Articles by Bill

The Rock Island 21 Year Old Limited Edition Blended Malt (Douglas Laing)

March 7, 2022

Tasting notes:Before we begin, a Zoom-era amusing anecdote about this dram. Since Stephen moved to Norway, our meetings have been on FaceTime or Zoom. Since the pandemic, [...]

The Midleton Very Rare Vintage Release 2021

December 31, 2021

Tasting notes:The nose on the Midleton Very Rare Vintage Release 2021 opens gently with peachy, lemony, foaming soap in the bathroom—excuse me, lavatory—of a 1-star [...]

The Waterford Organic Gaia 1.1 Irish Single Malt Whiskey

October 30, 2021

Tasting notes:The nose of the Waterford Organic Gaia, release 1.1, opens like a full-tang jackknife, by which I mean, it’s like a knife whose blade is made of Tang™. At [...]

The Wemyss Spice King 12 Year Old Highlands and Islay Blended Malt

September 30, 2021

Tasting notes:The Wemyss Spice King 12 Year Old Highland and Islay Blended Malt nose brings me to the open hearth kitchen I wish I’d grown up in: There are stew-y, prune-y [...]

The Single Cask Nation 2011 Clynelish 9 Year Old

August 30, 2021

Tasting notes:The nose on the SCN Clynelish 2011 9yo opens with dark cherry candies embedded in the knotholes of old wide-cut pine board flooring—or wide-waled [...]

The X by Glenmorangie–and the X Grapefruit Cocktail

July 31, 2021

[Editor’s note: In the tasting notes that follow, we review this whisky as it comes, despite the fact that it’s designed for mixing into cocktails. Afterwards, we [...]

The Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey

July 5, 2021

Tasting notes:The Uncle Nearest’s nose blows opens with me writing on a chert blackboard using chalk alternately dipped in honey, then molasses, then slightly-waxy melted [...]

The Domaine de Charron Armagnac Fanciful Flight

June 11, 2021

We now interrupt your regularly scheduled whisk(e)y review for a discussion of a fanciful flight of Domaine de Charron Armagnacs, all of which are single vintage. This is in [...]

The Waterford Dunbell 1.1 Single Malt Irish Whiskey

May 27, 2021

[All the Waterford whiskies we were sent are 50% abv and made from locally-grown Irish barley. Trying four of the first five releases gave us the chance to assess [...]

The Akashi Meïsei Blended Japanese Whisky

April 1, 2021

The Akashi Meïsei is an 80 proof special edition blended whisky sold only in France. It’s vatted with 45% single malt, and it’s aged in American oak barrels. [...]

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