For our Dutch whisky friends: we’re proudly introducing our Whisky Tasting Box.

Raisins

Glenlivet 12yo 2007 Cask Strength The Ultimate by Van Wees

Which whiskies you started your journey with? For me it was a trio of Famous Grouse, Glenfiddich and Glenlivet. I had an arrange of different bottlings and tested my palate by figuring out the differences and resemblances. My early whisky journey can be divided into certain periods, when I...

Kavalan Solist Port Cask #0100505024A

Kavalan is one of our favourite new world distilleries. The Taiwanese distillery proved itself several times with some great examples like the Solist Vinho Barrique and (our favourite) Solist Sherry Cask About time we looked at another one in the series: Solist Port Cask. Matured on a post cask...

Caol Ila 5yo by Single Note

This dark 5yo Caol Ila is inspired by the maker’s passion: Jazz. Jazz is like whisky, it’s about experimentation, passion and interpretation. It’s the first release of the new Dutch independent bottler Rick van Diepen, the brand has been given the name Single Note. How high or low the...

Glen Scotia Double Cask

A combination of first fill Bourbon barrels and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. Music to our ears, if done correctly, for that matter. We didn’t know what to expect when this classic Campbelltown malt knocked on our door. Just like every artist, there are songs and albums which you don’t...

Glen Spey 30yo 1987 – Dunes an Òir

How often do you buy, or even taste a 30 years old whisky? We certainly do very rarely. When we came across this bottle by one of our favourite bottlers and whisky shops, we didn’t hesitate for too long. This 30yo Glen Spey by Malts of Scotland was bottled...

Arran 21yo 1997-2018 (51.5%)

There are a few liquor stores here in Holland we always need to visit when we are near. Versailles Dranken Nijmegen is definitely one of them. They have an incredible collection of whisky from all over the world and we’ve already spent hours and hours of our life searching...

Bunnahabhain Toiteach a Dhà

When Toiteach a Dhà was announced a few years ago, we were a bit sad, because one of our favourite peated drams and predecessor Toiteach was about to be discontinued. Although batches differed hugely, the good old Toiteach remained a staple in our cabinet. The Toiteach a Dhà, which...

Glengoyne 12yo

We consider ourselves very lucky, both growing up in the early nineties. Born and raised in the Netherlands during prosperous times and in a safe environment. How different it was to our grandparents, born before or during the Second World War, or is to the less fortunate people today....

Arran 12yo 2006 James MacTaggart 2nd Edition Palo Cortado Finish

We have a license to kill, to kill this wonderful bottling by Arran. Maybe the best Arran I’ve recently purchased, a true diamond. Luckily diamonds, just like the memories of it, last forever…

Tomatin 2006 12yo Amontillado Sherry

It’s an open secret that we’re a huge fan of Tomatin whisky, but we know that not all that glitters is gold at the same time. We think that it just depends on the right approach when it comes to Tomatin.

Spey Tenné Cask Strength – Batch #1

Never have I experienced something like a ‘port bomb’, until this release by Spey. We aren’t the biggest fans of port matured whiskies, but this one made us realize once more: you can’t apply one single measure to everything. We were introduced to Spey with the regular Tenné expression....

Blair Athol 1988-2014 25yo by the Ultimate

The temperature has dropped, the whisky season has officially started! We drink whisky all year long, but some drams just taste better when it’s cold outside. Oh baby, when it’s cold outside. This van Wees The Ultimate Blair Athol 1988 is one of them. This whisky performs incredibly well...

Tobermory 1994-2020 25yo by Kintra

We came across this bottle by Kintra a couple of months ago. It ticked all of our boxes: Tobermory, sherry matured, 25 years old, cask strength (50.9%) and an empty wallet. Well, that last box wasn’t all too bad actually. It set us back around € 140,-, which is...

Benromach 10yo

Benromach 10 definitely exists on our short list of whiskies that everyone should have in their cabinet. If it isn’t for the taste, then it’s for the value for money. You don’t see this bottle highlighted very often, in fact, we’ve only discovered how good Benromach actually was last...

GlenDronach 8yo “The Hielan”

As our feed shows, we’re a big fan of Glendronach. We think the current Glendronach labels exude ‘Whisky’ and they look incredibly sexy on our shelves. Luckily, the spirit itself is not too bad either. Online, and in every shop since our first Glendronach, we kept looking for more...

Scallywag Speyside Blended Malt by Douglas Laing

Recently – with a little help from de Monnik Dranken – we adopted a little Speyside puppy. Don’t feel bad for our best buddy Charlie right here, because this little feller came in liquid form. Scallywag is a mixed-breed of Mortlach, Macallan and Glenrothes, among others, he’s bred under...

Linkwood 11yo 2007 Oloroso Octave Finish by 3006 Whisky

My holidays mostly take place in our own country, even before the pandemic. There’s so much to discover in this small piece on earth (the Netherlands, that is). There’s one tradition I try to maintain, and that is the tradition of finding a good liquor store to buy me...

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2020 Port and Wine Casks

If there’s one distillery that really bonds with its ‘fans’ or friends, if you like, It is Laphroaig. We’ve been ‘friends of Laphroaig’ ever since our first bottle but it took us years to finally ‘seal’ our friendship. Back in April 2018 we visited Islay and of course we...

Aultmore 8yo (cask 900020A) by The Single Cask

Our good friend Torsten Zimmerman introduced us to The Single Cask a while ago. You see, that’s where friends are for. They even arranged two wonderful bottles for us to do a giveaway with. We almost took part in the giveaway ourselves, but we managed to stay sincere. In...

Teeling Small Batch (04/2019) Rum Cask Finish

After a virtual tasting and tour, we were surprised. Let’s look at the Teeling Small Batch to see what’s that about!

Benriach 1999-2016 17yr Ventisquero finish

Lately, Dion is aiming for whiskies with a wine finish or maturing, so when we stumbled upon this beautiful looking Benriach bottle, finished in a Viña Ventisquero Grey Carmenere Barrel, we couldn’t resist.

Bunnahabhain 2001 16yo Bn7 – Elements of Islay

Heave Ho, hoist the colours high for this Elements of Islay Bunnahabhain 16yo. Bottled at a 55.7% cask strength. We always feel a strong connection between Bunnahabhain and the pirate’s life. Maybe it’s the location of the distillery, overlooking the Sound of Jura. Possibly it’s the prison-like look of...

GlenDronach 12yo Original

Can you name a better way to ease into the dreaded Monday than with this classic from the Highlands? GlenDronach 12yo is easily one of our go-to sherried twelve years olds. Mainly because it’s, of course, GlenDronach. But also because it’s balanced to near perfection. A good introduction to...

Caol Ila 9yo Palo Cortado Finish by James Eadie

Well what do we have here? It’s the James Eadie 9 yo Caol Ila. Finished first fill, refill Palo Cortado sherry hogsheads oak European finished for 6 months. Quite a mouthful. Yet again, a relatively young Caol Ila, what’s new? (Indie) young Caol Ila is highly available in The...

Edradour 2008-2018 9yo 1st Fill Sherry by Beek

Beek is a fairly new Dutch brand by Jan Beek, know for The Ultimate. After our tastbuds exploded with the Millstone bottling, we were of course incredibly curious for the Edradour. Fun fact: only the first batch of bottles wear Edradour on the label, Jan Beek had to relabel...

Glenglassaugh PX Sherry Finish

Let’s have a look at this easy to enjoy dram from Glenglassaugh. In particular for sweet tooths like us!

Glen Garioch 1990-2009 Vintage Batch 34

We planned on visiting Glen Garioch next month, Destination Management Scotland did a great job on mapping out an awesome trip through the Highlands, but we had to cancel a while ago. Not because of Covid-19 tough…

Glenrothes 6yo 2011 – Cooper’s Choice

This is where the love of independent Glenrothes bottles began: with a mere 6 year old by Cooper’s Choice.

Edradour 10yo SFTC Sauternes Matured 2008-2018

Sauternes matured whiskies are my new addiction. It just works very well with scotch. Let’s see how it plays out with this recent bottling of Edradour Straight From the Cask.

Glenrothes 11yo 2007-2018 PX Octave Finish by Claxton’s

We have a thing for independently bottled Glenrothes. It’s just very hard to find one that isn’t tasty. We have a huge indie ‘rothes line-up waiting to get reviewed, but this is the one we’d like to start with. It perfectly suits the drizzly weather that we’re facing at...

Tomatin 14yo 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Matured

It’s very hard to find a Tomatin that’s not tasty, this Cabernet Sauvignon matured edition is a fine example of that!

Bimber Distillery Vertical

London’s brand new Bimber Distillery was so kind to send us a couple of beautiful samples last summer. We were quite impressed and let Matt know our thoughts. Let us share our findings with you too. Here are our unaltered notes, as sent to the distillery…