Distilleries Archives

Bimber 8yo Single Cask & Harmony of Eight featured

Bimber 8yo Single Cask (and more…) & Harmony of Eight

13th June 202512th June 2025Coldorak

At the close of 2024, Bimber introduced its inaugural age-statement expression, not once but twice. The first release featured an 8-year-old single cask matured in an ex-bourbon cask. For this selection, Bimber took an innovative approach by inviting approximately 20 fortunate tasters from their Klub members to blindly choose their favourite cask from three samples. I was lucky enough to be one of these tasters and, by sheer chance, I had a sample of the very cask the tasting panel selected – one of their oldest casks – from a distillery visit in April 2022.

Following the initial 8-year-old single cask, Bimber unveiled Harmony of Eight, a skilful vatting of several casks designed to produce a more substantial 8-year-old release, which we will also be exploring.

While the first four reviews below may not carry the same weight, as they pertain to unfinished and unreleased whiskies, they offer a fascinating insight into the evolution of these spirits, particularly cask 11. So, let’s delve into the review of this Bimber 8-year-old single cask (and more…) and the Harmony of Eight.

Ninety-One & One / Ardbeg 19yo / Blend 40yo Living Souls

99&1 / Ardbeg 19yo / Blend 40yo Living Souls

11th June 202511th June 2025Coldorak

Living Souls is a new independent bottler that Calum Leslie, Jamie Williamson, and John Torrance founded. Together, they bring decades of experience in the whisky industry. They aim to take a different approach from other independent bottlers by focusing not on single casks but on delivering small batches, sometimes through a solera system. We will review three expressions from their batch #1 release: the Ninety-One & One, Secret Ardbeg 19-year-old, and Blended Scotch 40-year-old Living Souls.

Three Pointe Blanche French Whiskies

6th June 20255th June 2025Coldorak

Pointe Blanche Distillery, located in Charente-Maritime, France, produces a single malt whisky made from French malted barley that is brewed and distilled on site using traditional copper pot stills. The whisky undergoes a minimum of three years’ maturation in oak casks on the mainland before finishing its ageing for about a year in an oyster hut on a nearby Atlantic island, where the maritime environment influences its flavour. This double maturation process is said to contribute to its distinctive profile, which includes subtle smoky and saline notes. Let’s verify that, as we review three Pointe Blanche French whiskies: their core Whisky Français single malt, the OLO Limited Edition, and their Peated single malt.

London Distillery Renascence

4th June 20254th June 2025Coldorak

The London Distillery Company traces its origins to 1807, when Ralph Dodd proposed building a distillery in Nine Elms, London. Despite raising funds and assembling a board of prominent figures, the venture collapsed following a legal challenge under the Bubble Act, which led to its disbandment before production could even start. Nearly two centuries later, Darren Rook and Nick Taylor revived the company in 2011, establishing a modern distillery in Battersea focused on producing English single malt and blended whisky. After encountering financial difficulties in 2020, the company entered administration but experienced a revival in January 2025 under new ownership by Gleann Mor Spirits. Experienced whisky maker Matt McKay, known for his currently silent whisky blog, The Dramble, as well as his role as director of communications and whisky maker at Bimber and Dunphail distilleries, now leads its renewed efforts to craft London-based whisky. The first release from this revival, aptly named London Distillery Renascence – The Revival Release, will launch on 6 June 2025, and we have it in our glass today.

Glasgow Distillery 1770 Tokaji, Marsala & Vin de Paille

Glasgow 1770 Tokaji/Marsala/Vin de Paille LeGus’t

30th May 202530th May 2025Coldorak

Until now we had only reviewed just one Glasgow Distillery whisky, and one that wasn’t official nor a single malt, but a single grain bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. But since its launch (or relaunch, as we’ll see below), the distillery has gained a deserved following and love from many whisky fans, as they continue releasing good and reasonably priced whisky, even a few years ago, moving to 50 cl to 70 cl bottles without changing the price. It’s time we take a closer look, with three single malts, two official bottlings and one indy, with the Glasgow 1770 Tokaji and Marsala cask finish, and a Vin de Paille cask bottled by Le Gus’t, who has not disappointed us so far.

Convalmore 1975 Gordon & Macphail

28th May 202527th May 2025Coldorak

Convalmore Distillery, established between 1893 and 1894 in Dufftown, Speyside, Scotland, is a now silent single malt Scotch whisky distillery renowned for its distinctive waxy and fruity character. Originally constructed during the late Victorian whisky boom, it was one of Dufftown’s famed seven distilleries and primarily contributed to blends such as Black & White and Lowrie’s. The distillery underwent various ownership changes, including acquisition by James Buchanan & Co. and later integration into the Distillers Company Limited (DCL), now part of Diageo. After modernisation efforts in the 1960s, Convalmore was mothballed in 1985, and its site was sold to William Grant & Sons, who repurposed the buildings for whisky maturation linked to Glenfiddich and Balvenie. Although distillation ceased decades ago, Diageo retains the rights to the Convalmore name, leaving open the possibility of other future releases under this historic name. Convalmore’s whisky does not seem to have been bottled officially as a single malt during its operational years, making official single malt releases rare and highly sought after today (a few were released by Diageo as part of the Rare Malts, Special Releases, Prima & Ultima and the Casks of Distinction series since the 2000s). However, today we are not reviewing an official bottling; instead, we are reviewing a Convalmore 1975 from Gordon & MacPhail, released in 2015.

Bushmills 2008, 16- and 21-year-old

26th May 202526th May 2025Coldorak

It has been a while since we last featured Bushmills here, so let’s briefly discuss the distillery’s extensive history – it is, after all, the oldest licensed distillery in the world. After that, we can review a distillery exclusive and two expressions from the core range: the Bushmills 2008, 16- and 21-year-old.

Esprit Libre 2017 Spirit Paradise

23rd May 202522nd May 2025Coldorak

A few years ago, Philippe Gosmand, a whisky enthusiast for 30 years, founded Spirit Paradise, a young company specialising in spirits, primarily focused on collectible whiskies and limited editions. The company incorporated the ‘Rare & Collectors Whisky Club’ into its activities. Created in 2013, the club has around a hundred members and regularly organises tastings in Paris or the Paris region, and on request in other parts of France. In 2021, Spirit Paradise launched its first bottling from a single malt cask from the Texan distillery Balcones. At the end of 2022, the company released two more bottlings from selected casks at the Breton distillery Warenghem, known for its Armorik whisky. Then, Philippe selected a whisky from Maison Benjamin Kuentz stocks that we’re reviewing today: the Esprit Libre 2017 Spirit Paradise.

Nikka Yoichi Non Peated Miyagikyo Peated

Yoichi Non Peated & Miyagikyo Peated (2021)

21st May 202520th May 2025Coldorak

The Nikka Whisky Discovery range comprised a series of whiskies released over three years, from 2021 to 2023, offering fresh interpretations of Nikka’s classic expressions. Nikka launched limited editions that focused on exploring specific components of their whiskies and their aromatic impact. The first edition delved into the influence of peat, featuring a Yoichi Non Peated (unusual for this typically peated distillery) and a Miyagikyo Peated (a departure from their usual unpeated style). The second edition, released in 2022, highlighted the role of yeasts, with both Yoichi and Miyagikyo using a different ’Aromatic’ yeast for fermentation. Finally, the last release showcased grain whiskies by combining the expertise of four distilleries, including one closed for 25 years, resulting in Nikka The Grain, a blended grain whisky using various grains from these distilleries. These whiskies were launched in anticipation of Nikka’s 90th Anniversary, which happened in 2024, and was celebrated with the Nikka Nine Decades. Today, we will review the first two releases: the Yoichi Non Peated and the Miyagikyo Peated, launched on the 28th of September 2021.

Four Bruichladdich (OB/Cadenhead’s/Chorlton)

19th May 202518th May 2025Coldorak

We return to Bruichladdich to review four previous releases. These are not particularly old, although two of them date back about twelve years. The selection includes one official bottling and three independent ones, with ages ranging from eleven to twenty-two years. As we have already introduced Bruichladdich in a recent post, I will move straight on to these four Bruichladdich: one OB and three from Cadenhead’s and Chorlton Whisky.