Author: Coldorak

Scapa 10-, 16- and 21-year-old

Scapa 10-, 16- and 21-year-old

Coldorak

Scapa Distillery has launched a renewed core range featuring 10-, 16-, and 21-year-old single malts, marking its first permanent age-statement collection since 1885. Released in late 2024 under the Signature Range name, the series showcases Scapa’s fruity, unpeated style, with all three whiskies matured in first-fill American oak casks and bottled at 48% ABV or cask strength.​

The new core range was accompanied by new packaging said to take inspiration from the calm coastal surroundings of Scapa Flow, using a soft maritime colour palette and redesigned bottle silhouettes. The launch coincides with updates to the distillery’s visitor centre, reflecting Pernod Ricard’s decision to at last revitalise Scapa, and bringing renewed attention to this long-overlooked Orkney distillery.

We’ll review all three of these new expressions, as well as the old 16-year-old, discontinued in 2016.

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Timorous Beastie Cheese Cellar Collection

Timorous Beastie Cheese Cellar Collection

Coldorak

Douglas Laing created the Timorous Beastie Cheese Cellar Collection as a trilogy of Highland blended malt whiskies crafted specifically to pair with artisan cheeses. This limited-edition series forms part of the Remarkable Regional Malts range and highlights Highland single malts including Dalmore, Glengoyne, Glen Garioch, and Strathearn. Between 2024 and 2025, the company developed the collection to celebrate the link between whisky and cheese, finishing each expression in a different style of wine cask chosen to complement distinctive cheese types.

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Jean-Luc Pasquet Le Cognac de Charles L.98

Pasquet Le Cognac de Charles

Coldorak

For once on More Drams Less Drama, today features a single dram: Jean‑Luc Pasquet’s Le Cognac de Charles, part of the house’s Trésors de Famille range. This cognac traces its roots to the Petite Champagne cru and tells the story of Charles Leroux, whose family left Normandy in 1960 to start anew in Charente. Charles and Monique Leroux took over the family estate in 1975, revived their small still, and pioneered organic viticulture by 1985 – long before it became fashionable. I won’t paraphrase all their history, for that it is best to let you read the story on Jean-Luc Pasquet’s website. I really encourage you to read it.

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Ondjaba Namibian Whiskey

Two Ondjaba Namibian Whiskies

Coldorak

Today brings a true whisky first: the chance to explore not one, but two Namibian whiskies – my first ever drams from this country, and both hailing from Ondjaba. These are not just ordinary new experiences, either. What makes these expressions quite so remarkable – or perhaps notorious – is the use of an ingredient that is well and truly out of the ordinary: local cereals smoked over burning elephant dung in place of the peat one finds in Scotland, for instance. That one detail alone ensures that Ondjaba promises to stand out, whether or not for the right reasons. Such a bold use of regional tradition could yield something either genuinely special or simply unforgettable in ways less anticipated. One thing is certain: the tasting of these two Ondjaba Namibian whiskies might not be easily forgotten.

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Four Benriach from the 2010s

Four Benriach From The 2010s

Coldorak

Almost two years ago, I reviewed two Benriach 12-year-old expressions from the distillery’s modern range – the line introduced after the major rebranding of September 2020. That refreshed identity brought a new look and a more contemporary flavour philosophy under its A World of Flavour portfolio.

But what did Benriach taste like before this new era? Perhaps you’ve never asked yourself that question – though I certainly have. To satisfy that curiosity, this review revisits four Benriach bottlings from the 2010s: three official releases, including one peated expression, and one independent bottling. Together they offer a snapshot of how the distillery’s character evolved before its transformation into the Benriach we know today.

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Auchroisk Tormore Benrinnes Ardmore Signatory

Auchroisk / Tormore / Benrinnes / Ardmore Signatory

Coldorak

Last Wednesday, two friends and I hosted a second sherried whiskies session at Rennes Whisky Club, this time featuring three bottlings from Signatory Vintage’s 100 proof series: Tormore, Benrinnes, and Ardmore. After the tasting, I realised I had overlooked an Auchroisk from the same range—one I forgot about when I put together my earlier review of three indy Auchroisks. I decided to bring it along, turning the evening into a lineup of four Auchroisk, Tormore, Benrinnes and Ardmore Signatory 100 proof whiskies.

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Three Independent Secret Orkney

Three Independent Secret Orkney

Coldorak

We return to Orkney with a review of three Independent Secret Orkney bottlings. As a reminder, Orkney only has two whisky distilleries: Highland Park and Scapa. None of these bottlings should be from Scapa, so you can easily guess their origin. By the way, I plan to review Scapa’s new core range soon, so stay tuned for that. We will examine today’s whiskies in ascending order of ABV, starting immediately with a relatively high proof, as the lowest ABV (57.1%!) in this selection is the Signatory 100 Proof bottling.

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Two Glenlivet 2007 Signatory Vintage

Two Glenlivet 2007 Signatory Vintage

Coldorak

Glenlivet has appeared only once on More Drams Less Drama (by itself). The official 12-year-old, bottled at 40% and chill-filtered, earned a forgettable 4/10 rating, whilst a 25-year-old Speyside #4 from That Boutique-y Whisky Company demonstrated that the distillery performs considerably better when not overly diluted. Today’s pair might reinforce that observation with two Glenlivet 2007 bottled by Signatory Vintage, both bottled at cask strength and offering a glimpse of what Glenlivet can achieve when left unmolested at high proof.

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Auchroisk Boutique-y vanWees A.D. Rattray

Auchroisk Boutique-y / vanWees / AD Rattray

Coldorak

Auchroisk remains one of the most enigmatic names in the whisky world (and not the easiest to pronounce correctly). Its presence outside of blends is almost ghostlike – with not even a website anymore, worse even than when its official website offered barely more than a placeholder, as observed in our last review of an independent Auchroisk bottling back in 2019. Founded in the 1970s mainly to supply malt for J&B blends, this Speyside distillery has long flown under the radar, producing the bulk of its spirit for high-volume blended whiskies rather than shining as a single malt star. The latest official bottling I could find on Whiskybase is the 10-year-old in Diageo’s Flora & Fauna collection, but the latest one goes back to 2022. Fortunately, independently bottled Auchroisk expressions, such as these three Auchroisk from That Boutique-y Whisky Co, Van Wees, and A. D. Rattray, have allowed us to get glimpses into the character of this often-overlooked distillery.

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Tamdhu 8- and 10-year-old from the 1970s

Tamdhu 8- and 10-year-old (1970s)

Coldorak

Following Friday’s exploration of two vintage Aberlour-Glenlivet miniatures, the focus now shifts to a pair of Tamdhu miniatures from the 1970s: an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old. Today, Tamdhu emphasises sherry cask maturation, yet despite tasting several over recent years, the distillery has not appeared on More Drams until now. Admittedly, there is no Tamdhu bottle in my collection, nor have I acquired multiple samples for review or exploration. Until that changes, these two auction-acquired miniatures provide the opportunity to delve into Tamdhu’s old style and character.

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