It is with great delight that I can announce that Chris Walster has joined The Cask Connoisseur as its in-house whisky connoisseur. Whilst I have thoroughly enjoyed my solo journey as the cask connoisseur, it is time to take this website to the next level. 

My own personal knowledge and expertise comes from my love of beer, brewing and Burton-Upon-Trent (The Brewing Capital of Britain). It was only when Chris introduced me to whisky back in 2018 that I started to dabble in the whisky world. 

Together I believe we can provide the ultimate beer and whisky reviews, comments and insightful articles. Along with further commentary on gin, wine and other alcoholic (or non-alcoholic) beverages. You will learn about the different flavours, tastes, aromas and even what food pairs best within this website, plus so much more. 

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome Chris and personally say thanks for his help and guidance these last few years and here’s to many more to come. 

Chris’s welcome message below:

Thank you Luke for that welcome and for letting me join you on this journey on The Cask Connoisseur. I’m excited to see where this takes us and can confirm that I do at least know a thing or two about whisky. 

I’ve been a whisky drinker since the 1980’s and have been lucky enough to try some iconic whiskies at a time when they were not necessarily cheap, but certainly more accessibly priced than they feel now. I do have a smallish collection from across the decades, either because I bought the bottle for a specific occasion, or it got forgotten about at the back of the cupboard.

 

My personal tasting notes run to ~2500 different bottles of scotch, so I’ve easily tried over 3000 different expressions over the years. That is still only a fraction of the number produced annually.

My favourite whisky of all time is probably a Rare Malts Mortlach, distilled in 1978 and bottled at 20 years old in 1998 at 62.2% ABV. Although I suspect my “fond remembrance” has more to do with the location and time it was drunk. I’d love to get another bottle of it and compare. I’d suspect my opinion will be different. 

My current favourite distilleries would be Ledaig of which there are some brilliant examples available at present, Springbank where their 10yo core range bottle hits the spot (if you can get hold of it!) and Glen Scotia who provide a Campbeltown style with reasonable cost and availability. But give me a whisk(e)y from anywhere around the world and the chances are I’ll enjoy it so long as I’m in good company. After all, whisky is for drinking with friends. 

Whilst I know that I do have some favourites, this won’t affect my opinion on any future samples that we try and I will be honest when it comes to the colour, nose, palate and finish.

The Cask Connoisseur is thrilled to have you join!

It’s brilliant to have someone as passionate about whisky as Chris on The Cask Connoisseur, with our two brains (as well as our palates) we can create the ultimate connoisseur on all things brewed or distilled. But for now all I can say is watch this space – there will be some exciting new posts coming your way soon!