New Additions To My Kosher Single Malt Whisky List: December 2024

New Additions To My Kosher Single Malt Whisky List: December 2024

First of all, I must apologise for not updating the list for many months. I am only one person and keeping down a daily job (non-whisky related), doing kosher whisky research, writing whisky reports, writing whisky reviews, answering a daily batch of kosher whisky related questions from all over the world, as well as fulfilling my responsibilities as a husband, father, grandfather and member of a kehilla, all take a portion of my time. I am Chas VeShalom not complaining but celebrating and thank Hashem, Who has given me the koach and brius to do all these things.

A few notes about the Kosher List

People call it my “Kosher Whisky List” but that does not imply that I have the authority to give any kind of hechsher / certification. As it states on the document, it is simply a list of Single Malt Whiskies which have not been matured, even partially in any casks which have previously contained any grape based liquid such as Sherry, Wine, Brandy etc.

Also, it does not imply any recommendation to purchase these whiskies. Some whiskies are actual links. Clicking on them will hopefully take you to my reviews of those whiskies.

The list contains only Official bottlings of Scotch Single Malt Whisky. I am often asked why I don’t list independent bottlings. The answer is that there are simply too many of them to research and they don’t stay around for long as they are mostly limited or Single Cask editions.

I am also asked why I don’t include official bottlings of Non-Scotch “World Whiskies”. Again, I do not have time to start researching into Argentinian, Swedish, German, South African single malts. Moreover, I honestly don’t have sufficient knowledge of these countries to know what their cask practices are, as well as distillery contacts.

Lastly, I am sometimes asked why I don’t list Israeli Single Malts. Well, the obvious answer is that they are not Scotch Whisky. But the practical answer is that, as far as I am aware, there are no Israeli official bottlings of Single Malts on the market which are “not-kosher”. All Golani and Yerushalmi official bottlings come with an OK certification and the M&H distillery comes with the Star-K, both kashrus organisations are members of the AKO (Association of Kashrus Organisations). So apart from producing a convenient list of Israeli Single Malts, there is not much point at the moment.

So, rather than list the new additions to my list in my Downloads page, I decided to turn this into an article where I’d have more space to make some comments as well.

To download the latest PDF, click here and scroll down to Download No.3.

 

Bladnoch The Dragon Series

Iteration I The Field    2023    46.7% abv £100 70cl

Iteration II The Spirit  2023    48.70% abv £100 70cl

These two “iterations” in the Bladnoch "The Dragon" series are both matured in Ex-Bourbon barrels and despite being labelled as “Limited Editions”, are at the moment, still widely available worldwide, including here in Israel where they are being sold though the Bana Mashkaot wine store chain.

Unusually, for Ex-Bourbon matured Bladnochs, they do not come with the usual Kosher certification from KLBD. Perhaps because they are Limited Editions and Bladnoch decided not to purchase certification for this series.

 

Bowmore Feis Ile 2024 19-Year-Old 54.80% abv £390 70cl

It’s rare to get something new from Bowmore with no kashrus issues but this was their special Feis Ile 2024 “Very limited Edition” bottling, supposedly only available at the distillery during the famous annual Islay Whisky festival. All bottles are numbered. However, some bottles do get somehow to various specialist whisky shops so they are available for a premium price. Double matured in Virgin American Oak Barrels. Looking at the dark orange colour, they have either used incredibly heavily charred Oak barrels or alternatively, poured in a ton of E150a Caramel colouring. Knowing Bowmore, it's the latter.

 

Brora 1982 39 Years Old "Hidden Beneath" 2021 49.80% abv £5,000 70cl

This bottling was matured in Refill American Oak Hogsheads.

Situated in the coastal town of Brora on the A99, it was originally called Clynelish distillery but when the then owners built a newer modern replacement just up the hill in the 1960s, they mothballed the old buildings. Then there was a drought on Islay and peated whisky for Blends became difficult to get hold of, so the owners temporarily re-opened the old Clynelish distillery to produce heavily peated whisky with the new Clynelish distillery continuing to make lightly peated whisky. So, for a short period of time, they had both “old” Clynelish and “new” Clynelish distilleries running alongside each other.  In order to differentiate between them, they renamed the “old” Clynelish distillery after the town, that is “Brora”. Brora eventually “closed” in 1983 for good (or so we thought). Having a surplus of heavily peated barrels maturing in the old warehouses, Diageo decided to bottle them as limited-edition curiosities from Brora Distillery. The unique Northen Highland Heavily Peated style became an instant success amongst whisky enthusiasts, and annual bottles have been released ever since. This year we are up to a 39-Year-Old.

Bottles of Brora from only a few years ago are going for Telephone Number prices (I’m talking Pounds Sterling, not Shekels). Brora Single Malt became a legend and has a huge cult following today. Then, to everyone’s delight, Diageo announced that they were going to re-furbish all the equipment and buildings and re-open Brora (Old Clynelish) distillery. 

Heavily peated New-Make spirit began to run off the old original stills in May 2021. Theoretically, Diageo could have begun bottlings New-Brora in late 2024 when the whisky was 3 years old but there is no word as yet when New-Brora will be bottled.

 

Cardhu 16-Year-Old “Special Release” 2022. 58% abv £160 70cl

Matured in Jamaican Pot Still Rum Finish.

Cardhu don’t usually produce “Integrity” level Single Malt Whisky. All their expressions are Chill-Filtered with loads of Caramel colour added and bottled at minimum legal 40% abv. So, if you’ve ever wondered what Cardhu could taste like if presented in its best possible light, then this special edition might be a good option for you. Non-Chill Filtered and bottled at 58% it will give you quite an experience. Unfortunately, Diageo have decided to add E150a Caramel colour to this (what were they thinking?), so technically it isn’t an integrity bottling. For that, you’d have to look elsewhere to one of a few rare independent bottlings of Cardhu.

 

Clynelish 10-Year-Old "The Jazz Crescendo" 2023    57.50% £155 70cl

See what I wrote about Brora above. Well, this is a special edition of Clynelish. 10-Year-Old Clynelish at £155 does seem a bit steep though. It’s actually available here in Israel through “Mashkaot Mendelson“ (and perhaps other places), for just under a 1,000 shekels.

Matured in First-Fill Ex-Bourbon.

 

Glasgow 1770 Tequila Cask Finish Batch 01 Cask# 18/981 2022 55.30% £55 70cl

Matured initially in an Ex-Bourbon barrel, then finished in a Tequila cask.

See my review of this whisky [here]

 

Glengoyne “White Oak” 2024 48.00% £52 70cl

Matured in First Fill Bourbon & Virgin Oak

Glengoyne are famous for their Ex-Sherry Cask maturation house style so for them to release a new edition, exclusively matured in Ex-Bourbon barrels is exciting news for the kosher consumer. What’s more, trusted reviewers are going wild about this. Not yet available in Israel but I’m hoping it will be soon.

 

Glenmorangie 12-Year-Old "The Original" 2024 40% £38    70cl

Matured in Ex-Bourbon barrels, this is the replacement to the 10-Year-Old “The Original”. Going against the trend, the owners have opted to up the years by two.

See my review [here].

 

Glenmorangie “A Tale of Ice Cream” 2024 43% £75 70cl

Matured in Bourbon Barrels and Toasted New Oak

There is no doubt that this release from Glenmorangie has a wonderfully delightful name conjuring up all kinds of delicious flavours in your mind, and with its absolutely beautiful packaging and artwork, this is true marketing genius, Unfortunately, online reviews have ranged from disappointing to down right borderline insults. Perhaps this is one to avoid unless you see it on special offer.

Roseisle 12 Year Old Origami Kite II Special Edition 2024 55.6% £135 70cl

Opened in 2010 and situated in Elgin, Speyside between the A96 and the coast,  Roseisle is Diageo's largest Malt Whisky distillery with a capacity to produce 12,500,000 litres of alcohol a year. With 14 huge washbacks and 14 massive steels, it is fully computerised, Eco friendly and was designed to be able to produce literally any style of Scotch whisky required.

99% of its output goes into Blended Whisky but without any fanfare or advertising, Diageo bottled a Limited Edition 12-Year-Old Single Malt in 2023 and again this year.

Named "Origami Kite", it's matured in a combination of First-Fill and Refill Ex-Bourbon barrels and ironically enough for a distillery that is capable of producing any style and with a Japanese sounding name, their only official bottling has a typical light floral, fruity Speyside Malt style. Despite zero marketing, this 2024 Special Edition has received rave reviews from whisky enthusiasts. Unfortunately, there is no statement on the label, yet by its oily texture and light tint, all indications are that it is Non-Chill-Filtered and Natural Colour. It's not cheap but sounds intriguing indeed.

Scapa 10-Year-Old (New Branding 2024) 2024 48% £50 70cl

Scapa 16-Year-Old (New Branding 2024) 2024 48% £100 70cl

Scapa 21-Year-Old (New Branding 2024) 2024 48% £250 70cl

 

Scapa is “the other” Orkney Islands distillery that today most people have forgotten about. (The famous one being Highland Park).  Back in the early 2000s, Scapa 14 and later 16-Year-Old were one of my favourite single malts with their signature heather-honey, barley field and sponge cake flavours. Unfortunately, the 16-Year-Old was discontinued in 2015 and what followed was a succession of awful NAS poorly made whiskies. Scapa fell off everyone’s RADAR. That is until this year (2024) when Chivas Brothers (Pernod Ricard) announced a brand-new core-range consisting of the 10-, 16- and 21-Year Olds. And great news for the kosher consumer, they are all matured in Ex-Bourbon barrels, which is the traditional method of maturation for Scapa.

At the moment, they don’t seem to be always available and they are already “Out-Of-Stock” in a number of large online stores. However, there are places advertising them for sale and In-Stock. Not yet in Israel, I am tempted to order the 16-Year-Old in the UK to bring back home when I am next in England.

 

The Glenlivet 13-Year-Old 2021 40% £34 70cl

A bit of an oddity this. Only available in certain markets, notably not the UK, but available in the French and Israeli markets, it is aged at 13-Years-Old and matured in First-Fill Ex-Bourbon barrels so flavour volume will be turned up to maximum. Being chill-filtered, Caramel coloured, bottled at 40% abv and being sold in Israel at a whopping 250 shekels, it really holds little interest for me, but if I see it at a simcha or on special offer, I’d certainly give it a try.