Greetings Crummbs readers, Greg from GreatDrams.com here to bring you a monthly roundup of new drinks releases that have taken place in the last month or so.
The weeks after Christmas are usually very calm and quiet in the whisky world… then an almighty rush of new releases ensue once everyone is past their Dry January escapades, and clean living and all that worthy stuff.
Here I’m going to give you a top three run down of the recent releases that have tickled my fancy, and that I have ended up acquiring a bottle (or two) of, as that’s generally a good indication, to me at least, as to what is not just good, but what is great.
- Ardbeg Kelpie – Committee Only Release – £90 – Ardbeg.com
This is stunning, simply stunning. I had been a bit disillusioned with the spate of limited edition releases from Ardbeg until Dark Cove in 2016, and now this fantastic whisky. Lots of saline notes, salty, dry and a powerful blast of peaty brilliance you’d expect from the good Ardbeg releases of old; great, thick body, interesting flavour profile and something you’ll want to spend a hell of a lot of time with… I definitely do.
The regular release of this will be out late May I imagine, around the time of the Islay Festival.
- Midleton’s Method & Madness range – TheWhiskyExchange.com
A fantastic range comprising of some interesting innovations in Irish whiskey, using different oak types and maturation methods to weave some fantastic flavour profiles together. From Limousin oak finishing, to Chestnut Oak finishing and even a 31 Year Old Single Grain Single Cask, this is a beautifully designed, and fantastically well put together set of Irish whiskies that will, I’m sure, start an innovation arms race in the market.
My pick of the range is the Single Pot Still bottling, as I mention on GreatDrams:
“This started off as a pot still spirit being matured in American oak with a little bit of sherry influence, but not much, then put into French chestnut casks and checked every three months to ensure the wood was working and the flavours were maturing how they wanted them to. The nose is sweet, very oaky, I would have to say it is the perfect palate with a nice medium toast note there too, and lots of juicy exotic fruits.”
- Another interesting one was Diageo’s new Roe & Co Irish Blended Whiskey
Only a couple of years after selling the Bushmill’s distillery and brand, Diageo are now building their own and already have a bottle of premium blended Irish whiskey on the market in Roe & Co.
When I tried this, I was quite surprised at how well it stood up in terms of body and flavour, I thought it would be really soft and have not a lot about it other than standing for the classic smooth, sweet and silky profile Irish whiskey is known for.
I was wrong; this is a very flavoursome whiskey, with lots of depth and, for the cost, ~£30, you really cannot go wrong.
https://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/roe-and- co/roe-and- co-irish- whiskey/
That’s the top three, well six if you include the full Method & Madness range, releases over the last month, really great stuff, and my sources tell me there are plenty more next month, so stay tuned and feel free to ask me any whisky or whiskey questions over on GreatDrams.com, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook – I answer every single message.
