Dennis Scholten, auteur op Tasting Notes - Whisky Consultants

A warm welcome at Lagavulin Distillery

Lagavulin’s tasting room, not your typical tasting room!

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Blackadder Peat Reek RAW Cask PR2017-10

Ever wanted to use your whisky bottle like a snow globe? Well, here’s your chance!

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Frysk Hynder Cognac Cask

Although Scotch is mostly our way to go if it comes to drinking whisky, we can not simply ignore the fact that our mostly beer-drinking country makes pretty decent whisky. Frysk Hynder is one of them.

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Glenfiddich 21yo Gran Reserva – Rum Cask Finish

It hasn’t rained for ages here in the Netherlands and that’s quite unusual. But instead of complaining about the tropical temperatures, let’s pair a whisky with it!

Bowmore vibes

Now imagine this, the sun on your face, you can feel the sea breeze from Loch Indaal through your hair, the view is amazing and one of the finest whiskies is only one step away. Sounds like a dream right?

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Hazelburn 13yo Oloroso Cask Matured

I walked into a whisky store in ’s-Hertogenbosch: De Koning, great chance you Dutchies know him already. And it was like entering a gold mine. Dusty bottles, discontinued bottles, bottles of forgotten ages, fresh new bottles, but what most stood out: a whole ‘cage’ of Springbank goodness. I asked...

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Highland Park Einar

Chop your own wood and it will warm you twice. Words to live by, but taking a wee dram of this Highland Park Einar will warm you up in no time, and it takes less effort to do so. Choose wisely.

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Bunnahabhain Moine Bordeaux Red wine Cask Matured

Imagine yourself on a hot day, with a smoking barbecue with huge chunks of glaced meat, sipping a glass of robust red wine. That’s basically what’s in this new addition to Bunnahabain’s limited edition range.

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Spey Tenné

Until recently, we haven’t tried any of the whiskies from Speyside Distillery, baring the name Spey. But once in a while, I let store owners pick a bottle for me, of which they think are great daily drams.

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Glen Moray Elgin Classic Chardonnay Cask Finish

This is a great whisky to drag your wine-loving/whisky-hating friend into our world of whisky, but don’t forget the veterans, because this really is a dram for everyone.

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Ardbeg Grooves Committee Release

We’ve had two opportunities to taste the committee release from Ardbeg Grooves. The first was at the Islay Hotel and the second was at the Ardbeg distillery. It underwent an unusual treatment with the use of heavily charred red wine casks. This heavy charring results in deep grooves in...

Rime of the ancient mariner

What does Iron Maiden have to do with whisky I hear you ask. Well, let’s sit down for a moment and emerge in this great musical experience…

Islay vibes

A little story on how it’s like to be on Islay, one of the most peaceful places in the world. Especially for whisky lovers like us!

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Glenglassaugh Evolution

I’m a big sherry and peat lover and my personal collection consists mostly of these whiskies. So I went looking for something different…

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Signatory Vintage – Edradour 10yo #320

Sometimes you just need a good and affordable sherry matured sipper. This is a 10yo Edradour, distilled in 2007 and bottled in 2017 by Signatory (cask #320). 46% ABV

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Aberlour 25yo 1992-2018 Whisky Broker

Whiskybroker is a bottler we haven’t noticed before, until last week. I bought this 25yo Aberlour for the insane price of just 75 pounds. How is that even possible? And how good can it be at that price?

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The Caol Ila 14yo Unpeated 2012

The Caol Ila 14yo Unpeated from 2012 is a part of the collection for quite some time. To me, this has always been a good competitor for the discontinued Glenlivet Nadurra 16yo.

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Bruichladdich The Laddie Valinch 34 2004-2018

If you ask us to describe Bruichladdich in one word, it would be: mavericks. They are definitely not afraid to experiment and when it comes to their less experimental whisky’s they don’t necessarily care what others do or say. In short: they do things their own way, and they...

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Bruichladdich Port Charlotte Cask Exploration 20 Valinch

Leaving Kilchoman behind, we went on to our last stop on our trip: Bruichladdich. There we tasted the Bruichladdich Port Charlotte Cask Exploration 20 Valinch

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Kilchoman Distillery Exclusive 8yo Madeira Cask Matured 2010-2018

A quick stop at Kilchoman, discussing their early years and a review of the Distillery Exclusive 8yo Madeira Cask Matured edition.

Ardbeg Day 2018

It’s Ardbeg Day, let’s celebrate and share the love! Our review of Ardbeg Grooves is on the way (edit: you can find it here), so for now we’ll do with the extraordinary Kelpie, cheers!

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GlenDronach Cask Strength Batch 3

When it comes to a distillery that has spent a lot of time and years with us and has survived many tasting sessions (and especially verdicts), the first whisky that comes in mind is the GlenDronach.

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Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask #S100209030a

With every single cask, there’s a great chance of differences with every batch. The previous Solist we reviewed, was lighter in colour and fruitier and woodier in taste. The one we’re reviewing today (#S100209030a) is a lot darker…

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Islay’s Ardview Inn and Bruichladdich Black Art 1990 (04.1)

The bar at Ardview Inn and tasting notes of Bruichladdich Black Art 23yo 1990 04.2

Islay Travelblog 7: Bunnahabhain Distillery

Ahoy mateys, strap in for a bumpy ride to Bunnahabhain distillery. Unconventional and not afraid to do things a little different, like real pirates of Islay.

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Caol Ila Distillery Exclusive 2017

Visiting Caol Ila Distillery, getting the full Islay-weather experience and tasting notes of the Distillery Exclusive.

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Bruichladdich Octomore 7.2

How come that these gems from Bruichladdich with a peat level of 208ppm are so smooth and gentle on the tongue?

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Lagavulin Distillery Exclusive Bottling 2017

The Lagavulin Distillery, easily recognized by It’s tall red smokestack is not a complete stranger to us. Our collection contains the 8yo 12yo CS, 16yo, the Distillers Edition and some indie bottlings which don’t bear their name, but obviously come from this distiller. So we thought Lagavulin couldn’t surprise...

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Ardbeg Kelpie

When you think Islay, you think Ardbeg. One of the most renowned distillers on the island. For some it’s too bold, for some it’s heaven.

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Kilchoman Madeira Cask Matured

A Kilchoman with a Madeira twist. A great cask experiment from Kilchoman, but how does it taste?

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Craigellachie 8yo by Douglas of Drumlanrig

An untamed bottle of Craigellachie finished on a red wine barrel!

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Bowmore Warehousemen’s Selection 2017 – Distillery Exclusive

We made love to Bowmore, we visited her distillery and the final result: tasting notes of the 17yo Distillery Exclusive from 2017.

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Laphroaig Cairdeas 15yo

About our first moments on Islay, visiting Laphroaig and the Cairdeas 15yo tasting notes.

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How we traveled to Islay

Our travel to Islay by plane, bus and ferry, a tasting note of the Arran 14yo and a glimpse of what heaven looks like.

Our wonderful trip to Islay

We’re back home after a wonderful trip to Islay. We’ve had a great time visiting the (for now) eight working distilleries, tasting lots of drams and talking to the beautiful people living on the island.

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Tamdhu Batch Strength Batch 002

Tamdhu, often overlooked, even by us. But we heard some good stories about their Batch Strength Series, so why not try one?