Whiskies from around a reshuffled world


March 19, 2025

Whiskies from around a reshuffled world

Right… As always, we’re starting off from France.

(At Kimchansoo in South Korea - Kimchangsoo)

Cormeil ‘Peated Single Malt’ (43%, OB, France, +/-2024)

From Distillerie H. Leblanc (Busnel) in Normandy. We’ve already tasted a non-peated version finished in Calvados (Normandy, Calvados, capeesh), which wasn’t half bad at all. Colour: gold. Nose: rather nice, in the style of a young CI, fairly oily, with old hessian sacks and ash mixed with ink, then increasingly more pear and plum eau-de-vie, suggesting a certain youthfulness. Lovely freshness. Mouth: still rather nice, just a little light on the palate to support all that ash. Pear smoked with peat, ha. Finish: rather short, slightly bitter, but still pleasant. You could make a Martini with Noilly Prat and olives. Comments: another lightweight for a peated malt, but really well made.
SGP:545 - 80 points.

Domaine des Hautes-Glaces 2018/2024 ‘Episteme B17CS24’ (57.3%, OB for LMDW Foundations, France, Parcelle Vulson, cask #1678)

Colour: gold. Nose: more pears again, but here it’s pear tart drizzled with honey and butterscotch, with bits of toasted almonds. So far, it’s much rounder and fruitier than usual, and less on anything related to breadiness. With water: it bursts out—limestone, chalk, white Burgundy, wash… Mouth (neat): very oily texture, fruity style, pears and citrus, lemon bonbons… With water: and here’s our DHG at last, taking its time but now fully there—rye bread, green walnuts, woodruff, caraway and fennel seeds, lemon… Finish: long, curiously saline, rather earthy. Comments: this is fun, you almost feel like you’re taking part in the whisky’s creation, as the dilution you apply changes nearly everything. I’m quite proud of myself! (Getting a bit big-headed, am I?)
SGP:562 - 87 points.

Millstone 12 yo 2010/2022 (53.2%, OB for The Whisky Exchange, Netherlands, PX, 656 bottles)

Why, oh why hadn’t I tasted this baby yet? Especially since, in my experience, Millstone handles heavy PX even better than… let’s say Glendronach. Just a random example. Colour: dark amber. Nose: in the immortal words of Talking Heads, qu’est-ce que c’est? A pile of old copper kettles and saucepans, even some antique pewterware, then a landslide of raisins soaked in chocolate, sprinkled with warm liquid praline and drizzled with soy sauce. Or something along those lines. With water: out come dried morels, moss, parsley, prunes, and old genever. Ha-ha! Mouth (neat): utterly massive, extremely rich, meaty and slightly tarry, packed with dried fruits served on pumpernickel and drenched in the most powerful garrigue honey, then dusted with black pepper from the mill. With water: an avalanche of spices joins the party, on top of the pepper. This is the trickier moment—more tense, even aggressive—but still top-class. Oh, and we don’t back down! Finish: as long as the eighth season of a Netflix series, peppery, but brought back in line by a horde of Corinth raisins. Though there are a few black olives lurking in the aftertaste. Comments: I made a mistake—I should have saved this little beast for the end of our session.
SGP:662 - 88 points.

We're taking a long break; we'll be back later.

Haran 12 yo ‘Traditional’ (40%, OB, Spain, Iberian oak cask, +/-2023)

This malt from the Spanish Basque Country, while ‘Iberian oak’ suggests, I suppose, either Spain or Portugal. I don’t know if there’s any connection with Agot, another Basque malt, or with Bikkun, a very fine blended malt. Colour: light gold. Nose: lovely, with a mix of shoe polish and fireplace smoke, plus citron, peach, chamomile, and fresh cake. Quite surprising, but it works well on the nose, with a certain delicately smoky finesse. Mouth: both sharper and fruitier at the same time. A touch of burnt butter, then black pepper and pear eau-de-vie. Lastly, hints of liquorice allsorts mingling with herbal juice. Finish: not as short as one might expect, staying on the same notes, with a bit of burnt wood lingering. Comments: a quality bottle, though perhaps best enjoyed in San Sebastián or Bilbao.
SGP:652 - 78 points.

Since we’re in Spain…

Sherishor 12 yo ‘Moscatel de Pasas’ (54.3%, OB, Spain, 1,400 bottles, +/-2024)

We’ve already enjoyed quite a few Sherishors. These are all Scottish malts, matured in Spain—here first in proper sherry casks of up to 50 years (not just ‘seasoned’ for the whisky trade), then in Moscatel ‘de Pasas’ casks, which I hadn’t come across until now. The grapes are sun-dried, which must further amplify the sweetness of these Muscats of Alexandria. Let’s brace ourselves… Colour: full gold. Nose: deep in passito territory, with also rancio, sultanas, and hazelnut cake, plus a touch of damp earth. So far, it remains fairly balanced. With water: zucchini flowers! Mouth (neat): well, ripe strawberries, ripe apricots, very ripe yellow plums, and about the annual dried grape output of a small Mediterranean country. The muscat character is much more pronounced on the palate, but that’s always the case with muscats, in my experience. Also some black pepper. With water: full-on muscat, though it feels more like petit grain (small-berry muscat). Slightly suffocating, but if you control the doses, it’s really enjoyable. Finish: long, same story, almost like ultra-fortified muscat at this stage. Comments: I much prefer the brilliant oloroso version at 54% (WF 87), but if you’ve got a sweet tooth, I won’t be the one to stop you. Spectacular, within this style.
SGP:751 - 83 points.

Morris of Rutherglen ‘Sherry Barrel’ (46%, Australia, +/-2023)

Apparently, they’ve used their ‘apera’ (aka Australian sherry) casks here, though it’s unclear whether proper ‘world sherry’ wine casks are really any worse than Spanish casks that were merely ‘seasoned’ in haste before being filled with whisky. Oh well, here we go making friends again… Colour: gold. Nose: almond croissants, shoe polish, two drops of blackcurrant syrup, praline, and a touch of juniper. Naturally quite ‘winesky,’ but it’s a pleasant nose. Mouth: more unexpected, with rubber and bell pepper, then lots of leather and tobacco before some peanut butter and gin (Australian, of course) make an entrance. A very unusual profile. Finish: rather long, a little dusty but not in an unpleasant way. Cherry stems and blackcurrant buds. Comments: it’s tricky to form a solid opinion on cases like this.
SGP:571 - 79 points.

Elch Whisky ‘Torfduett – Auflage 5’ (50.6%, OB, Germany, 2024)

We tasted one of these ‘Torfduett’ five years ago and liked it a lot. Just a reminder, last time I checked, ‘Torf’ meant ‘peat’, and ‘Duett’… well, you get the idea. Colour: gold. Nose: I haven’t got time to check whether this is German or Scottish peat, but the result is here, elegant, with remarkable balance between an initial rustic side (soot, wood, cardboard) and a mix of small herbs, flowers, and citrus. Borage and bergamot seem particularly present. With water: more fermentary, on fresh bread and ashes (straight from an old bread oven). Mouth (neat): smoky pepper and citrus strike first, then as they fade, a touch of smoked ham appears, along with those bergamots, juniper, cumin, and toasted black bread. With water: small flowers and berries emerge—cranberries and violets, for instance. Finish: rather long, with ashes making a return. Comments: I forgot to mention, they partly use acacia wood, and I think you can feel it. In any case, this baby seems less on rustic bread than the first batch we tried, but really, we like it.
SGP:564 - 86 points.

A last one…

Kimchangsoo ‘Gimpo - The First Edition 2024’ (50.1%, OB, South Korea)

We’ve already enjoyed a few whiskies from this very talented small distillery, and here comes their first truly official release. Colour: apricot. Nose: okay, let’s stop here—this is too beautiful, too surprising, too well-constructed (coffee – mango – black bread, who says better?). What I find particularly astonishing are the saffron notes—I don’t think I’ve ever nosed a malt with such a pronounced saffron character. And we’re talking about real saffron here, not the cheap stuff sold in tourist markets. With water: a little varnish, rhubarb, sorrel, and fir honey emerge. Mouth (neat): slightly less spectacular, but have you ever tasted a mix of mint, olives, liquorice, honey, black tea, and… saffron? I hadn’t. With water: the wood takes a very slight lead, but elegantly so—no complaints possible. Some unexpected notes of wild strawberries as well. Finish: fairly long, in line with the rest, with none of the usual pitfalls of young, boosted whiskies, such as excessive woodiness. It feels like everything was well controlled, perhaps during the cask selection. Black bread makes a comeback in the aftertaste, reclaiming its spot. Comments: this is a ‘thinking’ malt—it makes the drinker smarter. Yes.
SGP:562 - 90 points.

Right, we’ve got one slot left, but we’ll need to find a malt that can stand up to this admirable little Korean. Maybe another Hautes-Glaces? That would allow us to return to France in First Class…

Domaine des Hautes-Glaces 2016/2024 (56.3%, Swell de Spirits, France, vin jaune, cask #234, 202 bottles)

Vin jaune, the fino of France (or is it the other way round?). Well, vin jaune is made from the Savagnin grape, not fortified, and aged under veil/flor without cask changes, much like those trendy ‘añada’ casks in Jerez. As for Domaine des Hautes-Glaces, no need for introductions. Colour: full gold. Nose: wait, is that coffee? Or rather Ethiopian mocha? I must say, I love this. Of course, there’s more—grilled walnuts, for instance—but we’ll wait until we add water to dig deeper. With water: lots of liquorice wood, chicory root, speculoos, nocino… and that green walnut from vin jaune that asserts itself. We love this. Mouth (neat): explosive and massive. Sultanas (feeling more like vin de paille/straw wine at this stage), walnut cakes, dried apricots. With water: its finest moment, almost like a top-tier dry white vermouth. Finish: very, very long, powerful, a bit rustic but oddly well-balanced. The walnut reigns supreme though. Comments: not all whiskies aged or finished in vin jaune casks are equal—we’ve had some proper ‘3-men whiskies’ before (one drinking the stuff, the other two holding him up). But this one…
SGP:662 - 89 points.

Check the index of all world whiskies we've tasted so far