thewhiskynovice (2025)

08/07/2025

Terroir. A term normally used in the wine world to describe the environment in which the grapes are grown.
Over the last few years, there's been much debate on terroir in whisky and if it has any effect on the product post distillation.

Milk & Honey have decided to take a different approach to Terroir. Instead of focusing on production, they have been experimenting with maturation. Placing casks in different places across their region and allowing the vast differences in their climate to take its effect on their whiskies.

The Apex Terroir range is made up of four bottlings, each named after its place of maturation. The diverse climates range from 351 metres below sea level, up to 576 metres above it, aswell as a large difference in angel share starting at 7% in the Mountains and rising to a whopping 25% beside the Dead Sea.

💀 Dead Sea - Bourbon-esque. Big vanilla and oak notes on the nose with spices joining on the palate. This is the saltiest whisky I have ever had!
⛰️ Jerusalem Mountains - Very green. Green apples and herbal undertones.
🏜 Negev Desert - Fruity to begin with berry and melon notes, followed by a long dry finish
🌊 Sea of Galilee - Biscuity. Big malty flavours play a part in this one with a touch of spice to finish.

The difference between these drams is incredible, with each whisky clearly showcasing a different portfolio of flavours, yet still intertwined with the same core DNA.

Whilst we know that two identical casks filled with the same spec, on the same day, etc, and stored side-by-side will produce different results, you'd still expect a lot of similarities. These four are completely different and clearly show what difference the place of maturation can have on a whisky.

Perhaps Terroir in whisky does exist? Maybe we've just been looking at it wrong.

//Gifted

07/07/2025

One of my highlights from 2024 was the warehouse tasting.

I have a bad habit of overlooking Kilkerran and nearly always opting for its big brother, but this tasting has made me rethink.

After the tasting, you have the chance to pick up some half size bottles. I went for two. This 2009 bourbon barrel and a port cask (remember the 8 year old port cask from a couple of years back? Well, they've re-racked a few of those casks into ex-bourbon, and it's tamed them into a lovely rounded dram).

If you find yourself in Campbeltown, I can't recommend this tasting enough!

04/07/2025

Glen Moray, but it's peated!
Fans of peat will be pleased to hear that has added a peated single malt to their core range for the first time ever!

You may have come across some peated Glen Morays in the past, especially if you're a fan of their reasonably priced handfill bottles, or limited editions (anyone remember the Peated PX finish a few years back? 🤤), but this is the first time a peated expression will be readily available as part of their main line-up.

The 12 year old Smoky has been matured in a combination of American & European oaks and bottled at 46.3%.

Nose: Toffee apples, vanilla buttercream, marshmallows, toasted oak, and a soft, sweet smoke.
Palate: More smoke than the nose suggests, yet still light enough to allow other flavours to come through. Orchard fruits, battered pineapple fritters, oak spices, almond biscuits, and then the return of that sweet smoke.

I like that this is smoky, yet it still keeps within the usual 'speyside style'. It leads with the fruitier flavours associated with the area, before the peat arrives, complimenting the dram without taking over.

This would be a very good whisky for those who always say "I don't like peat" to hopefully convince them over to the dark (smoky) side, or if you're just looking for a softer style of peat, then this could be the dram for you.

//Gifted

03/07/2025

Quick pit stop at last Saturday!
I was super happy to find this Tormore Cream Sherry cask, the only whisky from the Blueprint trio I hadn't tried yet.
Whilst I liked it, I still think the Bourbon barrels is the best of the three! If this is what Tormore is going to be like going forward, then the future is looking bright!

02/07/2025

Tullibardine in Orange Wine?!? 🟠🍷
The latest UK exclusive single cask from is a 2008, 16 year old whisky that has been finished in casks that previously contained orange wine.

So what is Orange Wine? Well, this type of orange wine actually doesn't contain oranges. That's called Vino de Naranja and is completely different. This type of orange wine is made by leaving the skin of the grapes on during fermentation. This process, known as maceration or 'skin contact', allows the wine to draw out additional flavours from the grape skin, and most notably, gives the wine an orange hue.

Nose: Lots of honey, pineapple, marmalade, brioche bread, and mahogany.
Palate: Big fruity flavours to begin, followed by a savoury middle and a drying tannic finish. It feels slightly waxy with more honey notes, orange gummy sweets, peach ice tea, marzipan, ginger cake, and a slight earthy/nutty note.

This whisky really develops in the glass, flitting between sweet and savoury notes the longer you leave it.

I find it strange that I always pick up orange notes on orange wine casks, despite it containing no oranges! Perhaps it's a subconscious thing? My brain automatically hunts for it and tricks me into thinking it's there.

Have you tried any orange wine matured whiskies before?

//Gifted

01/07/2025

Douglas Laing releases a new age statement, Rock Island!

For those not familiar with Rock Island, it's a blended malt made from only island distilleries, including whiskies from Arran, Jura, Orkney, and Islay.

is normally ex-bourbon cask matured, but this 16 year old age statement has been predominately matured in Spanish sherry casks before being bottled at 46.8%

Rock Island is one of my favourite whiskies from the collection, so I was keen to get this one in the glass!

Nose: Strawberry jam filled doughnuts, dried fruits, salted Ritz crackers, lime zest, and a coastal/maritime peat smoke.
Palate: Salted nuts, lemon sweets, cinnamon oreos, coffee chocolates, more dried fruits, and fudgey dates with a briney smoke finish.

Although it's named the Sherry Edition, if you're looking for a big, heavily sherried whisky, there's probably more suitable drams in other areas of the Remarkable Malts collection. This is a whisky for those who have loved previous editions of Rock Island with the coastal elements I normally pick up still peeping through the sherry casks, which, for me, is a massive winner. The sherry is there, but it's subtle and doesn't overpower those island spirits.

It's also nice to see an older expression of Rock Island as from memory, I've only had a 10 year old age statement with the rest being NAS.

Which of the Remarkable Malts collection is your favourite?

//Gifted

29/06/2025

Birmingham's FIRST-EVER whiskey!

I remember thinking these guys were bonkers when they first told me they were going to set up a distillery. A few years later, and it turns out I didn't quite know how bonkers they actually are!

The guys tore up the whisky making rulebook, making a whisky with a 5 grain mixed mashbill distilled in a stainless steel iStill to create Birmingham's first-ever whiskey!

I'm insanely proud of what these guys have achieved and created.
Congratulations on the historic milestone! And thank you for a terrific night!

28/06/2025

//Ad
Who wants free whisky?
Remember my post about the bottling from Agitator? Well, they are still offering your first bottle free!

For those who cant remember, Whisky52 is a monthly whisky discovery club where each month, you will receive a 35cl bottle of whisky that has been bottled exclusively for Whisky52, and a copy of their Stramash magazine.

They've kindly sent me their Bladnoch bottle to try. Whisky52 worked directly with Bladnoch's Master Distiller, Nick Savage, to create this one. On the nose, I picked up apricots, orchard fruits, and chalky Dolly mixture sweets. The palate was light and slightly floral, with white grapes and vanillery oak. A true Lowland style!

To claim your free 350ml bottle, head on over to
www.whisky52.com/NOVICE (I'll put a link in my stories). You will just need to cover the postage and packaging.

There is no contract in place, so if you're not happy for any reason, you can pause or cancel at any time.

This month, they've released a Glenmorangie matured in Calvados casks exclusively for their subscribers. I quite like the sound of that!

26/06/2025

GlenAllachie, but not as we know it.
Its been a couple of years now since released their first ever peated single malts.

There are currently four bottlings within the Meikle Tòir range. The Original, The Sherry One, The Chinquapin One and The Turbo.

The Original is made up of a combination of 1st fill ex-bourbon barrels, American virgin oak casks & rye barrels, and is bottled at 50%. It's a 5 year old single malt that came in at 35ppm before filling into cask. They've used Highland peat from the St Fergus peat bogs on the east coast, which normally brings a sweeter peat smoke without those TCP notes.
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Nose: Sweet and smokey. Apple pie, toffee sauce, bonfire smoke, lemon mousse, and a waft of sea air.
Palate: Coffee cake, Twiglets, apple sauce, hot honey, lemon sherbert, burnt red peppers/charred food edges, and more of that earthy bonfire smoke.

On the nose and some elements of the palate, it still has those classic speyside notes, but with this undertone of smoke. It's a nice change up from your go-to peated Islay drams.

One of the things I love most about this whisky is that 5 year old age statement proudly showing on the front of the bottle. It's young, but unashamedly so.

//Gifted

25/06/2025

A milestone moment for Annandale.
Back in 2014, the stills at roared to life for the first time in 96 years. At the end of 2024, the distillery celebrated their 10th anniversary since their rebirth with the release of their first ever 10 year old whisky.

For those unfamiliar with the Annandale model, everything they release is a single cask. This means that inevitably, each released whisky does not stick around for long, with the first 10 year old being no exception.

The next batch of 10 year old single casks are just starting to roll out, and Annandale has kindly sent me a bottle to try. Cask 121 is from a refill ex-bourbon cask, which produced 246 bottles. It's bottled at the natural cask strength of 59.7%, which is low for Annandale 😅.

Nose: Crisp green apples, straw, nectarines, seeded brown bread, panna cottage, and a light ginger spice.
Palate: Sweet oakiness, creme caramel, creme brûlée, vanilla custard, and crunchy pears with a sprinkle of nutmeg and baking spices which lingers on the finish.

In true Annandale style, this packs a punch. Whilst a lot of people love cask strength, it's not always the best ABV for every whisky. Of course, that's just a matter of taste, and for my particular palate, a few drops of water worked wonders for this whisky.

It may be labelled as a refill, but I imagine this cask has only been lightly used previously as there's still a big ex-bourbon influence on this one.

If you're reading this from outside of the UK, great news! This is the first 10 year old single cask that will be hitting your shelves. For those closer to home, don't worry, there will be more 10 year old single cask bottlings available soon.

//Gifted

24/06/2025

A literal field trip.
So many times I've gone to a distillery to be stood infront of an old mill and told that 'this is where the whisky making process begins'. Well, that's simply not true.

Yesterday, I had the chance to visit the real birthplace of what goes into our bottles. The field.

Tubbs End Farm, a stones throw north of the Cotswolds, is the true brand home of . We were taken on a tour by the farm manager Hugh and three of his dogs, who explained (Hugh, not the dogs) the importance of grain farming for whisky making .

By creating a favourable trade agreement with farmers by paying for the acres used to grow their grain instead of the weight of grain produced allows the Fielden team to have greater control of what is grown.

We stood in a rye field amongst the ears of rye that were nearly ready to harvest and learnt about the process of population farming. This is where multiple (sometimes hundreds) of different varieties of a grain are grown within the same field. By doing this, the plants become more disease resistant, and it results it greater soil health, meaning better crops year on year. In the particular field we were in, hundreds of sub-species of Danish rye were growing, ready to be processed and sent off to create Fielden whisky.

Of course, it wouldn't be a whisky trip without trying some whisky! We ventured off to a wheat field where Whisky Maker Chico guided us through the Fielden range, a couple of cask samples, and an upcoming release!
The two standouts for me was the Fielden Rye Whisky, their core product, which has lovely sweet butterscotch and buttery pastry notes, and a cask sample matured in Sauternes which added a tonne of stone fruits to the palate.

A huge thank you to Fielden and for having me. I didn't realise there was so much to the whisky making process I was yet to learn!

//PRInvite

thewhiskynovice

08/07/2025

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03/07/2025

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29/06/2025

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