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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.

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.

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.

Circumstance Single Grain Wheat and Rye

25th April 202525th April 2025Coldorak

We recently reviewed a Circumstance whisky independently bottled by the Thompson Brothers. By a fortunate coincidence, I recently received two small 10 cl bottles of official whiskies from the Bristol-based Circumstance Distillery: their Single Grain Wheat and Rye whiskies. A friend of mine was planning a short holiday in the region and asked for recommendations on distilleries to visit. I suggested Circumstance, as they were already gaining a strong reputation, although at the time I hadn’t yet had the chance to try their whiskies. Our first encounter with their independent bottling was quite successful, so let‘’’s see how these official releases measure up.

Circumstance 2019 Glentauchers 2013 Thompson Brothers

Circumstance 2019 / Glentauchers 2013 Thompson Bros

28th March 202527th March 2025Coldorak

The Thompson Brothers are quite some busy men. On top of their strongly recognised whisky bar, their independent bottling operation (that interests us today and did in the past) and their Dornoch distillery, they’re now crowdfunding for their second and bigger distillery, Struie Distillery. And whilst I haven’t had the chance to try any Dornoch whisky yet, I had the chance to go have a few drams at the Dornoch Castle Whisky Bar a few years ago, and try a few of their independent bottlings. They’re very good at those activities, and judging from what I read, they’re good at doing whisky too. But for now, let’s stay on the Thompson’s independent bottling hat, with a review of two bottlings: a Circumstance 2019 and a Glentauchers 2013 Thompson Bros.

Armorik Small Batch Chouchenn

19th March 202518th March 2025Coldorak

Two and a half years ago, I reviewed two Armorik single malts finished in Chouchen casks: one was an official single cask with a second, extended maturation in a Chouchen cask, and the other was independently bottled by That Boutique-y Whisky Company. Recently, Warenghem released the Armorik Small Batch Chouchenn, which features a double maturation and is bottled as a small batch rather than a single cask.

Four European Whiskies

22nd January 202521st January 2025Coldorak

Let’s take a break from Scotland and explore a few European whiskies. Some of these come courtesy of the aptly nicknamed Harry ‘Eurowhisky,’ who attended the first French whisky show in Rennes in early April last year. He stayed to guest host at my whisky club, the equally aptly named Rennes Whisky Club, for the second year running. Today, I’ll review four European whiskies: one I sampled at Malt in France (mark your calendars for the second edition on April 5th and 6th, 2025!) and three brought by Harry to the club.

Agitator 2019 & 2020 The Whisky Jury

4th January 20253rd January 2025Coldorak

We stay with Nordic whisky after the Sall Whisky 2020 Whisky Watcher from two days ago, this time with a duo of Agitator whiskies. Agitator Whiskymakare, a Swedish distillery founded in Arboga in 2017, stands out for its innovative production techniques. With an annual capacity of 500,000 litres of pure alcohol (lpa), their methods go beyond the typical marketing buzz around ‘innovation’ often touted by larger distilleries.

For instance, instead of adding water during mashing to extract sugars, Agitator adds water during the milling process. Later, the fermented wash is divided between two pairs of stills that operate under vacuum, enabling distillation at lower temperatures. They also experiment with a variety of grains beyond barley, use unique types of wood, such as chestnut, and even employ wave stave casks. Additionally, their approach to cask filling is unconventional, with some of their new make spirit entering barrels at 55% ABV instead of the standard 63.5%.

Today, we’ll be reviewing two single cask whiskies from Agitator, both selected by an independent bottler, and both using wave stave casks: the Agitator 2019 and 2020, bottled by The Whisky Jury.

Sall Whisky 2020 Whisky Watcher

2nd January 20252nd January 2025Coldorak

Sall Whisky Distillery, a Danish microdistillery, was established in late 2018 by a group of friends with a shared vision of making a fully local whisky using their own home-grown, organic cereals. Their journey began with the launch of their new make in 2019, followed by their inaugural single malt whisky in early 2023, aged just three years. In 2024, they introduced three small-batch releases – Muld, Tørv, and Glød. However, today’s review focuses on a unique offering: the Sall Whisky 2020 Whisky Watcher. This release, from Whisky Watcher – a Danish shop and independent bottler specialising in whisky, rum, and other spirits – is the distillery’s only independent bottling to date.