The Legendary Ardbeg distillery is known for being the king of peat in the world of whiskies. Most people would have had tried the Ardbeg 10 years old which is considered along with the Lagavulin 16 years old the benchmark of which what other peat whiskies are compared against. Launched in 2003 this whisky (pronounced “Oog-a-dal”) within 6 years in 2009 won Jim Murray’s whisky of the year and in the previous year 2008 it’s sibling the Ardbeg 10 years also won whisky of the year. In recent year’s bottles of Ardbeg has been very collectible and it shown by an increase of 43% in sales volume in the past two years! This just means this distillery is doing something right!

The simple facts are this whisky is a speyside blended whisky, its 30 years old, it’s only available through Aldi supermarkets and it’s cost $99 AUD. So how can Aldi afford to sell 30 years old whisky for below $100? For the people out there who consider that simply the older the whisky the better it is (you know who you are… …) this is a no brainer… 30 years for $99 roughly $3.30 a year you are paying! Bargain alarm bells BUY BUY BUY!

So with the Yamazaki 12 year’s whisky flying off the shelves, I naturally looked for an alternative and in particular at its northern sibling the Hakushu 12 Years old. Whilst the Yamzaki is of a brown autumn bottle the Hakushu is of a green forest spring bottle. The Hakushu distillery is the second biggest distillery by Suntory, it is located in the northern forest of Japan near Mount Kaikoma (Southern Alps) and in the Yamanashi Prefecture.

This Japanese whisky is from Nikka, one of the biggest beverage companies in Japan. This whisky is distilled in the Miyagakyo distillery in Sendai north of Japan. To be honest I am excited about this Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky! 

The World Whiskies Award Results for 2016, along with Jim Murray's Whisky Bible it provides us normal people a look at what the "professionals" deem as the "Best" whiskies in the world for 2016. Have a few minutes? lets review the results together!

The Glen Grant 10 years old whisky has won the Scotch Single Malt of the Year (Multiple Casks) for 2016 and also won the top Scotch 10 Years and Under (Multiple Casks) ranking for the past couple of years according to the Jim Murray whisky bible ranking system. Jim was so impressed he gave it a score of 96! The highest score he has ever given was 97.5! That is of course this opinion however… it does drum up my curiosity and hence this review!

Sullivans Cove is an Australian Distillery based near Hobart in the island state of Tasmania. Famous for its clear air, some of the best water in the world and the concentration of Australia’s whisky industry, Sullivan’s cove definitely has access to all of Australia’s best ingredients to become a world class distillery of fine whisky.

Let us get this straight from the start, the Macallan branding and whisky is widely considered as the Rolls Royce in the world of whiskies. The brand is arguably one of the most highly regarded whisky brands in the world, meaning it is also in very high demand. The packing is beautiful, label classy, clean and the whisky itself… many consider this bottle the benchmark of Sherry Whiskies. Did i mention the Macallan bottle is one of my favourite bottle designs as well… It’s the complete package or that’s what they are trying to sell!

Recently it was Chinese New Year and the animal for this year is the Monkey, fittingly I would like to write a review about a very interesting bottle of whisky. So where do we start? Why not with its name … Monkey Shoulders… most whiskies are named after places or people but this whisky is named after a medical condition that malt workers used to get when they turn the malting barley with a shiel (wooden shovel). Great name and great story! Love it!

So you pick up a bottle and read the label… there is allot of information on it…  most of it is about how the liquid within the bottle is the basically the nectar of the Gods…  however behind all the fluff there are some key information which you may use to compare with other bottles of whiskies so you know what exactly you are buying!

The Amrut Fusion, the distillery with the first Indian single malt whisky. Is it good enough to take on the great Scots or the new age whiskies? Will the taste differ? How is this Fusion? Do Pigs Fly? This review will answer nearly all the above questions! Recommend enjoying an Amrut Fusion (Or any sort of whisky) whilst reading this review!

The Lagavulin 16 years is a popular single malt whisky I would even say a staple in any serious whisky collection. This was the whisky that introduced me to what a rich and smokey whisky should be like and in my opinion the benchmark that should be used for all Islay whiskies.

To kick off my whisky blog i wanted to review the Suntory's The Yamazaki Single Malt 12 years old. This Japanese whisky was first pushed onto the market in 1984 and is produced in Suntory’s distillery in Shimamoto at the Osaka Prefecture. A beautiful distillery and a must visit for any Japanese whisky lover.