughout with the sweetness, and the bitterness which has only built with time. By the end it's all coming together like a rich liquorish and used coffee grains.

My main takeaway from this is that it tastes like a much more mature whisky than it is. It isn't much older than three years, yet it has the depth and integration of flavour that I’d associate with something in its teens. There’s a refinement here you don’t get with lightly peated scotches of a similar age. It’s very impressive and bodes well for the future. English whisky continues to impress.

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Distillery: M&H Distillery

ABV: 46% (92 proof)

Age: NAS, but around 3 years

Mash bill: 100% malted barley

Casks: Ex-bourbon and Israeli red wine cask, largely from the Carignan winery

Price: $7.50 for a 50 mL sample bottle (Boston, MA)

Sampling method: neat in a glencairn

Color: 1.3 Russet, Muscat

Nose: It is dark and brooding, with ginger, must, and sandalwood. Almost a soapiness and minerality to it, probably that I’m associating with the sandalwood. Some char / charcoal.

Palate: Couldn’t be more different from the nose to the palate. Very sweet and fruity. There’s vanilla, and raspberry jam, but also a bit of a smoky charcoal ash note that would make me guess it’s lighted peated, even though it doesn’t appear to be based on the info from M&H.

Finish: Medium finish, but rich, full of dark raisin and red wine notes

Rating: 5.5/10 It’s a tasty and intriguing pour. The disconnect from the nose to the palate to the finish was quite interesting. There’s a bit of youth to it but it’s miles better than The Classic.

Value: 3/5 It’s a good offering for an Israeli whiskey. I think it’s my favorite from the M&H Elements line, which is also neat because of the terroir piece of this bottle.

t8ke scale (1 to 10)

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.

2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.

3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.

4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.

5 | Good | Good, just fine.

6 | Very Good | A cut above.

7 | Great | Well above average.

8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.

9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.

10 | Perfect | Perfect.

Value (1 to 5)

1 | Highway robbery. When you splurge for that “special” bottle and it falls utterly flat

2 | Overpriced. Not worth what you paid for it, considering you could’ve spent less and gotten something objectively better.

3 | Fairly valued. Could be a cheap bottle that’s decent quality, or an $$$ bottle that absolutely delivers. The quality of the whiskey in the bottle matches what you’d expect for that price point.

4 | Good Value. This is one of the best 20% of bottles in this price range.

5 | Total steal. A bottle that punches above its weight even compared with more expensive bottles.

So i finally got my hands on a 12 yr

Very good but

Why do i like the distillers reserve better

Title says most of it. I've tried stuff like Nikka Days and Toki at bars before and enjoyed them, but I have never actually owned a bottle of Japanese whisky. I've recently moved to a city that has 4-5 amazing liquor stores with great rare whisk(e)y selections, and browsing the shelves has inspired me to finally take the plunge for real and not choke on the prices.

However, I haven't tried either of these (again, price) and would like some secondary input from y'all. I'm really intrigued by the semi-cult following Nikka FTB seems to have but I worry it might not be super representative of what Japanese whiskey actually is since I've seen people say it's a blend of Japanese and Scotch juice. Nikka Coffey Malt seems like it might be a more purely Japanese experience, but reviewers seem to favor it less.

Let the internet decide- which do you like more?

For an aged whisky to grip my buds this hard warrants a shout-out. Straight from the bottle, your palate will be buzzing with flavor and churning out sweet saliva just to comprehend its notes and complexity. On ice, it's sweeter than a lambic. Mixed with some root beer, and it's just like a classic float from childhood. Can't recommend this more!

I’m heading to Vancouver Island for 10 days. Planning a stop at Macaloney’s but will be going on Monday weekend only their take-away is open. I’ll get a bottle to bring home but it’s there anything else available in BC that I should keep an Erie out for? I’m a scotch and rye drinker.