Stranahan’s Distiller’s Experimental Batch 005
Stranahan’s is one of the oldest distileries in the United States. While they have kept a solid core offering over the years, they have also featured annual releases, single casks and limited series. The Distiller’s Experiemental Batch is only available at the distillery itself or the connected Aspen Whiskey Lodge. This series is, as the name connotes, made up of experiments concocted by head blender Justin Aden. Regulations surrounding whiskey allow much more freedom to experiment than some other places, which allows this series to really stretch into all kinds of finishes, grains and other territories not even seen in major releases. The Stranahan’s Distiller’s Experimental Batch 005 was released in 2022. This single malt was aged for six years and two months, and finished for a gin cask that had formely held a single malt scotch. The distillery has not disclosed what specific scotch or American gin the cask previously held, or the exact length of the finish.
Glenmorangie A Tale of the Forest
The Tale of the Forest is the third in an annual series by Glenmorangie that centers around an idea, whether that is concepts as divergent as Cake or Winter. This single malt takes another creative approach by Dr. Bill Lumsden, where instead of finishing the scotch like the previous two, the barley used was dried – or kilned, to use an industry term – with juniper, birch bark and heather flowers. This mix of woodland botanicals was apparently an ancient way of kilning barley for beer, and is used to infuse elements of the botanicals with the barley, much like how drying barley with peat smoke imparts other characteristics. The art on the box and bottle was illustrated by famed artist Pomme Chan.
Ardbeg Corryvreckan
It should be no secret to those who follow us at Scotchology that many of us are big Ardbeg fans, and have been since the beginning. We’ve explored nearly every main range offering, from the 10 year to the Uigeadail, along with several of their more limited offerings. The Ardbeg Corryvreckan is named after the famous whirlpool situated north of Islay, which legend says Viking prince Breacan entered as an act of bravery to prove his love for a princess. Legend says he’s now at the bottom of that whirlpool, so we leave it to you to determine his worthiness. In the meantime, this scotch requires you to prove nothing but a willingness to pour and sip.