Latest whisky news

• Macallan’s new “Ice Ball Serve”
  

  I don’t drink my scotch with ice, but maybe some of you do? (See press release below.) What do you think?
  PRESS RELEASE
  March 15^th 2010
  Rais­ing the Bar – The Macallan Intro­duces the Ice Ball Serve
  The ice or water debate has long remained a fiercely con­tested sub­ject amongst whisky drinkers and The Macallan has thrown its hat […]

• WhiskyFest Chicago nearly sold out!
  

  The 10^th Annual WhiskyFest Chicago will be on Fri­day, April 23^rd. You can find all of the details here, includ­ing the list of whiskies being poured and a list­ing of the sem­i­nars for the evening.
  I’m post­ing this up to let you know that, if you were think­ing about buy­ing tick­ets, don’t wait too long. VIP […]

• Review: Balvenie 15 year old, Single Barrel
  

  The Bal­ve­nie “Single Bar­rel,” 15 year old, (Cask #7266), 47.8%, $62
  One of the finest Bal­ve­nie 15 year olds that I’ve tasted. The fla­vors are clean, well defined, con­fi­dent, and beau­ti­fully bal­anced. Full malty foun­da­tion (with some ripe bar­ley thrown in). Soft, creamy vanilla, hon­ey­comb, bright fruit (orange, nec­tarine, lemon peel, hints of pineap­ple), with emerging […]

• A short verticale: Bowmore 1997–1994 plus two scary monsters
  

  Bow­more 10 yo 1997/2008 (46%, Whisky-Fassle, bour­bon cask) — Bow­more 13 yo 1996/2009 (58.8%, James MacArthur, bour­bon bar­rel, cask #960003) — Bow­more 13 yo 1995/2008 (46%, Coop­ers Choice) — Bow­more 14 yo 1994/2008 (57.2%, Whisky Tales, cask #12014, 94 bot­tles) — Bow­more 28 yo 1980/2008 (45.9%, Sig­na­tory, cask #7844+8045, bour­bon bar­rels, 325 bot­tles) — Bow­more 27 yo 1982/2009 (50.6%, Dun­can Tay­lor, The Octave, cask #378770)

• WhiskyCast Episode 243: March 14, 2010
  

  Michael Jack­son passed away in 2007, leav­ing behind a legacy of excel­lence in whisky writ­ing that includes his clas­sic “Michael Jackson’s Com­plete Guide to Single Malt Scotch.” Now, an updated edi­tion of his guide is being released, and fit­tingly, it took three men to do the job. Edi­tors Dominic Roskrow, Gavin Smith, and William Mey­ers dis­cuss the con­tro­versy over their work and how they worked together to cre­ate the new guide. In the news, Gor­don & MacPhail unveils a 70-year-old Mort­lach bot­tling, and the lat­est on new expres­sions from Four Roses, Glen­far­clas, and The Whisky Exchange.