The whisky year 2015 in review
Today Whisky Saga actually turns 4 YO! I never quite expected it to last this long when I started my first few (horrible) articles in early January 2012. Now here I am, typing up my review of 2015. It's been one fantastic ride so far, and I have no plans of stopping just yet.
2015 in numbers
- 800+ whiskies tasted
- 320+ articles posted
- 300+ whiskies reviewed
- 17 distilleries visited
- 8 festivals attended
- Many new friends and acquaintances acquired
The Best of the Best
The whiskies I gave the highest score in 2015:
- Karuizawa 1984 29 YO Cask #7802 Cask by Cask 96p
- Highland Park 40 YO (2008) 94p
- Bunnahabhain 1973 40 YO The Birthday Dram 93p
- Highland Park Odin 16 YO – The Valhalla Collection 93p
- Port Ellen 1982 31 YO Cask #1511 (Mackillop’s Choice) 93p
- Hakushu Sherry Cask 2012 92p
- Highland Park 1973 Vintage 37 YO 92p
- Highland Park Thorfinn 92p
- Springbank 1999 11 YO Local Barley Society Bottling 92p
- White Horse The Old Blend of the White Horse Cellar 92p
- Yamazaki 25 YO 92p
I have had a chance to try a lot of old and rare Highland Park this year (and I visited the distillery), and this is reflected in the list. I am also very fond of Japanese whisky, and will try anything I come across - some of these are liquid sunshine indeed! The number 1 spot is held by a Karuizawa release exclusive for Norway and Sweden. The surprise addition to the list, maybe, is the White Horse blend. This was a special bottle though, bottled in 1940!
Affordable and Available
These are the Available & Affordable whiskies I gave the highest score in my reviews in 2015:
- Hudson Baby Bourbon Whiskey (NOK 599) (88/100)
- Bunnahabhain Ceòbanach (NOK 725) (87/100)
- Glengoyne 15 YO (NOK 695) (87/100)
- Baker’s Bourbon (NOK 700) (87/100)
- Teerenpeli 8 YO (NOK 815) (86/100)
- BenRiach 10 YO (NOK 675) (86/100)
- Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel (NOK 620) (85/100)
- Hazelburn 10 YO (NOK 720) (85/100)
- Mackmyra Svensk Rök (NOK 435) (85/100)
- Armorik Double Maturation (NOK 870) (85/100)
Most popular reviews
- Ardbeg Perpetuum Distillery Release
- Laphroaig 15 YO 200th Anniversary
- Ardbeg Perpetuum vs Ardbeg Perpetuum
- Ardbeg Kildalton 2014
- Highland Park Odin 16 YO – The Valhalla Collection
- Laphroaig Cairdeas 2015
- Mars Whisky The Revival 2011 Komagatake
- Karuizawa 1984 29 YO Cask #7802 Cask by Cask
- Bunnahabhain Eirigh Na Greine
- Aberlour A’bunadh batch #47
Ardbeg and Laphroaig reviews always get massive attention. On top of that I was the first to post a review of the Perpetuum DR version online - that did help, I guess. A bit surprised to see the first new release from Mars, after they re-opened, on the top 10.
Most popular articles (not reviews)
- Visiting Chichibu Distillery
- The world’s first Arctic whisky distillery officially opened
- Nikka discontinuing their entire single malt line-up!
- Glann ar Mor Distillery closing (luckily they did not have to close down after all)
- Whisky Award winners - Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival 2015
It is quite amazing the interest Chichibu gets. My article on visiting them was published back in August 2014, and still gets a lot of views every single day.
You - the readers
The top 10 countries you come from (position from 2014 in parenthesis):
- Norway (1)
- Sweden (2)
- United States (3)
- United Kingdom (4)
- Germany (5)
- Canada (7)
- France (9)
- The Netherlands (8)
- Denmark (6)
- Poland (18)
I find it cool that France is on the way up, and I have reviewed a few French whiskies in 2015. It is also great fun to see the huge increase of readers from Poland! I visit Poland on a regular basis through work (my day job), and love that country. I can also reveal that very soon now I will review two new Polish whiskies.
Japan fell out of the top 10 in 2015, down to 14th place. Denmark is falling for reasons unknown - although the actual number of readers from Denmark doubled (there's statistics for ya!).
OK, that's it then for the whisky year 2015 in review. I cannot spend more time on summarizing what has been - time to focus on what is coming up! Hope to see as many as possible of you out there in 2016. Do please continue to give me your feedback. I really do appreciate your continued support and readership!
Sláinte! - Thomas