Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve has been described variously as “more a folk tale than a whiskey”, “a unicorn” and “the most hyped bourbon ever,” all on account of its rarity.
Bob Christine, manager of Dalwhinnie Distillery when this whisky was made, once told me he could tell whether his malt had been distilled in the winter or the summer months… Dalwhinnie is a viscous, slightly waxy, whisky - largely on account of having worm tubs (more about these later) – and its viscosity increases when the worms are cold.
Benromach Distillery was founded in 1898 on Alexander Edward's Sanquhar Estate near Forres but did not go into production until 1909. The reason for the delay is interesting.
In the competitive world of whisky few bottles can stay top of their class for long, but this blended malt from Japanese whisky brand Nikka was recently named ‘World’s Best Blended Malt’ at the World Whiskies Awards for the second consecutive year.