Strawberry

Brenne Estate Cask

Brenne Estate Cask

When ex-ballerina Allison Patel couldn’t find the whiskies she’d enjoyed during her global travels here in the US, she did the next logical thing and began creating a distribution company to remedy that dearth. During this process, she found a Cognac producer in France who had distilled some single malt on the side. A taste compelled Allison to collaborate with the producer over the next few years and in 2012, the first Brenne was officially launched. The Estate Cask is the flagship model (though a 10 year was released in October, 2015) with an average age of seven years, matured in French Limousine oak barrels before being finished in Cognac casks. With the drive of its young and motivated owner, along with an award-winning whisky, Brenne appears to have a bright future.

Tomatin 14 Year

Tomatin 14 Year

Tomatin has a nice selection of relatively affordable single malts, each with a nice little twist to liven things up. Since we enjoyed the Tomatin 12 year with its sherry cask finish, we decided to see what this slightly older sibling could improve upon with its final eighteen months finishing in port casks. The Tomatin 14 also scored a 92.5/100 in Jim Murray’s 2015 whisky bible and is thankfully a mainstay in their line of offerings. Say what you will about that particular reviewer or book, this scotch seems good enough to warrant further attention.