Distilleries Archives

The Attic Islay June Tasting

20th June 202520th June 2025Coldorak

I recently participated in another session of the Attic Islay tasting, which I had mentioned a couple of months ago. The June event showcased six Islay whiskies, adhering to their usual format of featuring one whisky per distillery. The tasting was lively and engaging, conducted across multiple platforms, including Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube. The team of David Brodie, Katie Cairns, and Colin Stroud led the session with their characteristic enthusiasm.

During the tasting, we sampled each whisky blind, made our guesses, and then had the trio reveal the details before moving on to the next one. The lineup included an unpeated Caol Ila, an unpeated sherried Bunnahabhain, a Bowmore 15 Sherry Oak, a Lagavulin 11 Offerman, the Ardbeg Eureka (which I have previously reviewed and thus won’t cover here), and an Octomore 15.1. This selection offered a diverse representation of Islay whiskies, some of which were not universally liked by the hosts but were included to provide a comprehensive view of Islay’s offer.

Here, I will review five of the six whiskies from the Attic Islay June tasting. I extend my thanks to the organisers for putting together this really enjoyable event for whisky and Islay enthusiasts.

Talisker The Wild Blue vs The Wild Explorador

18th June 202517th June 2025Coldorak

Born to be wiIIIiiiIIIiiiIIIiiild… sorry, not sorry. Today we compare a pair of Talisker whiskies, selected because of their names: Talisker The Wild Blue vs The Wild Explorador. Yes, ‘explorador’ with a ’d’ – don’t ask me why, but I’m sure Diageo’s marketing team has a perfectly logical (and probably very exciting, of course) story for that. The Talisker The Wild Blue is a brand new 2025 release with a link to a foundation, like the Wilder Seas ’Parsley a couple of years ago, while The Wild Explorador is a 2023 Special Release. Let’s get to them, shall we?’

Glen Keith 21-, 25 and 28-year-old

16th June 202516th June 2025Coldorak

We published our first Glen Keith review on this blog only a few months ago, and we return already to this distillery. The previous review covered an independent bottling from Wemyss Malts; this time, we are looking at three official Glen Keith releases. Glen Keith, like the Braevals we reviewed last month, belongs to Pernod Ricard’s Secret Speyside range. The whiskies under review come from the first batch, so they might differ slightly from later batches, but they remain available, making this review relevant. (And I do not limit myself to reviewing only currently available whiskies.) Here are my notes on the Glen Keith 21-, 25-, and 28-year-old expressions.

Bimber 8yo Single Cask & Harmony of Eight featured

Bimber 8yo Single Cask (and more…) & Harmony of Eight

13th June 202512th June 2025Coldorak

At the close of 2024, Bimber introduced its inaugural age-statement expression, not once but twice. The first release featured an 8-year-old single cask matured in an ex-bourbon cask. For this selection, Bimber took an innovative approach by inviting approximately 20 fortunate tasters from their Klub members to blindly choose their favourite cask from three samples. I was lucky enough to be one of these tasters and, by sheer chance, I had a sample of the very cask the tasting panel selected – one of their oldest casks – from a distillery visit in April 2022.

Following the initial 8-year-old single cask, Bimber unveiled Harmony of Eight, a skilful vatting of several casks designed to produce a more substantial 8-year-old release, which we will also be exploring.

While the first four reviews below may not carry the same weight, as they pertain to unfinished and unreleased whiskies, they offer a fascinating insight into the evolution of these spirits, particularly cask 11. So, let’s delve into the review of this Bimber 8-year-old single cask (and more…) and the Harmony of Eight.

Ninety-One & One / Ardbeg 19yo / Blend 40yo Living Souls

99&1 / Ardbeg 19yo / Blend 40yo Living Souls

11th June 202511th June 2025Coldorak

Living Souls is a new independent bottler that Calum Leslie, Jamie Williamson, and John Torrance founded. Together, they bring decades of experience in the whisky industry. They aim to take a different approach from other independent bottlers by focusing not on single casks but on delivering small batches, sometimes through a solera system. We will review three expressions from their batch #1 release: the Ninety-One & One, Secret Ardbeg 19-year-old, and Blended Scotch 40-year-old Living Souls.

Three Pointe Blanche French Whiskies

6th June 20255th June 2025Coldorak

Pointe Blanche Distillery, located in Charente-Maritime, France, produces a single malt whisky made from French malted barley that is brewed and distilled on site using traditional copper pot stills. The whisky undergoes a minimum of three years’ maturation in oak casks on the mainland before finishing its ageing for about a year in an oyster hut on a nearby Atlantic island, where the maritime environment influences its flavour. This double maturation process is said to contribute to its distinctive profile, which includes subtle smoky and saline notes. Let’s verify that, as we review three Pointe Blanche French whiskies: their core Whisky Français single malt, the OLO Limited Edition, and their Peated single malt.

London Distillery Renascence

4th June 20254th June 2025Coldorak

The London Distillery Company traces its origins to 1807, when Ralph Dodd proposed building a distillery in Nine Elms, London. Despite raising funds and assembling a board of prominent figures, the venture collapsed following a legal challenge under the Bubble Act, which led to its disbandment before production could even start. Nearly two centuries later, Darren Rook and Nick Taylor revived the company in 2011, establishing a modern distillery in Battersea focused on producing English single malt and blended whisky. After encountering financial difficulties in 2020, the company entered administration but experienced a revival in January 2025 under new ownership by Gleann Mor Spirits. Experienced whisky maker Matt McKay, known for his currently silent whisky blog, The Dramble, as well as his role as director of communications and whisky maker at Bimber and Dunphail distilleries, now leads its renewed efforts to craft London-based whisky. The first release from this revival, aptly named London Distillery Renascence – The Revival Release, will launch on 6 June 2025, and we have it in our glass today.

Glasgow Distillery 1770 Tokaji, Marsala & Vin de Paille

Glasgow 1770 Tokaji/Marsala/Vin de Paille LeGus’t

30th May 202530th May 2025Coldorak

Until now we had only reviewed just one Glasgow Distillery whisky, and one that wasn’t official nor a single malt, but a single grain bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. But since its launch (or relaunch, as we’ll see below), the distillery has gained a deserved following and love from many whisky fans, as they continue releasing good and reasonably priced whisky, even a few years ago, moving to 50 cl to 70 cl bottles without changing the price. It’s time we take a closer look, with three single malts, two official bottlings and one indy, with the Glasgow 1770 Tokaji and Marsala cask finish, and a Vin de Paille cask bottled by Le Gus’t, who has not disappointed us so far.

Convalmore 1975 Gordon & Macphail

28th May 202527th May 2025Coldorak

Convalmore Distillery, established between 1893 and 1894 in Dufftown, Speyside, Scotland, is a now silent single malt Scotch whisky distillery renowned for its distinctive waxy and fruity character. Originally constructed during the late Victorian whisky boom, it was one of Dufftown’s famed seven distilleries and primarily contributed to blends such as Black & White and Lowrie’s. The distillery underwent various ownership changes, including acquisition by James Buchanan & Co. and later integration into the Distillers Company Limited (DCL), now part of Diageo. After modernisation efforts in the 1960s, Convalmore was mothballed in 1985, and its site was sold to William Grant & Sons, who repurposed the buildings for whisky maturation linked to Glenfiddich and Balvenie. Although distillation ceased decades ago, Diageo retains the rights to the Convalmore name, leaving open the possibility of other future releases under this historic name. Convalmore’s whisky does not seem to have been bottled officially as a single malt during its operational years, making official single malt releases rare and highly sought after today (a few were released by Diageo as part of the Rare Malts, Special Releases, Prima & Ultima and the Casks of Distinction series since the 2000s). However, today we are not reviewing an official bottling; instead, we are reviewing a Convalmore 1975 from Gordon & MacPhail, released in 2015.

Bushmills 2008, 16- and 21-year-old

26th May 202526th May 2025Coldorak

It has been a while since we last featured Bushmills here, so let’s briefly discuss the distillery’s extensive history – it is, after all, the oldest licensed distillery in the world. After that, we can review a distillery exclusive and two expressions from the core range: the Bushmills 2008, 16- and 21-year-old.