Rare & Limited

G&M Tormore Cask Strength 2004 61.2% 700ml  

G&M Tomatin Cask Strength 2007 60% 700ml  

Heartwood Shot in the Dark, the first muscat cask matured whisky filled with Lark origin, 100% peated new make.
Cask No: LD961
Cask Type: Australian Muscat
Sphagnum Peat Influence: 100%
Filled: November 2013
Bottled: March 2019
One of 336 bottles

Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master's Select Japanese Whisky 43% 700ml

PRODUCT INFORMATION

The Master’s Select is a blend of more than ten malt and grain whiskies which are aged in five different types of casks from the Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita distilleries. It was developed by Suntory chief blender Shinji Fukuyo and its production overseen by the third generation master blender and great-grandson of Suntory founder, Shingo Torii.

With sweet sherry notes, Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master’s Select is described as a delicate harmonious expression that is subtle and complex.

Highlander Inn - Clynelish 23 Year Old - 209 Single Cask Bottling Scotch Single Malt Whisky 57% 700ml

PRODUCT INFORMATION

This is the 2019 Single Cask bottling from Tatsuya Minagawa of the Highlander Inn in Craigellachie.

This years selection is a ex-bourbon barrel Clynelish which is a text book example of a class act Clynelish distilled in the mid 90's

Distilled 31 October 1995. Bottled 7 October 2019.
Cask No. 13411
284 bottles total

Note: Bottle #152 pictured but bottle number you will receive will be random.

Official tasting notes:

TASTING NOTES
Colour: Straw gold
Nose: Purity and power!
A waxed hessian canvas scattered with crushed seashells, medical embrocations, citronella candles, myrtle and sea buckthorn.
Thrilling and evocatively old school highland malt.
A grand and bracing sweep of minerality keeps everything taut, structured and intricate. Water elevates the waxiness and intensifies the coastal aspect.
Palate: Immense at full strength.
The prickle of green pepper, dried seaweed and hot paprika is balanced by creaminess, salinity and a satisfying buttery texture. Dilution settles things
and brings sandalwood, beach sand, lemon balms and herbal teas. Superbly complex and satisfying.
Finish: Long, warming, lightly heathery and herbal.
Leads into a chalky, medical aftertaste.
Comments: Impeccable Clynelish.
Two bottles please Minagawa-san!
Angus MacRaild/Whisky writer

Bottled for the famous Highlander Inn at Craigellachie.

Situated at the base of, and named after Britain's tallest mountain, Ben Nevis was founded by 'Long' John McDonald and stayed in the McDonald family until the 1940s. It was then that Joseph Hobbs took over the distillery and revamped production by installing a Coffey still allowing them to experiment in both grain and malt whiskies. The distillery was bought by Nikka in 1989 and about three-quarters of the new make is shipped directly to Japan for use predominantly in Nikka Black.

Distilled: 03/02/1997

Bottled: 15/12/2017

Age: 20 Years Old

Cask Number: 97

55.9% ABV / 70cl

Bottle Number: 96 / 595

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Review by WhiskNick.com

Nose:

The nose is filled with thick leather and that signature confectionary meatiness. Absolutely rich but still retains a roundness and balance. The minerals in the background fare cleanly with sultana, ripe figs and shell cordovan leather in time.

Palate & Finish:

Syrupy honey and stupendously creamy, the thickness from the nose ensues.. Cadbury milk chocolate, hint of squid ink up front with the honey laying down the foundation. Hints of leather and cinnamon through out as the cereal note surfaces

Burnt toast and peanut butter in the finish, chewy and lengthy.

Thoughts:

Thoroughly Ben Nevis, typical characters found in official expressions and this would be unmistakable even at a blind tasting. Though in selecting this, Tatsuya San has given us a tightened, more rewarding Ben Nevis experience.

https://whisknick.com/2018/07/08/dram-review-highlander-inn-single-cask-bottling-2017-ben-nevis-aged-20-years/

Ichiro’s Malt Double Distilleries Pure Malt 46% 700ml

PRODUCT INFORMATION

The Double Distilleries pure malt whisky combines malts from the closed Hanyu and new Chichibu distilleries. The Akuto family, whose history with sake production dates back to the 17th century, had operated the Hanyu distillery up until 2000 when the distillery was silenced due to financial difficulties and eventually dismantled in 2004 under new ownership. Bottled at 46% it has been matured, vatted and bottled at Ichiro Akuto’s Chichibu distillery.

Ichiro’s Malt Mizunara Wood Reserve 46% 700ml

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Chichibu founder and craft distiller, Ichiro Akuto, has created a vatting of single malts and matured them in Japanese Mizunara oak casks (Quercus mongolica), commonly referred to as Japanese oak. Suntory set a precedent for experimenting with this indigenous species. It presented a logical alternative for distillers after the Second World War when supplies of foreign oak were difficult to source, but it turned out to be a far from ideal vessel. Mizunara's loose grains tended to cause leakage, and also created challenges in terms of timber selection and cooperage.