New Whiskies to grace our collections.....

Exciting things happening, @ least in my little whisky world that is... First of all, when I had the amazing opportunity to visit Laphroaig for a few magical hours in August, I tried their beautiful 18 year old. In the distillery food and whisky tasting, we paired it with wonderful dark chocolate... I was sad though... Why did SA not get this beautiful gem??? Now, letting you into a little secret; its coming!I'll let you know when it arrives @ Bascule, I do feel we should do something special to mark this momentous occasion... Soon folks, soon!

And onto something else a touch peaty... But by no means a 50PPM loaded Laphroaig. This time round, The Balvenie Peated Cask, 17 year old.Personally I am a big Balvenie fan, they get it right, they are classy, elegant and with out that 'in your face' marketing that many brands opt for, they continue to attract loyal followers and Balvenie lovers. Well, I suppose it is easy to do when your product is so superbly crafted.

Very rare in Scotland: they grow a proportion of their own Barley,they do their OWN floor maltings, they have their own cooperage and coppersmith on sight. And even though their sister distillery, Glenfiddich ,is world-renowned, The Balvenie is a rather "boutique" style whisky to a certain degree.Okay, I am rambling too much. Also, soon, the Peated Cask will be on our shelves and @ your bottle store! What exactly makes it a peated cask? Well, a few years ago, Balvenie distilled some rather heavily peated malt, and filled it into casks to mature. They then removed the peated whisky. Now, normal Balvenie whisky, aged for 17 years, has been finished for a few months in these casks( which previosly held the highly peated whisky.) The result? A wonderful speyside whisky, with a hint of peat that will certainly leave most whisky lovers smiling. Its not obtrusive, its not "in your face peat" (not mocking in "your face peat", that peat is one of my best friends) It's balanced and elegant and created by pairing the best of 2 of my favourite worlds: the robust world of peat, and the aromatic, layered world of speyside whisky.


Tonight I did a tasting with a British journalist, we chatted about Chill-filtration, wood , different peat from Islay vs Orkney, and our mutual respect ( and love ) for Highland Park. With Whisky Live soon on our doorstep, things are heating up! I'll keep you posted!

Slainte!