Coldorak's whisky blog.
We kick off the year with two 30-year-old Bowmores from Silver Seal and Wemyss Malts – rare drams that languished too long before I seized the perfect moment. We already know Wemyss Malts, and Silver Seal is an independent bottler founded by Luca Gargano, championing unfiltered, cask-strength authenticity from historic casks.
Read more
We explore the Jura 17-year-old, Glentauchers 27-year-old, and Ben Nevis 28-year-old from Elixir Distillers’ Macbeth series Act 2. These drams mark our return to whisky after the twenty-something cognac reviews from the Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar and the recent Coleburn pair. Elixir Distillers, partnering with Livingstone Rare, crafted the Macbeth series from Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, assigning 42 unique Scotch whiskies to play characters across six thematic groups. Whisky writer Dave Broom composed vivid portraits that tie each spirit to its character’s personality, cask profile, and regional roots, while Sir Quentin Blake supplied striking and fun bespoke label illustrations. Elixir’s team – led by Sukhinder Singh and Oliver Chilton – sources casks from their vast network and Sukhinder’s own stock, prioritising pure distillate character over dominant wood influence.
Read more
On special days, I like to reach for something special, so I chose two Coleburn whiskies from Signatory Vintage for Christmas. After a lengthy cognac session from the Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar, I return to whisky. Coleburn has tempted me for ages, especially since my 2019 visit to Murray McDavid at Spirit of Speyside – where they lease the distillery’s warehouses for cask storage, though workers dismantled the site long ago. Sourcing Coleburn proved tough, yet I snagged two samples in days. As always, I’ll start with the distillery history before diving into these festive Signatory pours.
Read more
Day 23 of the Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar features ABK6 Extra, a single-estate cognac from Domaines Francis Abécassis. The producer farms over 370 hectares across Fins Bois, Petite Champagne, and Grande Champagne crus. We’ll introduce ABK6 before reviewing their ABK6 Extra cognac!
Read more
We close the third week of our Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar with a 50-year-old Grosperrin Très Vieille Héritage cognac. We love tasting another Grosperrin – we always visit them at spirits shows, and even stopped by their Saintes cellars in February this year.
Read more
We continue our Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar adventure with a Jean Fillioux Lot 80/85 Cognac, which was hidden in the nineteenth pouch. This cognac, yet to be released, is a multi-vintage Grande Champagne. Let’s introduce Jean Fillioux cognac before reviewing this incoming release.
Read more
Time to open the 18th pouch of our Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar! Today (well, technically yesterday, since I publish the next morning to avoid spoiling other calendar owners), we discovered a La Récession 42-year-old Cognac. Cognac-Expert created La Récession as a brand to release a handful of sourced cognacs from négociants, bottled exclusively for them. Who from, you ask? Well, you might learn more after the break.
Read more
Day 17 of our Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar brought an A.E. Dor Vieille Réserve No. 8 Cognac. A.E. Dor has sat on my must‑try list for quite some time, so finding it in this year’s calendar feels like a small victory. One sample won’t ever tell the full story of a cognac house, but every exploration starts with a first glass. As usual, let’s say a few words about A.E. Dor before diving into their Vieille Réserve No. 8 Cognac.
Read more
And… just like that, we’re already two thirds of the way through the 2025 Cognac-Expert Advent Calendar, and today’s dram is a Michel Forgeron Barrique 92 Cognac. Before diving into the glass, let’s have a few words on who stands behind this bottling. Then we’ll take a closer look at their Barrique 92 Grande Champagne cognac.
Read more
We continue the second half of our Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar with a Louis Royer Extra cognac, allowing us to discover yet another new name (new for us!) in these pages. As usual when we add a new brand or producer here, let’s talk about its history first, before reviewing their cognac.
Read more