Category Archives: Whisky General

Whisky Lady – January til March 2026

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This quarter started with a sunny, warm New Year in India, then plunged into the frigid cold of a Winnipeg winter, some in-between in Germany, closing back in Mumbai’s palm trees and sea breeze!

Whisky-wise it was a mix of catching a couple of tasting sessions, a few miniature evenings, and even branching out into other spirits!

A new favourite bottler is The Heart Cut. Whilst we picked out a few interesting whiskies to try next year in a special session, we couldn’t wait and picked up a quartet of Pocket Pours!:

Our Whisky Ladies of Mumbai met each month consistently, and I was lucky to join twice!

The Bombay Malt & Cigar Club had three sessions:

PART 1: INTRO TO TEQUILA

PART 2: TOUR OF MEZCAL

PART 3: TAPATÍO TEQUILA DUO

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2025 Whisky Show – Decadent Drinks Day 1 + 2

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You can’t do a brief zip through Decadent Drinks. We’ve probably spent more time collectively at this stall over the last two years than any other. Our 2025 London Whisky Show experience was no exception.

Bright and early Saturday morning, we went straight from waiting in line to upstairs and the Decadent Drinks stall. Our quest? A morning dram to prime the pumps before indulging in a Dream Dram. Our choice? A rather worthy Machnomore from their Equinox & Solstice line.

Mannochmore 15 year (2009 / Autumn 2025) 48.5% (Decadent Drinks – Equinox & Solstice)

  • Nose – A joyful sunshine greeted us on the nose! Fruity and flirty, warm and waxy
  • Palate – A bit spicy yet equally dangerously drinkable – simply delicious! No extra hype, just a beautiful, well-balanced dram that welcomes you – any time of day!
  • Finish – Sweet and sinful

For the 1st dram of the day at approximately 11:30am, this absolutely hit the spot! It would be perfect for late summer as the evenings begin to chill or fall – as intended. Either way, we were delighted with our first choice of the 2025 event.

Here’s what they have to say about it!

This year’s Autumn edition of Equinox & Solstice is a small batch, 15 year old Mannochmore created from marrying together two refill hogsheads and bottling with slight reduction at this serie’s trademark bottling strength of 48.5%. It’s a waxy, fruity, warming and luscious dram. Perfect cosy accompaniment for Autumn.

We then returned to explore their non-dream dram expressions with :

Just check out the separate post on them!

Were we done? Nope! We were back the next day for our Dream Drams – a double header pitting Glen Grants from our birth years – a 25 year old exclusive for the USA from 1961 and a 39 year old from 1969. Spoiler alert – the earlier yet younger expression won hands down!

Angus and team are doing a stellar job. They are committed to bringing quality drams to our palates.

“I’m bored of complexity. I just chose what I like!”

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Whisky Lady – October til December 2025

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This quarter, I was criss-crossing the globe between Canada, the UK, Germany, Abu Dhabi, and India. However, after a long time, I was more at home in Mumbai than anywhere else and was able to rejoin my wonderful whisky clubs – The Whisky Ladies of Mumbai and the Bombay Malt & Cigar Club! I can’t tell you what a privilege it is to enjoy good company over exploring a few new drams.

This quarter got off to a bang with a trip to London for the 2025 Whisky Show in October!

Several of the above links will be updated later in 2026 – understandable as we tasted over 100 whiskies and I’m taking my time to research more before sharing our light impressions.

The day I landed in Mumbai was perfectly timed to join an evening with the Bombay Malt & Cigar (BMC) club, this time with our partners! It was my turn to host the whiskies. I put together a slightly random selection – broadly based around a theme of “Hard to get“! In other words, only available via auction, nearly sold out… in one case, only 63 bottles were produced! What did we sample?

This was followed by another BMC evening late October featuring a Nc’Nean vertical – what fun!

We even managed to fit in a 3rd BMC evening in December! This time, we joined an evening hosted by Glen Grant at the Bombay Breach Candy Club.

Whilst the ladies took a break in October for Diwali, they were back on November 1st for a round of celebratory drams!

Whilst I missed the Whisky Ladies early December session as I was in Germany, one event I really look forward to annually is bringing the ladies and gentlemen together! This year, I put together a line-up of what I called “Bold & Beautiful” Chorlton expressions.

As for Germany? It was so fabulous to be back in my home away from home. I perused Christmas Markets, had a weekend getaway in the mountains, and naturally also a night of drams with the Nuremberg Whisky Explorers! We used it as an opportunity to revisit a few past favourites and open a special bottle!

I also caught up with a few previous quarter tasing experiences:

Thanks to a trip to Canada, I had a lovely weekend getaway in a cabin on a lake – naturally accompanied by a wee whisky tasting from That Boutique-y Whisky Co’s 2018 Advent Calendar – carefully selected to explore blends!

There you have it – quite the active quarter!

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BMC + Whisky Ladies Chorlton Bold and Beautiful Special!

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Our annual gathering of the Whisky Ladies of Mumbai with the Bombay Malt & Cigar Club came early this year – perfectly timed to include a bit of Xmas merriment alongside our drams and cigars!

I was super excited for this session as the line-up featured a bold and hopefully beautiful quartet from Chorlton.

Our “Bold and Beautiful” Chorlton quartet included:

Each was unique, each required time, each is worth revisiting too – as is often case with Chorlton whiskies. For detailed tasting notes, just check out the links above.

Which inspired me to also bring along three previously opened Chorlton’s to revisit and augment our evening with an aperitif, then after our “main course” of the Blair Athol, Glenrothes, Caol Ila and BenRiach quartet, a few of us managed to squeeze in a wee sampling of two more as a digestif!

  • Glen Ord 8 year 57.9% – Opened in January 2024 for two separate sessions for the Whisky Ladies and BMC guys. This was the clear choice for a starter – a perfect opening with its generous Christmasy elements. We happily sipped and savoured it, getting primed for our coming delights!
  • Teaninich 12 year 54.2% – From the same set of evenings, it has held up well – in some ways even more interesting than it was nearly two years ago! Citrus and orchard fruits, herbal, nutty, and cinnamon.
  • Tuillabardine 29 year 47.5% – From an earlier session with the BMC Lads from January 2023. I had forgotten how reserved it was yet wonderfully waxy, berry sweetness once one spent some time with it.

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BMC Lowland, Highland, Speyside across the decades

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For our October 2025 Bombay Malt & Cigar Club evening, I decided to do a bit of housecleaning. Some years ago, I experimented with whisky auctions. In truth, I did a spray and pray approach and walked away with a fairly random trio. Fast forward to the move back to India, I managed to sell the Adnamurchan yet kept the Glenkinchie and Aultmore. So when it came time to craft a tasting, I decided to pull out the remaining pair and select a 3rd bottle that I just desperately wanted to open!

What did I pick?

Glenkinchie 10 year (~1990s) 43%

We began with a 10-year Lowland, likely from the 1990s. It was an original bottle put out by the distillery at a perfect size for sampling at 200ml. I picked it up for ~Eur 27 (including shipping & auction fees).

Aultmore 9 year (Autumn 2000 / Spring 2010) Provenance Cask No 6211 46.8% (Douglas McGibbon & Co. Ltd)

We then shifted gears to a youthful Speyside from the turn of the millennium. I’ve not had many “Provenance” Casks from independent bottler Douglas McGibbon & Co, so I was curious. This was another whisky auction purchase for ~Eur 59 (including shipping & auction fees).

Balblair 16 year (Spring 2025) hogshead 55.8% (Chorlton)

We moved on to the highlands with a brand new Chorlton – independent bottler from Manchester. You’ve seen enough Chorlton’s to know, I’m a fan. As for Balblair? I also admit to having a soft spot. I purchased it directly from Chorlton for £95 plus shipping.

Craigallachie 17 year (Jun 2008 / 25 Aug 2025) Madeira Wine Cask No 7547103 54% (Duncan Taylor – Octave) 63 bottles

I should have stopped there, yet I couldn’t resist adding a little bonus from London’s 2025 Whisky Show. Yum!

Just click on the links above for tasting notes and our overall experience! Sláinte!

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2025 Whisky Show in London

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It has become an annual pilgrimage to London to join The Whisky Exchange’s Whisky Show. One I really don’t want to miss! Yes, it is a dizzying array of 1,000+ drams, an opportunity to discover new entrants, revisit distilleries you thought you knew, learn from industry experts, kibbitz with fellow whisky aficionados… for me, above all, it is an opportunity to spend quality time with a dear friend as we explore together a shared interest.

Over the coming months, I invite you to join our journey… hopefully giving you a sense of what we were lucky enough to experience over two days early October 2025.

Day 1

Day 2

  • Breakfast drams – explore new Arran releases
  • Tamdhu flight
  • Checking out a pre-official launch new entrant: Aberargie
  • Ichiro’s Malts and Chichibu
  • Revisiting Deanston
  • Dream Drams Glen Grant birth year pair – 1961 25 year + 1969 49 year
  • Annandale unpeated expressions
  • Canada’s Macaloney’s
  • Decadent Dram‘s lovely lowland Blandnoch
  • Finland’s Teerenpelli
  • Norway’s Bivrost
  • Sweden’s High Coast
  • Show close, with Duncan Taylor’s Octave expressions

We also thoroughly enjoyed three Mainstage sessions:

  • Independent bottling with Dawn Davies and Adelphi, Thomkins, Heart Cut
  • Nordic‘s discussion about the influence of location with Billy Abbott and Thy, Bivrost, Feddies
  • Island‘s impact on the approach to whisky with Dave Bloom and Harris, Scapa, and Spirit of Hven

I won’t be rushed to push out impressions of 100+ drams. Instead, I will savour anew the glimpses into different whisky styles, the conversations and insights, sharing bit by bit. So sit back, relax, and hopefully enjoy the show!

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Whisky Lady – July til September 2025

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This has been a relatively slow quarter whisky-wise – both tastings and sharing notes. Largely in Germany, miraculously, my focus on learning German led to passing my B1 exams – woo hoo! Things began to pick up with travels – starting with a flight home to India late August, then Canada mid-September, and coming up – a trip to London for the 2025 Whisky Show!

Whisky-wise, the quarter began with a low-key wander through a few open bottles in Nürnberg. This was followed by an evening exploring Lambay Cognac Cask 43% and Gordon & Macphail’s Auchriosk 10 year 43% – yum! I also had a chance to pit India’s answer from the big boys – Diageo’s Godawan with Pernod Ricard’s Longitude 77.

Coming back to India for September had perfect timing! I could join BOTH a Whisky Ladies and BMC session after such a long time!

For the Whisky Ladies evening, it was a welcome back and farewell combined! I just missed our 10-year anniversary celebration in August; however, I was so happy to join a special evening in Powai. Unfortunately for us, our delightful host is now moving to Manila. As for the whiskies explored?

  • Slyrs Amontillado Cask 46% – A delicious Rumtopf dram with plenty of boozy stewed fruits, spice kick for a quick nip!
  • Baltach Wismaria Single Malt 43% – A decided “No” from my side, however, its briny, fungal, tannery style may find a few fans who enjoy a maritime style on steroids! 
  • Miyagikyo Grande 48% – Miyagikyo dialed up — still elegant, still fruity and floral, but with a richer backbone and more presence.

With a bonus bourbon – Grass Widow Straight Bourbon Madeira 45.5%.

This was followed by an evening with the BMC gents focused on a trio from South Africa followed by a pair of Sweet (almost) 16!

Thanks to a trip to Canada, I managed to have a lovely weekend getaway in a cabin – naturally accompanied by a wee whisky tasting with a few specially selected samples from That Boutique-y Whisky Co’s 2018 Advent Calendar.

  • Blend of Scottish and Japanese malt and grain whiskies 21 Year Old, Batch 1, 43%
  • Scottish Blended Malt #4 6 Year Old Batch 1, 53.6%
  • Scottish Blended Malt #1 18 Year Old, Batch 3, 47.3%
  • Scottish Blended Whisky #2 22 Year Old Batch 3, 41.8%
  • Scottish Blended Whisky #3, 23 Year Old Batch 1, 48.2%

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Whisky Lady – April til June 2025

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This was a quarter of change and an opportunity to catch a breath, and reconnect with family and friends. This is why my whisky tasting notes are an assortment of countries, experiences past and present, reflecting a time of transition in every way – professionally and with family too.

In Germany, we joined a special charitable event in March which featured delicious Ethiopian food and African whiskies, organised by the good folks at Hawelti. It was such an interesting variety of spirits, grains, and single malts – what a treat!

We also had a few whisky farewell evenings, helping me clean out my Nurnberg, Germany whisky cabinet before the big move back to Mumbai, India. We began with an evening of contrast and compare! We started with a Glenglassaugh, moved on to a trio of Kavalan Solists and closed with a standard and special Port finished The Six Isles.

This was followed by another evening with a North American theme featuring a Shelter Point Ripple Rock from a Whisky Ladies of Mumbai evening, then a trio from America with 10th Street. We closed our evening with some classics – a revisit of Chorlton’s Tomintoul and Glen Ord.

In Mumbai, we brought together the Whisky Ladies and Bombay Malt & Cigar gents in January, after a few years of hiatus. It was such fun to gather, consider, and enjoy. We selected a trio of easy-drinking Welsh Penderyn’s followed by a new American entrant – 10th Street STR Dragon. Whilst we didn’t specifically intend it to be an exploration of Port, it turned out to be a clear theme.

It was also my turn to host the Bombay Malt & Cigar gents’ whiskies, for which I decided to go for a Scottish whisky regions theme, with a bonus of Island – Highland Park.

In the spirit of catching up, I also stumbled across tasting notes for a missed entry about South Korea’s Ki-One whisky at London’s 2024 Whisky Show.

Nurnberg’s The Village Whisky show was back! And yet again, I could not join – felled by terrible flu. I seem to have the WORST luck with this whisky festival. The 1st time in 2020, we had COVID looming around the corner. It was then cancelled. In 2023, I had major dental issues, making tasting impossible. This was followed in 2024 with a busted ankle, making walking and standing challenging – something you must do A LOT to get the most out of a whisky festival! Hence, I went only to catch the Milk & Honey Masterclass and a small toast with the Sharing Angels. I had great hopes that 2025 would break my bad luck – nope!

Talk about delayed posting! However, I’m proud to share that I am fully caught up. All scribbles have been converted into posts! I can’t wait to see what next quarter has in store – both in life and whisky-wise!

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Whisky Tastings – Planning Coming Attractions for India

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I was back in Bombay, taking stock of what remained in my whisky cabinet – considering what next to bring from Germany in April. It has become a semi-annual ritual – take everything out of the cabinet, properly clean – the ongoing battle against mold and dust! Another element is to re-evaluate what goes into the “top shelf” – assorted liquor and open whiskies available for guests… then close it until the next trip!

This time I also wanted to re-confirm the choices for upcoming sessions, check what remained open, and see if I had missed any in my location tracking – I had indeed!

Selected for our January 2025 evening with the gents:

For an Asia Pacific theme, I have:

  • Australia’s Lark Single Cask (Feb 2010) Cask No LD116 43% purchased many years ago for what seemed a steep price then and now – completely normalized!
  • Japan’s Yamazaki Distiller’s Reserve 43% purchased in India
  • Japan’s Ichiro’s Malt Double Distilleries 46% from the period where there was more Hanyu than Chichibu in the mix. Maybe I should pick up another bottle now before there are no more drops of Hanyu left and this series becomes merely Chichibu I and Chichibu II!
  • Taiwan’s Kavalan Solist Bourbon Cask (2011) B111202001A, Bottle 117/200 57.1% picked up at Singapore’s Changi airport years ago!

I’m also ready with a new North Star set featuring:

  • Glen Moray 14 year (Jul 2008 / Mar 2022) 58.8% (North Star Series 018)
  • Aberfeldy 7 year (Jun 2022) 57.8% (North Star, Series 019)
  • Benrinnes 15 year (2007/Jun 2022) 46.4% (North Star, Series 019)

Thanks to some help from a mostly London-based friend, the Chorlton‘s in India are now enough for 2 sets! And I’ve already decided a quartet will go for the 2026 Bombay Malt & Cigar / Whisky Ladies joint evening… the question will be which goes into the final line-up!

  • Miltonduff 16 year (2022) 55.9% (Chorlton)
  • Glen Moray 16 year (2024) ex-Bourbon 52.2% (Chorlton)
  • Glenburgie 14 year (2024) Hogshead 53.9% (Chorlton)
  • Campbeltown 10 year (2024) 58% (Chorlton)
  • Manochmore 16 year (2024) 1st fill Oloroso butt 54.7% (Chorlton)
  • Speyside (Glenrothes) 13 year Speyside (19 June 2008 / Nov 2021) 64.6% (Chorlton)
  • Faemussach (aka BenRiach) 21 year (2022) 56% (Chorlton)

There is also a clear European trio with two That Boutique-y Whisky Co offerings and an experiment from Slyrs

  • Finland – Teerenpeli 5 year 1st Batch 47.6% 230 of 448 bottles (TBWC Wine Cask Series MMXXI)
  • France – Armorik 5 year 2nd Batch 46.4% 194 of 286 bottles (TBWC Wine Cask Series MMXXI)
  • Germany – Slyrs Marsala Finish L1140 46%

Along the way, I somehow managed to acquire a trio from Glentauchers for a single distillery vertical via three different bottlers!

  • Glentauchers 14 year (2008/2022) 46% (Gordon & Macphail Distillery Label)
  • Glentauchers 14 year (2023) 61.6% (Chorlton)
  • Glentauchers 10 year (21 Mar 2013 / 22 Nov 2023) Barrel Cask 800435 58.6% (The Whisky Exchange – The Seasons Spring) –> Added in October 2025!

Plus an assorted group that one could consider a few levels up from standard bar stock:

What’s up for augmentation? Back in early 2025 I had a pair of Rye‘s in need of a 3rd as the original Stork Rye went into making some marvelous Old Fashions a few years ago! Fast forward to late 2025 when my trio was complete by bringing a Rye stored in Canada to India via Germany!

  • AD Laws Secale Rye 2 year 50% 375 ml, purchased in May 2017 via a Colorado connect
  • Millstone 100 Rye Whisky 50% from The Netherlands purchased in 2018 at Mumbai duty-free
  • Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye 45% from Canada, acquired many moons ago when this expression was recognised as the Worlds Best Whisky, brought to India in August 2025

Whilst I don’t have a 3rd rye in Germany yet, this is easily obtained with many options!

If we decide to switch from Whisky to Rum, I also have two rather special options – from Barbados a 10 year old Criterion, and from Jamaica – Royal Vale’s 150/250 Wedderburn 12 year (2006) 62,5%. As a 3rd, I have only a wee mini of India’s Camika to try.

What else? There are a few miscellaneous alternatives that don’t neatly fit into sets:

  • Kininvie 17 year 42.6% – initially prompted by an idea to “de-construct” Monkey Shoulder with its component elements
  • Lagg Peated Bourbon Barrel 1st Batch 60.4% – Bottled by hand at the Lagg distillery in 2020
  • Nc’Nean Organic 46% –> Given away to a favourite actor friend!

Top this off with a bunch of miniatures, and there you have it – cabinet re-org complete! And what fun we have to look forward to over the coming years!

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Scottish Regions – Lindores Abbey, Clynelish, Mannochmore, Bunnahabhain with bonus Highland Park!

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I was back in Bombay, enjoying bringing in the new year with family and friends. And of course – fit in a couple of whisky sessions too!

It was my turn to host in the Bombay Malt & Cigar gents whiskies. Initially dubbed “Carissa’s Cupboard” to select something new waiting in the wings in Mumbai, it evolved into a Scottish Regions theme with a link to a few whisky festivals explored over the years!

Lowland – Lindores Abbey MCDXCIV (1494) Commemorative First Release (2021) Cask Bourbon, Sherry, Wine Barrique 46% Eur 66,50.

This new Lowland distillery piqued my curiosity years ago and this particular purchase was prompted by my attending the 2023 Masterclass at The Village

Highland – Clynelish 12 year (17 May 2011/2023) 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel #880297 56.4% (2023 Whisky Show Bottle) GBP 120 / EUR 142

This was our 2023 London Whisky Show festival pick! Over the years, we’ve become increasingly partial to the waxy lemony sweet dessert quality of most Clynelish drams.

Speyside – Mannochmore 10 year (2008/2018) Batch 16.0708.16 56.1% (Mossburn Vintage Casks No 16) ~Eur 70

I’ve started to be on the “hunt” for more whiskies from this distillery – enjoying its fruity character! This time, it was from Mossburn, another independent bottler, with their Vintage Casks series No 16.

Islay – Bunnahabhain Ma1 (2015) 54.2% (Elements of Islay) SGD 135

This Elements of Islay dram was purchased nearly a decade ago in Singapore alongside Whisky Live. It has been impatiently waiting for its moment in the sun ever since!!!

Island – Highland Park 14 Year (23 Oct 2003 / 1 Nov 2017) Hogshead No 739 57.9% (Whisky Broker) ~GBP 60

And why do I have a bonus? After a lovely evening with the gents, I called a couple whisky enthusiasts home. On hearing what I had available, one brought a perfect addition from the unofficial 5th whisky region – Island!

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