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.
Balvenie 15 Year Single Barrel Sherry Cask
This Balvenie 15 year is aged entirely in an ex-Oloroso sherry butt. A butt is a type of cask standard for aging sherry, approximately 475-500 liters. Because of the larger size, there is less surface area per amount of liquid and thus the cask impact is lessened. This may be why this particular offering spends its entire life in the same sherry butt, as opposed to other releases where the sherry cask is used only at the end. Unlike other age statement single malts, which contain a variety of ages with only the youngest listed, this Balvenie is 15 years only, no younger or no older.
Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky
While not known for whisky on the international stage, South Africa has been the home of wine, gin, and beer for a great many years. The James Sedgwick distillery was founded in 1853 in Wellington but didn’t start to gain more attention until former English cricketer Andy Watts was made Master Distiller in 1991. Having trained at distilleries in Scotland, he saw the potential to further develop the distillery’s existing brand, Three Ships, throughout the 90s and early 2000’s. He launched Bain’s Cape Mountain in 2009, a single grain whisky made from South African maize. Named after Andrew Geddes Bain, Andy helped introduce South African whisky to the wider world. Thanks Andy!