You're welcome 🙏 the other Alchemy Series bottlings are mostly rather good. I'd give the standard and 10yo a miss though. Cheers 🥃

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and findings 🙏 there really is a massive night and day difference between these Ardbeg bottlings. People who say that whisky doesn't change clearly haven't done these experiments. I recently got a good deal on a bottle of Ardbeg 19. I like it. Will review it soon but I think this old Ardbeg 10 had more of the old malt magic. And the old Ardbeg 17 had far more. I love the current Ardbeg core range but they simply don't make them like they used to.... Cheers 🥃

@@WhiskyLock I agree with you a lot of people really don't see into it as deeply as this. Here's a wild thought, imagine the potential for an Islay barley version of ardbeg 10. I think it would knock it outta the park!

What did you think of it? At 12yo I guess it's from the actual English Whisky Company. Although there are others releasing things of that age now too. I think I'd best describe this one as a fruitier and more gentle Laphroaig. Classy stuff 🥃

@WhiskyLock the one I tried is grey label Cadenhead and peated. It was fantastic and I agree with that greasy note completely. A bit bewildering but I enjoyed it a lot!

Disappointing if they do stop selling it (the white pheasant). I am also due to renew my bottle, which is on its way out.

Btw, Strathearn NMS is currently available, I think you can probably still get Lagg NMS as well

It really is. We came away from the distillery with two cask strength whiskies, white pheasant and the cream liqueur. On par with the wonderful Arran gold 👍 I might have to buy a Strathearn NMS. Seems like my best option. Cheers! 🥃

@@WhiskyLock btw went through my stock of NMS and Glenwyvis one is worth a look as well, if it’s still available

So much for this being a so-called M&S exclusive 😂 Personally I'd go Ardbeg 10. Unless that's your usual go to... in which case this is a nice change that's roughly on par quality wise. They're both solid drams. Cheers 🥃

I don't want to crap on any of the new distilleries, especially their very early stuff but this does need work. Out of all of the new distillery releases I've had recently (and that's a lot) this is probably the youngest tasting. Worse than that, I'm not even sure what they should do to fix it apart from more age and hope... Fingers crossed for them.

Sounds great! Normally I don't do mixers very often but this stuff is delicious with fruit juice 👍

It feels wrong to call it whisky doesn't it? Although it does meet the requirements in some countries includingI believe America 🤔 At that price I'd say the Teeling is worth trying just out of curiosity. I enjoyed it. If you don't, you can always use it for mixers on a hot day and you haven't lost much. Cheers! 🥃

Thank you 🙏 it is incredibly sweet isn't it? And a completely different sweetness to what you get from a bourbon cask or PX. Which makes trying a new make worthwhile in itself because you're tasting pure unadulterated barley spirit. Which new makes have you enjoyed? A lot of what I've had have been peated, which is a very different animal. Cheers 🥃

Yes I think so! I like to think it's a combination of the English climate and slightly longer fermentation at Cotswolds and you get the same profile in their new make. Makes you realise how important fermentation is in making whisky 🤔

@@WhiskyLock Do you have any idea what yeast they are using? It would make a lot of sense to me if it is an English ale yeast, as they often make very fruity beers without having to resort to using a lot of hops.

@@torbjornkarlsen I believe Anchor and Fermentis

@@WhiskyLock Those are manufacturers who makes all sorts of strains.

That's the only info I got from the distillery. I've noticed a more fruity and malt driven profile in a lot of English Whisky which I'd attribute towards most English distilleries being small batch and low yield compared to most Scotch, fermenting slightly longer and in a slightly warmer climate. Bimber shot down the idea, claiming that England isn't considerably warmer than Scotland but from my home brewing experience I say a degree or two can and will make that kind of difference...

Ah must be good! If only we could try more New Make. Cheers 🥃

Absolutely! I am hoping that we will see at least some age statement releases eventually though. Then they will be perfect 😉

Very good moonshine 😉 but yes it's expensive. The same or more than we pay for finished whisky sadly. I guess we're paying a premium for them not being able to stick it in a barrel and charge extra in 3 years... I would love New Make to become more normal, accepted and cheaper. Like white rum.

There does seem to be something about English New Make. The stuff from the EWC is very, very good too. Such a shame you can't buy bottles of it anymore. Cheers 🥃

@@WhiskyLock Hah when I visited the distillery, they had their new make as a hand sanitizer so I was just pumping like mad drinking from my palm 😅 it was ok actually

​@@thewhiskyenthusiast I'd be filling my hip flask 😂

Interesting isn't it? Despite a long history of distillation, whisky has been a lot of different things and continues to evolve. Cheers 🥃

As a pricey splurge it's a good dram 👍 I was surprised how much I liked it. Much better than the bourbon and STR.

I really like the peated sherry meikle tor 😀

I'll have a look for it 👍 I can imagine their New Make being good. Cheers 🥃

That's a good point. It knocks the socks off any supermarket blend. And thinking about it, the price isn't that much higher than what they're asking for JW Black when not on discount. Cheers 🥃

It's the only sensible explanation I could find 😂

@@WhiskyLock 🙂

Thanks Christine. If you see the Sherry Butts expression with the purple label and white box that's very good! The later batches of the 11yo are nice too. The prices of these red range releases may seem high to some but they're actually not for what goes into them, as you say. Cheers 🥃

@@WhiskyLock I will absolutely keep an eye out for the Sherry Butts expression and a later batch of the 11yo! Exciting Shane! Have a fabulous day!! Cheers!! 🙂

😂 love it!

🥃🇯🇲

Thank you 🙏 I think these Bunna specials are great picks. Usually pretty safe buys compared to a lot of the roughly 18yo stuff we're getting from other distilleries lately. If we're going to pay £150+ then we should at least get something good and Bunna does that. Cheers 🥃

Yeah 😂 to be fair it's more interesting than many virgin oak whiskies - a credit to EWC. But the price 😬 there are better red range expressions than this. Have a great weekend. Cheers 🥃

Great idea!

I shall see what I can do 🙂

@@WhiskyLock 🙂

Confusing indeed! I think I can see what they were trying to say but I'm not sure it was conveyed totally clearly. Probably why they kept the fact that the casks were refill on the back label and just stated virgin oak on the front... It also makes you wonder how many other distilleries are calling casks 'virgin' when they've been used before 🤔 That would explain why some virgin oak maturations can be relatively long without being over oaked... Cheers 🥃

@@WhiskyLock Definately wonder

It really is. Be sure to try the other Velier Clairins too 👍🥃

Fun euphemism indeed! On a more serious note it highlights how vague a lot of the descriptions are that we use for whisky.

@@WhiskyLock Agreed; the term "malt whisky" in itself is even unnecessarily confusing. I wish they had just called it malted barley whisky, but that's centuries of tradition that's never going to be undone.

Is it an old one with St George fighting the dragon on front? If so I'd say it's fine but you'd be better off getting one of the newer Small Batch releases or newer Cask Strength offerings under The English branding if possible. Cheers 🥃

​@@WhiskyLockThanks and yes its an old bottling with st George fighting a dragon.

It's certainly one of those whiskies that I really wish was a bit cheaper...

Branching out into other spirits is very worthwhile. Very important 👍 Thank you very much 🙏🥃

Lots of very good points. I think there are identifiable similarities amongst some English distilleries but yes it's essentially 'Whisky made in England' as you'd expect. I don't think that's all too surprising though, even in Scotland I'd argue that the Lowlands are the only geographical area that comes close to a unified style. Finding good English whisky can take a bit of work. There are some that are just putting out cask juice like your German distilleries. There's another distillery near me who I won't name who insist on using a lot of new French oak and a beer stripper. I haven't enjoyed anything I've tried from them. Generally though, English Whisky distilleries are very small scale, quality focused operations. And now that many of them have been around long enough to put out 10-15yo whisky that's going to give some of them an edge over Scotch. If that translates to more sales then it will be interesting to see how they handle that with almost all of them being extremely small. Cotswolds have already expanded dramatically with much larger stills. Time will tell if that is the right move. I hate the rebrand to 'The English' and English Whisky Company by the way. They're obviously trying to define themselves as THE name in English Whisky but it's just painful when nobody knows if you're talking about the distillery or the region 😣

Cheers buddy 🥃

Long gone here too! But not forgotten. Thanks for joining me 🥃

It is an excellent inaugural dram! Cheers Sandro 🥃

Thanks 🙏 and Cheers 🥃

Adelphi added it to the label on later batches after getting called out on it 😉

Nice find. It is so very, very different to the new PC10. Cheers 🥃

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I need to get another Bladnoch soon 🥃

Hi! PC10 is one of those whiskies everyone should have at least one bottle of 👍 The fruitiness I'm PC10 (wine casks) is very different to Lagavulin 16 to me. I love the flavour profile of Lagavulin. It's delicious stuff. There are just two things I don't like about it... the low 43% ABV that hobbles the flavour and the fact that it costs so much more than it used to! It's quite a different flavour profile, with a different type of sweetness again, but I've been REALLY enjoying Lagavulin 8 lately. Great price and the 48% ABV let's the flavours shine as they deserve. Cheers 🥃

You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone... as they say! Talisker has definitely changed over the years and honestly I'm dreading Diageo doubling the price of the 10 like they did with the 18. Or just getting rid of it like they did with 57° North 😕

Thank you very much for the kind words 🙏 Ardbeg 10 is a really hard act to follow IMHO. I'm not sure if anything gets close to it in terms of value and quality for money. It's one I always go back to. Cheers 🥃

Cheers Simon 🥃

An acquired taste perhaps 😉 but it makes sense for rum to have those hot fermenting sugar notes seeing as it starts off as a big 'bin' of sugar cane which is often outside in a very hot climate 🤔