Elise had her hat with a dead bird on and Billy was wearing a stealth kilt – it was Burns Night. We hid at the top of The Ship and enjoyed some splendid drams, along with haggis, neeps and tatties, cock-a-leekie soup, cranachan and a decadent pine nut tart that Elise is still promising to reveal the recipe of soon. And there were haggis pork scratchings, but we don’t want to talk about them…
Old Pulteney 17yo (46% abv) [BUY]
Talisker 2003 Distillers Edition (Bottled 2014) (45.8% abv) [BUY]
Glenfarclas 21yo (43% abv) [BUY]
Macallan 10yo Fine Oak (40% abv) [BUY]
Port Askaig 19yo (50.4% abv) [BUY]
Two very different countries and two very different distilleries – Stef Holt brought along three pairs of drams to examine how Taiwan and India produce their whiskies.
After the success of our last high-end tasting, we had to do another – six drams costing a bit more than we can normally afford. We even split it across a couple of sessions to maximise both the number of people who could try them and how much money we could spend. A great night.
Compass Box Three Year Old Deluxe (49.2% abv) [BUY]
Highland Park Ice (53.9% abv) [BUY]
Linkwood 25yo Gordon & MacPhail (43% abv) [BUY]
Emerald Isle 1991 Cask #8507 (52.6% abv) [BUY]
Bunnahabhain 1989 Cask #5750 Carn Mor (43.9% abv) [BUY]
Caol Ila 1983 Cask #5294 Signatory TWE Exclusive (48.1% abv) [BUY]
The second part of our high-end tasting – the same six drams but a whole room full of new people to try them.
Compass Box Three Year Old Deluxe (49.2% abv) [BUY]
Highland Park Ice (53.9% abv) [BUY]
Linkwood 25yo Gordon & MacPhail (43% abv) [BUY]
Emerald Isle 1991 Cask #8507 (52.6% abv) [BUY]
Bunnahabhain 1989 Cask #5750 Carn Mor (43.9% abv) [BUY]
Caol Ila 1983 Cask #5294 Signatory TWE Exclusive (48.1% abv) [BUY]
Seven years old. That’s quite scary. We pulled together a team of squad regulars to choose and present a dram inspired by Whisky Squad.
SMWS G1.5 – Could Pacify a Mob (63.9% abv)
Arran 1996 19yo TWE Exclusive (45.9% abv) [BUY]
Glen Scotia Victoriana (51.5% abv) [BUY]
FEW Miscreant (46.5% abv)
Authentic Whisky Alsace Fut de Riesling (43% abv)
Dave Worthington, That Boutique-y Whisky Company brand ambassador and owner of the second best beard in whisky, joined us for an evening of small batch boutique drams. The theme: these were all drams that normally appear as part of the world’s biggest blends.
Cambus Batch #2 24yo (49.7% abv)
Tullibardine Batch #3 26yo (49.2% abv)
Caledonian Batch #2 29yo (47.7% abv)
Glen Elgin Batch #1 25yo (48.1% abv)
Port Dundas Batch #1 25yo (48.2% abv)
Glenrothes Batch #3 25yo (49.7% abv)
An evening of drams from travel retail, acquired by international jet-setter, Whisky Squad organiser and winner of the unofficial ‘best presenter at Whisky Squad’ award, Elise Craft.
Aultmore 21yo (46% abv)
Hazelwood 25yo (40% abv)
Craigellachie 19yo (46% abv)
Bruichladdich 8yo (50% abv)
Ardmore Tradition (46% abv)
Highland Park Leif Eriksson (40% abv)
Whisky. On a train. It took a couple of years of discussions, but finally it all came together.
We had six whiskies while nipping back and forth between North Weald and Ongar stations on the Epping and Ongar Heritage railway. With help from Squad veteran and E&OR booze master Alan Perryman, and train and whisky geek Rocky Lancer, we tried six train-themed whiskies while munching on a spread of Scottish-inspired snacks (thanks Alex!).
Togouchi 12yo (40% abv) [BUY]
Glen Keith 1996 Distiller’s Art (48% abv) [BUY]
Cragganmore 2004 Distillers Edition (40% abv) [BUY]
Craigellachie 1995 The First Editions (54.4% abv) [BUY]
AnCnoc 2001 (43% abv) [BUY]
Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength Batch 009 (58.1% abv)
Billy went to Islay, and all he got us was six bottles of whisky released specially for the 2017 Islay festival of Music and Malt.
Finlaggan Feis Ile 2017 Port Wood Finish Cask Strength (55% abv)
Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2017 Moine Port Pipe Finish (55.6% abv)
Caol Ila Feis Ile 2017 12yo (55.8% abv)
Lagavulin Feis Ile 2017 16yo (56.1% abv)
Laphroaig Cairdeas 2017 Cask Strength Quarter Cask (57.2% abv)
Kilchoman Feis Ile 2017 100% Islay (58% abv)
Six bottles selected by Elise, picked up on her recent travels around North American – everything from farm-produced bourbon to celebrity-made rye.
Aged Rye Whiskey (48.2% abv)
Wayne Gretzky No. 99 Red Cask No 99 Red Cask
Legs Diamond Rye Whiskey (40% abv)
American Single Malt (46% abv)
Flaming Lips (40% abv)
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Single Barrel Bourbon
People seem to like sherry-cask-matured whisky, so we dug into the Squad stash and sourced a bunch of heavily sherried silliness.
Macallan Edition No.2 (48.2% abv) [BUY]
Tamdhu 10 Limited Edition (46% abv) [BUY]
Springbank 12 Cask Strength January 2017 (54.2% abv)
Glentauchers 1997 (50% abv)
Balblair 1999 (exclusive to The Whisky Exchange) (51.9% abv) [BUY]
Glenlivet 2007 (exclusive to The Whisky Exchange) (67.1% abv) [BUY]
Billy and Elise both judge whisky competitions and decided that the Squad should too – six drams that one medals in recent competitions, presented blind for us to decide which should have won.
Aultmore 18 Year Old (46% abv) [BUY]
Glenfiddich Reserve Cask (40% abv) [BUY]
The Golden Age Blend (44.3% abv) [BUY]
Reference Series III.2 (47.5% abv)
Scapa Skiren (40% abv) [BUY]
Bunnahabhain Toiteach A Dha (46.3% abv) [BUY]
Back by popular demand for a third time, a session of high-end drams that we wouldn’t normally be able to afford.
Aberfeldy 28yo (40% abv) [BUY]
Littlemill 1985 (Gordon & MacPhail Rare Old) (46% abv) [BUY]
Midleton Dair Gaelach Tree 9 (58.2% abv) [BUY]
Collectivum XVIII (57.3% abv) [BUY]
Talisker 25yo (bottled 2013) (45.8% abv) [BUY]
Inchmoan 1992 (48.6% abv) [BUY]
An evening of almost empty bottles, Christmas treats and talking rubbish – we raised more than £600 for Shelter and Macmillan!
