Nifty Fifty

Published on

Overview

In years past, some of us whisky enthusiasts have sometimes had a bit of a moan when a whisky came in a 50cl vessel instead of a 70cl bottle. Lately, though, whisky producers have been playing around with smaller bottle sizes to keep up with demand and increase equitable distribution of their liquid, e.g. Springbank, Dornoch, etc. Good things in small packages? Pick your preferred metaphor.

All of the whiskies in this lineup are from 50cl bottles.

Basically, this is an excuse to:

  • Open a couple of excellent whiskies from Dornoch
  • Showcase my favourite Australian single malt distillery (Kinglake), which is rarely seen outside of southeast Australia
  • Experience an objectively interesting but perhaps divisive expression of a rarely seen single malt from Japan's oldest whisky distillery, bottled by Blackadder, an indie bottler rarely seen in the UK

I'm particularly enthusiastic about Kinglake finally making a reappearance in my tastings. It's impossible to get Kinglake whisky in the UK, and I'm a big fan of its viscosity and oiliness. I don't know when I'll get my hands on an expression from Kinglake again without visiting Australia again, which I'd love to do, but it's literally about as far away from Scotland as you can get.

The Lineup

The Lineup

1. Dornoch 6yr 2018 52.6% Cask #106

  • 1st-fill bourbon octave

  • Barley is floor-malted Plumage Archer

  • Single cask #106

  • Filled 13th July, 2018 and bottled in July 2024

2. Kinglake "Full Noise" 3yr 2019 61% Australian single malt

  • Australian single malt whisky, produced in rural Victoria (well east of Melbourne)

  • Kinglake is my favourite Australian whisky distillery

  • Kinglake is completely unavailable outside of Australia, but this bottle was very kindly sourced by Australian whisky pal Joe Bizjak (thank you, Joe!)

  • Ex-bourbon, batch 127/171/152

  • Bottle #152 of 215

  • Distilled 11th Sept, 2019 and bottled on 11th July, 2023 (3 years and 10 months old)

3. Eigashima 3yr 2014 61.5% Japanese single malt from Blackadder

  • Japanese single malt whisky from White Oak Distillery in Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture

    • Founded in 1919, Eigashima Shuzo / White Oak Distillery is technically Japan's oldest whisky distillery

    • From inception, the distillery has primarily focused on producing sake and shochu

    • Production of whisky only became regular in 1984

    • Parent company Eigashima Shuzo Co. Ltd. was established in 1888

    • Recent whisky releases from the White Oak Distillery are normally bottled under the "Akashi" brand

  • Matured in a 1st-fill oloroso sherry butt

  • Bottled by indie bottler Blackadder in November 2017

  • Cask #101474

  • One of 847 bottles

4. Ardnamurchan 4yr 2021 57.5% peated hand-fill

  • Peated (rare for an Ardnamurchan hand-fill)

  • American oak PX octave

  • Cask 2430p AO PX

  • Distillery exclusive hand-fill (filled on 4th Nov, 2025)

5. Bruichladdich 11yr 2014 57.5% hand-fill

  • Fully matured in 2nd-fill sherry cask

  • Cask #706

  • Bottle #283 of 372

  • Distillery exclusive hand-fill (filled on 21st Sept, 2025)

6. Dornoch 5yr 2019 57.5% blended malt

  • Blend of two ex-Islay quarter casks

  • Barley is Marris Otter

  • Fermentation used R/Rr for 9 days

  • Filled 13th Dec, 2019 and bottled in Jan 2025