The Sipping Shed

Checking the progress of maturing whisky is essential and often surprising. Rather than a gradual increase in quality, it's a rollercoaster ride through the whisky flavour landscape as different elements wax and wane...

This little gem of a whisky was distilled at Ardmore distillery in 2009.
After 7 years in a bourbon hogshead cask we transferred a portion to a small 55 litre sherry cask.
There it stayed for another 2 years, gently mingling with sherry seasoned wood until the balance of flavours from the two casks was just so.
... We monitored the little cask very carefully as we pondered the early days of the distillery...
Built in the Scottish Highlands I898 by Adam Teacher, it was situated at the highest point on the northern railway line. He even went to the length of creating a small branch line so raw materials could be brought in and whisky out of the distillery.
The whisky was destined to add depth and quality to the famous blend Teacher's Highland Cream, as is still the practice today.
We imagined a cask just like ours being taken to the distillery on the back of a steam train chugging past fields of barley, soon to be filled with exceptional Highland peated whisky...
To learn more about our cask of Ardmore and how you can get 1 of only 72 individualy numbered bottles visit: www.thesippingshed.com
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An Islay classic from Caol Ila bottled by The Sipping Shed...
#whisky #scotchwhiskycom #singlemaltwhisky #singlecask #fathersday #fathersdaygifts #caolila #scotchwhisky

An Islay classic from Caol Ila bottled by The Sipping Shed...

Father's Day just got interesting!

To welcome you back to The Sipping Shed, we've bottled three wonderful whiskies, bursting with flavour and individuality, and each with their own story to tell....
www.thesippingshed.com

Some things are worth waiting for...
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Another mile stone in the history of The Sipping Shed!
Originally from a bourbon Hogshead cask, after 7 years we transferred some of the perfectly peated malt whisky to a specially made 55 litre Oloroso sherry cask for further maturation. 2 years later a total of 72 bottles were drawn from the diminutive cask making this a rare treat indeed.
On sale in January and not to be missed. Watch this space.....

Busy times at the The Sipping Shed as we hand write our labels, each with a unique bottle number so you know just how special your whisky is.
But it's what's in the bottle that counts and we can't wait to unveil our fabulous new whiskies.
And like any good whisky, we need to wait until the time is right.
... All will be revealed soon, suffice to say we'll be starting 2019 with a bang....
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Things are happening in the Shed.
Big things!
We've been absent from public life of late but we've been busy working on something new.
... Working with the only team of experts in the world who understand the idiosyncrasies of our rather rare and unique Shed, we're pushing the envelope of what a Shed can be.
We'll tell you more as we move towards the big reveal so stay tuned.....
........oh and our Shed is fully GDPR compliant you'll be thrilled to hear.
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Next up in our series of badly photographed beverages is this superb cask strength single malt from Deanston.
9 years in a Bordeaux wine cask has created a fabulously rich whisky. If you like a sherry finished dram you'll definitely get a kick out of this blinder.
The distillery character is given plenty of space to show off with layers of sweet malty spicy goodness with a gentle dusting of icing sugar.
... This is a big whisky with a bit more nuance than your average sherry cask. Great cask selection and generously served up at cask strength. Brilliant!
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This tasty little number graced the Shed tonight. Rock Oyster, a blend of island single malts from Arran, Islay, Jura and Orkney, finished in sherry casks for this small batch release....bingo!
The Sherry casks add sweetness to this smokey dram but it's restrained and lets everything through. My wife, not one for heavy peat, compared the nose to a trip to Jorvik Viking Center, could that be the Orkney influence I wondered?
Dive in and we have a smokey number with plenty of ch...aracter. This would undoubtedly please any self respecting Nordic beserker with its smokey take on sherried warmth.
There's a brashness to the peat that needs to see a bit more oak to take the edge off but we had great fun with this whisky and its classic maritime flavours. Good stuff!
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Cracking dram from Gordon & MacPhail Whisky, a fab company who offer our fledgling Shed plenty of inspiration.
Marmalade with a dusting of cocoa powder? Yes please! What's not to like?
This 2004 Glenlossie is lovely malt with a gentle fruitiness. It's been carefully matured for 12 years in refill sherry casks.
... Refills are casks that have have been used for whisky before so have a bit more subtlety about them but still have plenty to give. It allows the fresh fruity elements of this whisky a little space to dance around those warmer spicy notes from the cask, creating a complex yet easily approachable dram. Great balance and cracking value too!
I think I'll approach another!
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Well here we are. 2018. Still no hoverboard but you can buy your own laminator from Argos these days. Swings and roundabouts.
2017 was interesting if a little fraught but the new year brings new adventure, excitement and Shed based surprises that we can't wait to share with you!
Our long awaited new bottlings will finally hit the virtual shelves of our lovely little website www.thesippingshed.com
... We'll make some changes to make it easier to keep in touch and so you can review our whisky too.
Absolutely bursting to tell all but trying to play it cool so you'll have to wait and see.
So come with us, and our Shed, and we'll keep you posted of all the exciting things we encounter, as we document our brave excursions into the world of drinks with suitable age restrictions.
2018 will be..... the year of the Shed...
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We're huge fans of Aultmore here at The Sipping Shed and this little cracker has been keeping the cold at bay with its clean, elegant, fruity, Speyside style. Just lovely!
This is a distillery that we think you should get to know better. That's why we'll be bottling a fab cask of Aultmore in 2018 so watch this space.....

Well this is rather splendid!
In the Shed tonight; Glenfiddich's 15 year old, solera vatted, Christmas in a glass, seriously lovely single malt, paired with the undisputed biscuits of eternal happiness, the Florentine (home made!).
I'm going in.......