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Day 10 - KWM 2025 This Is Still Not An Advent Calendar

Posted on December 10, 2025

by Evan

If you have been a passenger on the Calmac Ferry to Islay, you may have landed at Port Askaig. That is the name of one of two ports that the Calmac Ferries use on Islay. The other is at Port Ellen. Port Askaig resides on the east coast of the island, along the Sound of Islay. East of the town and about 1 KM across the Sound is the Isle of Jura. Distillery-wise, Caol Ila is closest to the Port Askaig, being only about a five-minute drive to the North. Also north of this ferry landing are the Ardnahoe and Bunnahabhain Distilleries; which are seven and twelve minutes away by car, respectively. While the Port has been used for hundreds of years as one of the main berths between Islay and Jura as well as the Scottish Mainland, the town itself only consists of a handful of houses, a hotel, a gas station, and a shop or two.

The Port Askaig Islay Single Malt label is owned by Elixir Distillers, and the name comes from the town and ferry landing. Elixir also owns a few other brands you may have heard of including The Elements Of Islay, The Single Malts Of Scotland, The Whisky Trail, and The Black Tot Rum brand. Over the past few years, Elixir has been quietly expanding and looking towards a bigger future. The Tormore Distillery in Speyside was purchased from Pernod Ricard (there is that name again!) in 2022, and there is an Islay distillery currently being built as well. The behind schedule but just about ready to open Portintruan Distillery resides on the island between Port Ellen and Laphroaig.

So, which Islay distillery is used as the source for bottlings of Port Askaig Single Malt? I don't know for certain because this is a mystery malt. A few different distilleries have been used in the past for different ages and iterations of the Port Askaig lineup, based on internet rumblings and what we have heard from Elixir. Nothing direct has been said which distillery made the single malt in 17 year old, but the most likely suspect is Caol Ila. It is the largest distillery on Islay by production, and it also seems to be the Islay distillery that sells the most casks. But if it isn’t Caol Ila, perhaps it is peated Bunnahabhain? Or Bowmore? Perhaps Ardbeg? Okay, I was mostly joking with those last two. But who knows?

By my count, this is the fourth bottling of Port Askaig we have featured in our advent whisky calendar tastings over the years. Most recently, the fantastic Port Askaig 28 Year Old was in our 2023 Uber Calendar. That guy is likely either Caol Ila or Laphroaig: My guess is Laphroaig, but I am wrong more often than I am right. We had both the Port Askaig 110 Proof AND the Port Askaig 100 Proof in the 2022 and 2021 KWM Whisky Advent tastings prior to that. Hilariously, the Port Askaig 100 Proof was actually at a higher ABV than the 110 Proof. This was because the Port Askaig 110 Proof was referencing the US Proof, and was originally a USA Excl...

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Day 9 - KWM 2025 This Is Still Not An Advent Calendar

Posted on December 9, 2025

by Evan

Speyburn Distillery is owned by Inver House Distillers, which is in turn owned by international parent company ThaiBev. Speyburn’s sister distilleries under the same ownership include 4 other Scottish distilleries, which are Balblair, Balmenach, Knockdhu (bottled under the anCnoc brand name), and Pulteney. With all five distilleries working full bore, Inver House is capable of producing about 13 million litres of new make spirit annually. Speyburn is the company’s largest Scottish distillery, and is responsible for up to 1/3 of its total whisky production.

This bottling of Speyburn comes to us from Old Malt Cask, a label owned by the Hunter Laing company. The Old Malt Cask brand was first launched in 1999, and at the time was owned by the Douglas Laing Company. Wait. It was owned by Douglas Laing, but now it is owned by Hunter Laing?

What gives?

Story time!

Douglas Laing is an independent bottler that was founded in 1948 by Fred Douglas Laing after he acquired the rights to the King Of Scots Blend. Fred Sr. and his wife had two sons. Stewart Hunter Laing was born in 1946. Fred Hamilton Laing (Fred Jr.) was born in 1950. Both brothers eventually joined Fred Sr. working at Douglas Laing. Before that though, they both had apprenticeships at other Scotch Whisky companies; something that seems to be a hallmark of families who make Scotch Whisky their trade.

Stewart Laing joined his father Fred Sr. at Douglas Laing in 1967. He had previously apprenticed at Bruichladdich Distillery and other places within the industry. Stewart and his wife had their first son, Scott, in 1979. A few years later, in 1982, their second son Andrew was born.

Fred Laing Jr's first apprenticeship was at Whyte and Mackay starting in 1968, where he learned all parts of whisky production and business, including the art of blending. From there he moved to White Horse Distillers in 1969 to further enhance his blending knowledge. In 1972, he officially joined his Father, Fred Sr., at the family business of Douglas Laing. In 1982, Fred Jr's daughter Cara was born.

Fred Sr., AKA Fred Douglas Laing; the founder of Douglas Laing & Co, passed away in 1984. It was then up to his sons to run the company on their own.

Brothers' Stewart and Fred Jr. quietly – or not so quietly – didn’t really get along. This eventually led the two to go their separate ways in 2013. Stewart Laing took with him some brands created at his former company, such as Old Malt Cask and Old & Rare. Fred Laing Jr. kept the Douglas Laing and brands such as Big Peat, Old Particular, and of course, the exclusive rights to his fabulous moustache.

Long story short: Hunter Laing is the Laing company that now owns Old Malt Cask. They also own the Ardnahoe ...

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Day 8 - KWM 2025 This Is Still Not An Advent Calendar

Posted on December 9, 2025

by Evan

What is this? Two KWM Casks in a row in the 2025 KWM This Is Still Not An Advent Calendar tastings series? It must be Christmas!

Well, we are not quite there yet, but we are already in a giving mood. Say hello to the Millstone 2016 KWM Oloroso Cask from the Zuidam/Millstone in the Netherlands.

This is one of the younger bottlings of Millstone whisky that we have featured in one of our annual whisky calendars in a while: We have featured both Rye and Single Malt bottlings of Millstone past KWM Whisky Advent Calendars, including:

Millstone Oloroso Sherry Single Malt on Day 7 of the KWM 2017 Whisky Calendar
Millstone Peated PX Cask on Day 18 of the KWM 2019 Whisky Calendar
Millstone Rye KWM Cask on Day 1 of our KWM 2020 Whisky Calendar

This bottle was a bit controversial. A rye whisky on day 1 of the whisky calendar?!? Scandalous! We do like to set the tone and do something different on Day 1 for most of our Whisky Advent Calendars, though.

Millstone 9 Year Old Single Grain Whisky on Day 19 of our KWM 2022 Whisky Calendar
That Boutique-y Whisky Company's Millstone 25-Year-Old on Day 4 of our KWM 2023 Whisky Calendar UBER EDITION

In my not so humble opinion, this was a fantastic whisky

An official Millstone 25 Year Oloroso Canada Cask on Day 9 of our KWM 2024 This Is Not An Advent Calendar

As you can see, we are big fans of the Zuidam Distillery and their Millstone Whisky. This KWM Cask marks the seventh whisky from the distillery to be featured in one of our Advents. I believe that is more Dutch whisky than Canadian or American Whisky we have featured in KWM Advent Calendars so far.

The Zuidam Distillery was founded in 1975 in Baarle-Nassau, in and around the very quirky border that the Netherlands part of the city shares with Baarle-Hertog - the name of the Belgian part of the city.

See the picture to the left for the city map, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Distillery's founder, Fred van Zuidam, had accumulated two decades of previous experience in spirits production before deciding to make a go of it on his own. Under his care, the distillery started by making a line of premium liqueurs using natural ingredients, from grain to fruit to herbs and spices used. This methodology continues to this day, as Zuidam spirits are made with no artificial colouring or flavouring. This goes for all of their products, be it their Cassis Liqueur (which is delicious by the way), Apple Flavoured Gin, Dutch Courage Old Tom Gin, Premium Genever, or Single Malt Whiskies and Rye Whiskies. Millstone whiskies, and beyond that with the Zuidam line of spirits and liqueurs are numerous, so they can be hard to keep track of.

Zuidam's fir...

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Day 7 - KWM 2025 This Is Still Not An Advent Calendar

Posted on December 9, 2025

by Evan

Today I will attempt to sell you on a bottle of this KWM Cask. Because I absolutely love it.

Today, Teaninich Distillery is, quietly, the seventh largest Single Malt Whisky distillery in Scotland when it comes to annual production. It is also the third largest owned by spirits megacorp Diageo, with only the Roseisle and Glen Ord Distilleries producing slightly more.

The name Teaninich apparently originates from the Gaelic term ‘taigh an aonaich’, which translates to ‘house on the hill’. It is correctly pronounced ‘tee – nin – ick’ from what I can find. I appreciate the name also containing NIN in there, a reference to one of my longstanding favourite bands.

What is the term? Right: There’s more than one way to skin a cat. This term can be used for fermentation and distillation, and Teaninich definitely goes about peeling that feline in a different manner than most other Scottish distilleries. Two tools that Teaninich uses that aren’t seen in many other distilleries are the hammer mill and the mash filter. These to apparatus replace the more often seen and used roller mill and mash tun.

Operations-wise – a roller mill is used in most distilleries to grind or shear the grain into smaller particles of relatively uniform size. that are then steeped in water and allowed to ferment, creating a distilleries beer over a period of 2 to 3 days on average. The hammer mill used to pound or hammer the malt/grain into submission – or a powder/flour.

The use of a hammer mill instead of a malt mill allows for higher efficiency for a large-scale production like Teaninich. It creates a very fine, flour like grist, as opposed to the more inconsistent and course grist that is typically made by roller mills. The small particle size of the resulting flour/grist can be steeped in water and fermented more effectively as well, as the sugars are more easily gotten to and converted to alcohol during fermentation.

The downside is that this fine flower would create a heavy sediment and often block or gum up the works of a fermentation tank. That is where the mash filter comes into play. The mash filter does exactly what the name suggests – it provides a barrier (actually a large amount of barriers in this case) to block and filter out even the smallest particles from the liquid mash. It is like using a series of large to small sieves to filter particles out of flour. The result is a relatively clear wort, or distiller’s beer, that is then distilled and made into new make spirit.

A great video by whisky.de/whisky.com on Teaninich Distillery

The distillery is a quite different than most others in Scotland, thanks to its use of hammer mill and mash filter.

Thanks to the hammer mill and mash filter combination...

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Day 6 - KWM 2025 This Is Still Not An Advent Calendar

Posted on December 6, 2025

by Evan

Okay, for this blog, I solemnly promise: I will not reference Pernod Ricard. Seriously. There is no reason to turn this entirely blog into a one company love fest. I even mentioned them yesterday with Ardnahoe – a distillery they have nothing to do with as far as I am aware. How pathetic is that? Let’s set aside all of this Pernod Ricard talk for at least a little while. Instead, let’s talk about this Single Grain whisky!

This cool looking bottle with a picture of a medieval knight done up in a stained-glass on the label comes from The Whisky Trail. The Whisky Trail is a line owned by distiller and indie bottler Elixir Distillers, who also bottle the Single Malts of Scotland line as well as Port Askaig, Elements of Islay, and more. I am not sure how long Elixir had this specific cask of Strathclyde in its inventory, or who the purchased it from originally, but it was distilled in 1987 and bottled at a respectable 35 years of age and 46% ABV.

Strathclyde Distillery itself resides in Glasgow. It was founded in , and is owned by Chivas Brothers, whose parent company is Pernod Ric...

Well, shit.

So much for that promise. I am not sure how this year’s Advent Calendar has ended up so influenced by this company, but I should stop pretending to be surprised by it now, right? Pernod Ricard is the second l second-largest spirits company in the world, so it is difficult to dodge. The only company more difficult to ignore when it comes to Scotch Whisky especially is Diageo, whom are responsible for between one quarter and one third of the annual single malt whisky production in Scotland. Pernod Ricard only produces a miniscule 15% or so annually itself. However, it has been at least indirectly involved in the creation of four of the 6 drams we have featured thus far in the 2025 KWM Still Not An Advent Calendar Tasting Series – including this Strathclyde.

We might as well give in to the inevitable and see how Strathclyde became a Pernod Ricard owned venture at this point. Shall we?

Strathclyde Distillery was founded in 1927 by original owner Seager Evans and Co. The company did not originally build the distillery specifically to produce for single grain whisky for blending, instead focusing on neutral grain spirit production. Whisky production did not start in earnest until 1936, when Seager Evans acquired the Long John Whisky Blended Scotch Whisky brand. Like a few other Scottish grain distilleries operating in the mid-1900s, Strathclyde briefly had pot stills installed on site and produced Single Malt Whisky as well, under the name Kinclaith. The pot stills only ran between 1958 and 1975, and in 1977 single malt production was demolished, never to return.

Strathclyde moved to larger and larger hands as the whisky industry went through its merger and acquisitions phase in...

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