May 2021
Some may already have noticed this, but I don’t put a whole lot of effort into spreading out which whiskies I cover. I literally just pick what interests me the most on a week by week basis. Sometimes this means I go a while without covering a certain sub-genre like scotch or bourbon, but it rarely means that I cover the same genre week after week.
It just so happens that May was one of those month where I accidentally go nuts on one genre. I covered three English whiskies on the trot this month and then followed that up with a Danish. It happens!
In any case, as usual, I will list the runners up for this months accolade in order of release and finish up with the winner below.
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Runners Up
First up this month is the new Whiskymaker’s Reserve No 4 from the Lakes Distillery. Before I get into this one is worth noting that this was an extremely close second place this month. I’ve been critical of Lakes Distillery in the past but Dhavall Ghandi et al have really turned the place around and they’re now releasing quality liquids. I covered the first three WMRs on the channel recently so I delighted to try this. In another month, this could easily have won the top spot and is well worth checking out.
Thanks to Top Whiskies for sending the bottle over!
Next up is the new Henstone Whisky (Batch 2). It’s always great to see new distilleries coming through and especially so in this case as they’re doing things a little more outside the ordinary that most. Perhaps a touch unfairly matched this month, as its outclassed by it’s peers on this occasion, but with care and attention to quality of liquid and casks I’ve no doubt Henstone will be competing in due course. One to watch.
The only none English whisky this month, and the Summerton Whisky Club April Bottle, is the Stauning Rye Whisky. I’ll be honest from the start, I’m not a fan of Rye whisky. There are exceptions to this of course (Jim Beam Rye and anything by WhistlePig tend to impress) but generally, I find the sub-genre a little too firey for my liking. That said, I will always give as much unbiased emphasis to my reviews as I can.
The weird thing about this bottle is, although I’m pretty sure I don’t like it that much, I can’t help but keep coming back to it. I haven’t had a bottle do that for me for a long time. If that’s not worth the price of admission then I don’t know what it.
Top Dog
Let me start this with a brief disclaimer. My usual intent is to pick a WotM that is at least in stock at time of writing. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case this month as this bottle sold out within a week of release. But, hopefully my video will put Waxhouse Whisky Co on your radar so you can catch them for their next release.
This months WotM is their 4th release and is a wonderful Cotswolds malt aged for 4 years in a single STR cask. It’s presented natural coloured, non-chill filtered and at an ABV carefully selected by the bottler to showcase the spirit at its absolute best.
Congrats to Waxhouse for making me feel my first bit of whisky FOMO in years
