A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WORLD OF WHISKIES,ONE INSIGHT AT A TIME
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Big, rounded, smooth. Full of crunchy maltiness. To drink this whisky is like biting into peanut brittle. Then toffee. Then liquorice flavours. 8.5/10' Michael Jackson, Whisky Magazine April 2000
Created to celebrate India’s 50 years of independence, Teacher’s 50 is a premium 12 year old Scotch Whisky. Specially selected Ardmore malt, blended with grain whisky and aged for at least 12 years makes Teacher’s 50 smooth and mellow. You can taste this quality and you can see it in the golden glow of the liquid. We call it ‘The light of Scotland.’
One of the first in what Teacher’s owners Jim Beam say will be a line of new releases for the blend. The name “Origin” refers to the blended whisky’s aging process in smaller quarter casks, which would have been used by distilleries in the 19th century. This aging technique also allows for a greater ratio of wood to spirit, heightening “oak contact”, which Teacher’s claims creates a whisky that is 30% more mature. This blended dram contains 65% malt in the mixture, a high proportion, and uses over 30 different single malts with a large quantity coming from the unusually peated highland malt, Ardmore. On the nose the drinker is greeted with malty biscuits, toffee, sweet bright oak, peat smoke and dark honey. The palate is faithful to the nose, but adds a chewy toffee-led mouthfeel and a little bright cereal sweetness. The finish is dense and long with a lingering woodspice note. A lovely, smoky and complex whisky which offers outstanding value for money, particularly in this larger 1 litre bottle.
Teacher’s Highland Cream is a blended Scotch whisky from the Highlands region of Scotland. It is a no-age-statement blend of nearly 30 source whiskies including single malt and grain whiskies. The malt content in Teacher’s Highland Cream is said to be 45%, with the rest being made up by grain whiskies
"A more traditional , fuller and richer blend, created using the most traditional techniques. The Ardmore 'heart' with its 12-15 parts per million peating adds a subtle touch of Highland peat smoke, the Quarter Cask maturation imparts a softer, deeper falvour whilst the combination of malts and grai whisky from all over Scotland add a complexity and a long finish. Tust one dram of Origin will sghow you why all that time & expense was well spent. Like William, it is a true 'Original'."
An iconic blended Scotch whisky from Glasgow, Teacher’s is a drink from the East Highlands, a region of Scotland famous for retaining smoky characteristics in their whiskies. Sourcing their single malts from Ardmore, Teachers is a brand with a significant portion of history behind their products and the years are reflected in their fine blends. Although the standard expression from the house of Teachers is the Teachers Highland Cream, the Teachers 50, released in honor of India’s 50th Independence Day contains a unique blend of single malt and grain whiskies that is hard to come by. The foundations for the Teachers brand were laid by William Teacher in the 1830s, capitalizing on the newly passed Excise Act of 1823. He procured a license to sell whisky and began running a ‘dram shop’ where whisky lovers would stop by and feast on drams of their favorite whisky. Years later, when the Spirits Act of 1860 further allowed more freedom for sellers to mix and create whisky blends of their own, William Teacher put his expertise to good use by experimenting with a number of blends. The Teachers Highland Cream came into being during this time when William Teacher was positively satisfied with a peaty drink with a high malt content, a drink with a complex and rich flavor that made him considering naming it after his own family name. After he laid the foundations for the Teachers brand and created the quintessential Teachers Highland Cream blend, William Teacher passed away in 1876, leaving the responsibility and the Teachers’ brand into the hands of his son, William Junior, and his younger brother, Adam. A rampant growth under the authority of William Junior and Adam Teacher saw increased sales and profit, the purchase of new land in 1895 with the purpose of building a new distillery of their own in Aberdeenshire in 1897. Adam died a year later without witnessing the completion of his plans although by then, the Teachers brand was well on its way towards glory. Surviving Prohibition, and a decline in the number of operational distilleries in Scotland, while also scripting victories by beginning to export Teachers to the United States and the acquisition of the Glendronach Distillery defined the later years for the brand. Fast forward to 1997, the brand released the Teachers 50, a 12-year-old blended whisky that commemorated 50 years of Indian Independence, strengthening their positioning in one of the world’s most prolific whisky drinking nations.
Related to Tennessee, USA, it has its deep-rooted lodgings all over the world.
Aged in Quarter Cask oak barrels that previously held Aussie-style port wine, this is bottled at cask strength (58% abv). The barley is malted by local Cascade Brewing Co. and the peat used comes from their own peat bogs. All whisky produced at Lark are done in single batches so slight variation may occur.
A complex rye, Royal Reserve has pleasing caramel-vanilla notes with mellow oak and medium fruit levels. This Canadian whisky can be appreciated on its own, with a touch of water or with your favourite mixer.
At 52% ABV, the Glenmorangie Pride 1974 is the third and oldest to release from the Glenmorangie Pride series. The classic ex-bourbon and ex-Oloroso sherry casks lend it a fine blend, creamy texture with a tinge of vanilla and pepper. Priced at about £7,200, it is limited to 503 crystal decanters from specialist whisky retailers. The sophisticated French distillation process combined with oak cask ageing lends this whisky a unique, silkiness, and rich, stunning color
Ben Nevis Distillery established in 1825, is one of the oldest licensed distilleries in Scotland. The distillery is nestled at the foot of Britain's highest mountain, Ben Nevis, which has a summit elevation of 4'406 feet above sea level.
Glendalough have very deliberately chosen a period of seven years to age this whisky: seven is not only the number of year that St Kevin spent in the wild, but also a nod to the 'City of Seven Churches' he built at Glendalough. The whiskey inside the bottle graced by St Kevin's image is a floral, fruity whiskey with cinnamon and white pepper highlights.
Another reliable release from Jim Beam, which according to the company, has been distilled in a pre-Prohibition style. As most Rye whiskeys, this one isn’t afraid to make its presence known on your taste buds. Rye whiskeys have notoriously been considered as a whiskey thatis ‘not for everyone’, and the Jim Beam Rye falls comfortably under that description. For the ones who love it, there could be nothing better but for the ones that don’t like it, they might never really develop an affinity for it.
The High West Campfire is a blend of a straight bourbon whiskey, a straight rye whiskey, and a blended malt Scotch whiskey. The peated Scotch whiskey imparts a smoky taste to the blend, reminiscent of a campfire, and that’s how the drink got its name. Each of the three whiskeys has been aged between five and eight years. The Campfire whiskey is bottled at the High West Distillery in Park City, Utah.
Named after the McAfee brothers who surveyed a site just north of Frankfort in the late 1700s, this rye recipe bourbon is yet another label that honors the storied history of the Distillery and the land it sits on.
