Glenmorangie ‘A Tale of Cake’ (46%, OB, 2020)
With no age statement, a design made for kindergarten (or for Ronnie McDojnald) and a finishing in Tokaji, will this really be a piece of cake? In whisky, ex-Tokaji wood has been known for its capacity of wrecking even the most spectacular distillates, such as, err, Longrow. But I agree Glenmo isn’t Longrow, and that fun is much needed these days… Colour: light gold. Nose: fresher and zestier than expected, rather on pink grapefruits than on candied raisins or late-harvest furmint. Some peaches too, apricots, lemon biscuits, then longans and probably dried litchis, which would rather lead us towards gewurztraminer, but there, no harm done. Mouth: rather creamy, very easy, rather on oriental pastries, icewine or even ice cider, nougat and popcorn. Lemon drops and touches of mint liquorice. Finish: medium, rather on plum spirit. Rather damson eau-de-vie actually, which I’m about to distil again later in November, by the way, with my loyal 100-l hybrid copper still. A little coffee in the aftertaste. Comments: I think this is a success. The Tokaji was clean, the whisky smooth, and our friends valiant.
SGP:541 - 85 points.

Old Pulteney 2010/2020 ‘Flotilla’ (46%, OB, first fill bourbon)
A brand new Flotilla! Seriously, silly names do not bother me as long as there is a proper age statement, quite the contrary. So, ‘flotilla’, you say that’s Gaelic?* Colour: white wine. Nose: I’m falling in love already. Ten years old, a well-behaved wood, and a rather pure distillate, that’s the recipe for a winner in my book. Shall we call this baby ‘the HP 10 of the mainland’? Lovely sunflower oil, williams pear, gooseberries, candlewax, artisan cider, ale, bread, seaweed… What’s not to like?  Mouth: yeeppie! Sure it’s a little on ripe pears and juicy sultanas, so perhaps a tad ‘too easy’, but let's not deny ourselves our joy, this is excellent. Reminds me of those ripe jujubes that they sell in Chinese food markets (no, not next to pangolin meat). So loads of pears, but also vanilla, barley syrup, the said jujubes, a touch of turmeric and ginger… What I’m missing is a little more coastalness at this point, but there, it’s a fine dram. Finish: rather long, sweet, on pears, plums, grass, beer, hay… Comments: it lost a few points in the end, but I’m still relatively in love with this fresh little baby. Rather drink at 12°C, like a white wine, would I say. Ehhh?
SGP:551 - 85 points.

Ardbeg 19 yo ‘Traigh Bhan Batch 2’ (46,2%, OB, 2020)
This one’s matured in American oak and Oloroso sherry casks (which could be American oak too, no?) and is said to be pretty smooth. So new Wellies or not new Wellies? Colour: white wine. Nose: new Wellies indeed, but small size. Other than that, fresh almonds and fresh putty, a dollop of liquid tar, then whiffs of old shed, garden pit, kelp and really quite a lot of marzipan. I find it pretty light and gentle for Ardbeg, but well-balanced and rather admirably fresh. Mouth: it’s good that it wouldn’t be too modern (a.k.a. oak-influenced) and that both tar and lemon would play first fiddles, while more salty and coastal elements would chime in after three seconds, such as salted fudge and whelks. Always loved the humble whelks. No huge smoke here, rather cigar ashes, and perhaps touches of peaches, ala Ardmore. Finish: this is where you’re closest to ‘old’ Ardbeg – we’re meaning early 1970s – with this natural rubber, tar, smoke and a feeling of old cough syrup. Awesome finish. Comments: superb post-reopening Ardbeg and proof that they hadn’t changed much to the recipe. Thank you Stuart Thompson (and thanks anyone who’s not decided to dump this superb juice into whacky woods). Now, here’s that seminal question, was the purifier working or not?
SGP:466 - 91 points.

Ardbeg 18 yo 2001/2020 (54.5%, The Character of Islay for LMDW, The Stories of Wind and Wave, refill bourbon barrel, cask #257, 92 bottles)
We already tried the Port Ellen in this rather self-restrained new series and found it almost otherworldly. Colour: pale white wine. Nose: pretty similar to the OB at first, only a tad sharper and zestier, more vertical would I say, more mineral as well, more kilny, gristy, with more seaweed as well, new tyres, fresh rubber, seashells, hessian, tarry ropes… In fact I was wrong, it’s rather different, with even less cask influence. Pure Ardbeg. With water: exceptional and more Ardbeg than Ardbeg (no sense at all, S.) Metal polish, shoe polish, tar, old garage, old car… Mouth (neat): holy featherless crow, is this tense and tight! Tar, smoky oysters and salted lemons. Luminous and ‘evident’. With water: what’s brilliant here is that it doesn’t really get any more complex, just deeper and purer at the same time. To the point where the only descriptor you may use is ‘Ardbeg’. I agree, not very useful. Finish: long, superbly tarry, salty, lemony, and a little medicinal as well. Some camphor. Lemon zests and ashes. Comments: there isn’t much to add, except that I have the ravishing feeling of being back in the early 2000s, when all those stunning single casks were coming out.
SGP:467 - 92 points.

Enmore 25 yo 1994/2020 (51%, The Wild Parrot for LMDW, Guyana)
This baby was distilled at Diamond in Georgetown. According to the colour, it’s been matured in the tropics. Colour: coffee with red hues. Nose: exactly as expected, that is to say on liquorice, coffee and menthol, with tinier, more delicate floral notes arising, lilies, camphor, plasticine, also molasses, rotting wood, black tea, leather polish… With water: amazing, on liquorice and verbena, wormwood, very old Port, black raisins, some mentholy old cognac… Something reminds of the best Armenian brandies, mind you. This is such a small planet! Mouth (neat): extremely thick and concentrated, this is almost a blend of essential oils with fruit liqueurs. Violets (parfait amour) and heavy liquorice. Huge. With water: earth, sweet mushrooms, liquorice allsorts, blackberry jam, cassis, malbec… Finish: long, with this lovely menthol that always works in any finishes. Crème de menthe. Comments: not a lazy old Demerara. The relatively low strength does not hint at tropical aging, but the taste does. Got any clues?
SGP:472 - 89 points.

Clarendon 36 yo 1984/2020 (74.8%, Plantation Extreme for LMDW, Jamaica, 348 bottles)
Clarendon means Monymusk and 74.8% means attempted murder. Let me call my trusty lawyer… Colour: office coffee. Nose: varnish, nail polish remover, bourbon, acetone, black olives, murder. Why the hell do I love this? I think I need to call a shrink. With water: very high esters for sure (400?) so olives, glue, bakelite, new iPhone (not that very silly 12 that no one needs mind you), prunes, hoisin sauce… I think this is a beauty. A total brute but indeed, a beauty. I suppose no silly ‘dosage’ has been added, but let’s see…  Mouth (neat – am I not silly?): no, we’re beyond any limits. Walnut stain and rust inhibitor. NO sweetness whatsoever. With water: it would remain extremely dry and estery even at 40%, bone-dry, petroly, varnishy, very difficult at times, very acetic, with an extreme tannicity… and yet I’m tremendously (;-)) fond of this profile. I suppose it’s like these guys who just can’t quit bungee jumping or smoking unfiltered cigarettes. Some extremely delicate touches of raspberries and strawberries beneath all this panzer-like demonstration, well we know it’s a matter of funny molecules. Same with the heaviest peaters in whisky. Finish: quasi eternal and bone-dry. Over-infused thyme tea. Comments: total extreme fun. Well done Plantation, this was quite a statement. Hell, Donald-Trump and putrefaction, life’s way too short anyway! What’s more, I’m dead sure this kills COVID better than Trump’s Remdesivir and Chloroquine.
SGP:173 - 90 points.

Blended Malt 19 yo 2001/2020 (44.9%, Watt Whisky, sherry butt, 630 bottles)
I’m extremely happy to see Kate and Mark doing their own thing, the whisky world needs more anti-nonsense, pro-fun people. Colour: amber. Nose: a style of sherry I really enjoy, that is to say lean, clean and rather leafy and mineral. Given time to open it develops some nutty aromas, praline, milk chocolate and rolling tobacco while also retaining these highly pleasurable mulchy, earthy tones. Mouth: lovely arrival, full, soft, darkly fruity sherry. Lots of sultanas, fig jam, raisins, tobacco and some slightly mushroomy vibes. Perhaps a wee dollop of treacle as well, but globally it remains elegantly drying. Finish: good length, densely earthy, getting richer and more towards figs, tobacco, dunnage and walnuts. Comments: If you’d handed me this blind and said an old Glendronach 15yo from the 1990s I’m not sure I’d have blinked even once. Superbly fresh, clean and vivid sherry with an old school accent. Recommended!
SGP: 561 - 88 points.

Blended Scotch Whisky 38 yo 1980/2020 (48.6%, C Dully Selection, cask #23, sherry hogshead, 230 bottles)
This is one of these ex-Edrington ‘blended whisky’ casks that rarely seem to taste like actual blends… Colour: brownish amber. Nose: deep, raisiny and rather luscious with these thick notes of tobacco, walnut oil, treacle and various dark fruit jams and chutneys. Evolves along these rather thick, earthy lines with quite a bit of hessian and leather. Pretty superb! Mouth: nice arrival, all on rancio. treacle, cloves, spiced fig jam, mulling spices and walnut liqueur. If you like old school sherry then this will tickle your boat no doubt. There’s a thickness of texture and an earthiness that I find extremely satisfying. Finish: medium with figs, sultanas, more tobacco, leaf mulch, hessian and rancio. Comments: I couldn’t detect one iota of grain whisky in this. Make of that what you will. Either way, this is a rather simple but direct and excellent old school sherried dram. No doubt it will be pestering a few tumblers this Winter.
SGP: 661 - 89 points.

Royal Brackla 12 yo ‘Batch 1’ (47.9%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company, 1472 bottles)
Colour: white wine. Nose: fresh, youthful and almost hyper-natural with these immediate notes of ripe green apples and pears. Also gooseberry, cut grass, sunflower oil, lemon rind… entirely the wrong time of year to be drinking such a whisky as it almost makes you look up and expect to see spring sunshine out of the window. Some rather dry and crisp cereals emerge in time. Mouth: a little more basic than the nose. Cooking oils, butter, oatcakes, water biscuits, plain breakfast cereals, freshly made porridge and a single barley sugar. Some green and grassy notes such as parsley persevere. Finish: medium, gently drying, lightly peppery, more cereals, sunflower oil and a wee bit of natural sweet maltiness. Comments: The nose was lovely, but I wonder if this isn’t rather blending backbone whisky. Now, I suspect it probably makes a very fine highball with this rather natural and pure style.
SGP: 451 - 81 points.

Royal Brackla 2011/2018 (68%, Whisky Illuminati ‘Solaria Series’, cask #900077, 1st fill sherry butt, 150 bottles)
This series seems to all have been filled at super high strength, hence such frightening ABVs in their youth. However, so far the sibling bottlings have been pretty good and no doubt such high strengths will be an asset as they age further. Colour: orangey amber. Nose: surprisingly light and citrusy at first nosing. Lots of orange peel and marmalades. Some kumquat, orange juice, toffee apple and barley sugar. Very nice. With water: gets nicely bready and autolytic now with notes of oatcakes, pollen, sweet cereals and even some fresh linens. Surprisingly approachable. Mouth: you do feel the alcohol and there is an initial impression that it’s masking quite a lot. Although there’s some nice notes of orgeat syrup, Battenberg cake and cherry cola. Hints of lychee, marzipan and rose water too. Quite floral, although the alcohol may well be emphasising the higher notes. With water: bigger and fatter now, notes of dark fruits in muesli, flapjack, sultana, orange cocktail bitters and mulling spices. Plain old chocolate orange as well. Finish: long and doubling down on these chocolate and orange notes with some wee glimmers of those earlier bready notes. Comments: I like this one quite a bit, you get a sense of the Brackla distillate in balance with the sherry.
SGP: 651 - 85 points.

Glenturret 12 yo 2006/2018 (48.4%, Douglas Laing Old Particular, refill sherry hogshead, 389 bottles)
I always feel nervously excited when trying Glenturret, it can just go in absolutely any direction… Colour: amber. Nose: a rather hot and modern style of sherry with wood embers, paprika, cherry stones and things like cask-aged porter and roast walnuts. Punchy and rather vivid, but in a good way. Also some chilli-infused dark chocolate, leather and game meats. Mouth: I think that in this instance the Glenturret itself is somewhat hidden by this big, weighty cloak of sherry. Lots of wood spices, dark fruit chutneys, ointments, graphite oil, black pepper, soot, earthy black teas and mineral oil. It’s clean but also rather on the woody and spicy side. Finish: medium, slightly tarry, lots of more black pepper, cola syrup, ointments and bitter herbal extracts. Comments: Technically pretty good I think, you just have to enjoy this rather hot and powerful style of sherry. I don’t think the poor Glenturret distillate survived (who said ‘phew!’ ??)
SGP: 572 - 84 points.

Glenturret 28 yo 1987/2016 (50.4%, Signatory Cask Strength Collection, cask #372, hogshead, 149 bottles)
These batches of casks by Signatory seem to provoke some division amongst whisky folk. However, I have to admit I usually really enjoy them. Colour: gold. Nose: yup, acrylic, bubblegum, ‘fruity’ waxes, new leather, white pepper, mineral oil and even some sort of sweetened olive oil. A very specific and pretty old style profile which Glenturret seems to exude when on form. With water: fresher, chalkier, more clean starchy fabrics, more medicines and a little pine resin. Mouth: a tad more unlikely perhaps, some notes of plasticine, clay, asparagus, honey roasted parsnip, juicy fruit chewing gum, aniseed, bouillon broth, canvass and overall a little more of this ‘chemical’ side of things. With water: again this goes drier with water and more towards fabrics, linens, camphor, hessian, putty, lemon oils, herbal throat medicines and vapour rubs. Still rather persistently waxy and with this chemically accented fruitiness. Finish: medium, with plenty plastic, clay, plasticine, red chilli, medicines, mineral oil and more umami and vegetal broths. Comments: These Glenturrets are just such funny, often whacky distillates. However, despite the fact they are clearly divisive and unusual, I cannot help but be charmed by them when they possess this style. Better this eccentricity than boring, oak-doped uniformity I say. The kind of bottle you can have a lot of fun with while dramming with friends - you know, socialising, remember that…? Anyway, please take my score with a pinch of salt.
SGP: 652 - 86 points.

Caol Ila 9 yo 2011/2020 (58.5%, C Dully Selection, cask #101, 1st fill barrel, 262 bottles)
Colour: pale straw. Nose: pure and hyper-fresh young Caol Ila, full of seawater, coastal flowers, lemon peel, grapefruit, lime juice and fresh linens with many wispy notes of pure peat smoke in the background. Also crushed seashells, dry chalky medicines, lemon cough drops and some savoury super salty pasta water. I just love this nose. With water: pure seawater, rockpools, wet seaweed, soy sauce and briny olives. Mouth: perfectly concise with the nose, except here the peat smoke is deeper and more raw and direct. Rather like you’re in direct communication with working kiln. There’s also charred shellfish, black olives in pickling juices, malt vinegar and tarry rope. Powerful but also balanced and wonderfully pure. With water: perfection now! Thick and wonderfully textural in the mouth, like tar mixed with petrol! Also seawater, fresh herbs, top quality olive oil, sandalwood and bonfire embers. Finish: long, briny, lots of umami paste, sardines in oil, black olive tapenade, smoked heather beers and again with this wonderfully petrolic, mineral and seawater fusion. Comments: I feel like I’m running out of things to say about Caol Ila after all these years. It’s just utterly impeccable spirit. Terrific selection by those cunning Swiss!
SGP: 367 - 90 points. 

Caol Ila 11 yo 2009/2020 (57.4%, Watt Whisky, hogshead, 303 bottles)
Colour: white wine. Nose: a slightly lighter and breezier style. Lots of fresh sea air, crab sticks, wet beach pebbles, gorse, starched linens, bath salts and things like chalk, putty and antiseptic on gauze. Pristine, pure, almost irritatingly consistent Caol Ila. With water: deeper and sootier, more things like rope, puffer smoke, anchovies and a little kelp. Mouth: lemon juice, sheep wool oils, mineral oil, pink sea salt and kippers drizzled in brine and lemon juice. Oysters, ink, seawater… you get the picture. It’s basically one of these rather narrow Caol Ilas that displays an extremely pure and chiselled profile focussed on coastal and seashore aspects but with a quieter peat smoke influence. If I put on my ‘Serge Valentin moustache’ for a moment I’d probably say ‘millimetric!’. With water: creosote, black pepper, smoked teas with lemon, pasta water, smoked herbs and more medical things like gauze and TCP. Finish: long, more powerfully smoky, tarry, salty, peppery and with iodine and pure seawater again. Comments: This one rewards water with a little more complexity I think. Yet another superb and very pure Caol Ila, I like the unabashed ‘coastalness’ on display here.
SGP: 356 - 88 points.

Caol Ila 11 yo 2008/2020 (59.7%, The Single Cask, cask #318686, hogshead, 137 bottles)
Caol Ila is proof that you can produce enough whisky that your cask numbers run to the length of mobile phone numbers and still achieve amazing quality… Colour: lovely, a kind of mentholated, honeyed brininess with smoked olive oil, natural tar extract and wonderfully fragrant notes of heather flowers, gorse, sandalwood and smoked dark ales. This one brims with a sense of sweetness and an overall rather syrupy profile. With water: more salty, richly umami, soy sauce, ramen broth, herbal mouthwash, smoked teas. Superb! Mouth: wonderfully gentle and textural on arrival. Smoked mead, olive oil, tar, embrocations, oily peat, hessian and vapour rubs. Blind you’d probably say this was a few years older than 11. With water: just wonderful! Superbly oily, fatty peat, smoked meats, herbal medicines, tar, hessian, freshly kilned malt, brine, salt and vinegar crisps… great stuff! Finish: long, mentholated again with eucalyptus bark, fennel, hessian, ointments and some cured meats. Still this wonderful sense of texture and weight. Comments: This must have been a pretty awesome cask as you really feel it has added something ‘invisibly’ while retaining the full brilliance of the distillate. What is it they say about Caol Ila and independent bottling…
SGP: 566 - 90 points.

Caol Ila 28 yo 1990/2019 (48%, WhiskyNerds, cask #13129, refill oloroso, 192 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: you do indeed get the sense there has been some sherry afoot here. Lots of dense, leathery notes of camphor, tar, smoked olive oil, preserved lemons, black olives and a wee dash of seawater. While there’s also these herbal notes in addition and many coastal fragrances like sandalwood, white flowers and gorse. Beautiful! Mouth: this is starting to approach the same profile as these early 1980s casks. Only here I feel the sherry has added something deeper and more leathery and fatty. Smoky bacon, tarry notes, ointment, old rope, hessian, camphor, putty and various cured meats. An impressive and captivating level of complexity I would say. Finish: long, herbal, sooty, tarry, fragrantly coastal and with these wonderful fading medicinal qualities. Comments: a great cask captured at a perfect age. It’s a shame we don’t see more of these early 90s vintages from Caol Ila, I think they’re really becoming terrific.
SPG: 465 - 91 points.

Benriach ‘The Thirty’ (46%, OB, Four Cask Matured, 2020)
More woodwork and oenology, this time with some sherry, bourbon, virgin oak and ‘Douro Valley Port’ (but do they make Port anywhere else?) The ‘smoke level’ is said to be ‘complex’. Could be that they used some of their peated batches from the Seagram’s era, we’ll see… Colour: full gold. Nose: indeed this is really very complex right from the start, with notes of old copper (kettle) and many herbal teas, verbena, wormwood… There’s a little vegetal tar (fir), some camphor for sure, bitter almonds oil, fresh putty and paint, then a wee meaty side, bordering umami. No wait we said we’d now use the word osmazôme instead. What’s sure is that this is rather different from the regular older Benriachs, which usually rather burst with fresh fruits. Mouth: I think I’ve never quite tasted something like this, once again we’re far from the ‘usual’ Benriach, and rather on a kind of blend with some old amontillado, walnut wine, smoked meats and ham (Iberico), tobacco, game, bitter oranges (lots), artichokes, brown sugar, plus drops of Worcester sauce. A wee vinegary side too (Bull Dog sauce). I think I seem to remember a Karuizawa that was a bit like this strange Benriach. Finish: long, all on tobacco, ham, metal and walnuts. Some kind of bitter and sour sauce in the aftertaste. Comments: this one’s extremely unusual, hard to compare and even to score. A bit surrealistic, perhaps? Or historical? My score don’t mean a thing here, either you’ll hate this one or you’ll love it.
SGP:473 - 85 points.

Benriach 38 yo 1981/2020 (46.6%, OB, for The Nectar and La Maison du Whisky, bourbon barrel (phew), cask #522,  168 bottles)
This old glory is a peated Benriach, made when several distilleries on the mainland were trying to produce some ‘Islay’ for the blends, especially Seagram’s distilleries (Strathisla…). Colour: full gold. Nose: hold on, this is something. Not ‘a peater’ (in the sense that Caol Ila 1981 would be a peater), but these camphory notes are just out of this world, since they would lead us to myriads of tinier empyreumatical and pine-y touches, such as putty once again, oil paint as well, triple-sec, pinesap, a pack of menthol cigarettes, pine needles, carbolineum, new linoleum while we’re at it (remember?), bakelite, new LP (Van Halen, and why not?)… And just fresh thyme and mint leaves. Oh and honeydew. Masterful job here, unless the palate is a wreck… Mouth: of course it’s not. We’re finding a few unlikely bitterish notes that remind us of the Thirty, but all the rest is impeccable and very complex. Many herbs, saps, citrus, oils, roasted nuts, small berries… I’m particularly reminded of my favourite within the liquorice allsorts, the wee square one with a layer of some kind of lemon sugar paste sneaked between two layers of soft liquorice. Remember, all sorts love allsorts and I love this Benriach! Finish: medium, well on liquorice allsorts and various herbal liqueurs, first Chartreuse then all the others. Verveine du Velay (verbena liqueur). A little fir honeydew and mead in the aftertaste. Rather roots, bitter gentian in the aftertaste. Comments: clearly not a peat monster but I’m very fond of this old Benriach that’s almost as singular as the strange Thirty, but much better balanced. And almost refreshing.
SGP:463 - 91 points.

Benromach 15 yo (43%, OB, 2020)
I loved the older livery (WF 87) and I cannot see why this one would be different. It’s a blend of ex-sherry and ex-bourbon Benromach. Colour: gold. Nose: but yes, this is the Benromach we loove at WF Towers, ridden with soot, cigar ashes, walnuts, suet, chocolate, beeswax and shoe polish (say brown), and these smallish curry-like aromas that are very Benromach and that are rather difficult to describe. Or perhaps rather garam masala? Mouth: love it, love salted walnuts, bizarre waxes, pepper, burnt Brussels sprouts, umami (didn’t we say we’d rather say osmazôme?) beef bouillon, roasted pistachio and cashew, English brown sauce (with apologies). Really bags and bags of old walnuts. Finish: rather long, dry, and wonderfully on old dry herbal cordials. Artichoke bitters and rather wood smoke in the aftertaste. Smoked meats and nuts, smoked almonds, mustard… Comments: what a relief! But we had no doubts…
SGP:372 - 88 points.

Benromach 2011/2020 (61.2%, OB, for France, first fill sherry, cask #39, 331 bottles)
This one should rock and roll… Colour: deep gold. Nose: I get liquid wax (furniture polish) and some walnuts yet again. Some whiffs of pu-erh tea (does anyone realise what that does to me?) and something definitely Ardbeggy. I’m not joking, I’m thinking about those ridiculous sherried Committee Releases from the good old days. Stunning tar and rubber, new-Wellies-style. But it’s also a little hot… With water: oh, cigars, yet more walnuts, retsina, horse saddle, dried cow dung, dried porcinis, nutmeg… I think this is simply brilliant. Why buy a ticket to the countryside when you can just buy a bottle of this (but you ought to be quick)? Mouth (neat): someone blended Ben Nevis with Ardbeg while we weren’t watching, then added a rather mentholy young Benromach. Now it burns a bit, so quick… With water: glorious, almost a very salty and mustardy amontillado from Sanlucar. More or less. Finish: very long, dry, on tobacco and tea, more mustard, bitter almonds, even more walnuts, earth, a touch of lavender in the aftertaste… Comments: crazy young Benromach. Who needs Bordeaux blends (I mean, in whisky)?
SGP:362 - 90 points.

Craigellachie 49 yo 1970/2019 (48.6%, Gordon & MacPhail, Esclusive, Archive Release, cask #1608)
Colour: amber. Nose: yes there is a G&M style. Does that come from the wood they’ve been filling? From Elgin’s atmosphere? What’s sure is that this little Craig’ is well in line with t he house’s emblematic Longmorns, Glenlivets or Glen Grants, that is to say rather shock-full of beehive-y notes, old varnishes, precious woods, and those raisins that are just not too raisiny. I know what I’m trying to say. Heather honey, beeswax, pipe tobacco, pollens, preserved plums, and lastly, a little fresh cranberry juice, which is surprising but rather lovely. Oh, and a little propolis (pine or birch saps). Oh, and small Turkish dried figs. Oh, and dates filled with marzipan. Oh, and very old Sauternes. Now, the devil always is on the palate, so let’s just see how it goes… Mouth: a little beeswax and citrus at first, then some big oak for sure, but that translates into many saps, resins, and a feeling of quaffing very old bottles of Jägermeister. That propolis again (you can have it diluted in ethanol to heal your throat and bronchi) and some bitterish vegetables, rucola (rocket), sucking pine needles, quaffing cough syrup, and crunching coffee beans. That’s all extremely dry, as this baby digested all its fruits and sweetnesses, but since it rather went towards saps than straight tannins, it’s still full of charms. Finish: medium, very dry, sappy and resinous. Bits of raw cocoa and more coffee beans. Comments: there’s been a 1970/2016 G&M Exclusive for LMDW that had been fruitier and that I liked really a lot (WF 91), while this one is a little oakier but still of super-high level, provided you like your saps as much as I do.
SGP:362 - 90 points.

Imperial 30 yo (54.8%, Single Malts of Scotland, Director’s Special, 2020)
Colour: white wine. Nose: very close, fermentary, chalky, flinty, with lemons and green apples, and a global style that’s even more vertical. More white wine, even more vinegar, lees, lemon juice… Huge zestiness here. With water: citrons! I’m citrons’ biggest fan. In early 1980s Clynelish, for example. Mouth (neat): absolutely superb, very waxy, with lemons and a plastic-like earthiness that sounds wrong but that’s actually rather superb.  A drop of white Port, perhaps. I know, I know… With water: lemon and wax in the power of 2. The director has it good. Finish: long, greener and a little bitterer. Artichokes, perhaps. Comments: a little more austere and demanding than the 1994, and perhaps a little more elegant as well. More intellectual, would we have said before it became touchy not to be inclusive of dumber folks. Hey, just a very silly joke! No jokes no fun, no fun no whisky.
SGP:451 - 90 points.

Clairin Communal Ansyen (49.3%, OB, LMDW, Haiti, 2964 bottles, 2020)
This a blend of four distilleries, married for around two years in ex-rum and ex-whisky casks. Should be good. Colour: gold. Nose: there, diesel oil. And then curry, gingerbread, black olives, rotting pineapples, burnt tyres (in other words, dragster wheels), then camphor, jasmine, old cigars, lilies, liquorice… And more diesel oil, or there, Tesla batteries. Indeed, one must keep up with what's going on in the world. Mouth: it is totally impossible to resist this huge load of salty liquorice, brine and tar. Holy feartherless crow! It is not the subtlest spirit ever made by honest men, and perhaps is it even a little one-dimensional, but I just adore this style. Now if you’re firmly against salted liquorice, you may abstain here. Finish: long, hyper-compact, pretty rich, salty and always loaded with liquorice and natural rubber. A little rich honey in the aftertaste. Chestnut. Comments: hell and damnation, what was that? There’s ‘L’union fait la force’ written on the label, which is Haiti’s motto. And Belgium’s, if I’m not wrong.
SGP:564 – 90 points.

Neisson 2016/2020 ‘Rhum Vieux Bio’ (52.3%, OB, LMDW, Martinique, 470 bottles)
Have I ever told you what I think of Neisson? I know, they’re expensive, but they’re fantastic too and they do not make 15mio litres of spirit a year, mind you. Oh, ‘bio’ means ‘organic’. Colour: gold. Nose: probably not exactly as complex as the other week’s VSOP, and perhaps a little more on fresh oak (vanilla and coconut). A little less character perhaps, and more straight ‘soft agricole’ aromas. Sugar cane, cookies, bananas, vanilla, a little earth…  Now water may change the game. With water: coconut wine, a touch of metal (copper kettle), some kind of liquoricy mushrooms perhaps. Sure that exists, check rodopaxillus nudus (bragging a bit but no harm done I hope). Mouth (neat): nah, it is excellent. Earth and liquorice, black nougats, heather honey, beeswax, a touch of candy sugar, dried bananas, a tiny mint drop… With water: for once, water doesn’t change much. Finish: long, a tad fruitier, a little more on tropical fruit jams. Mango and banana, I would say. Comments: excellent, just a tad less impressive than the latest VSOP in my humble book. I would add that the Clairin is a serial killer, always tricky as #1 in a line-up (which I hadn’t anticipated, silly me).
SGP:641 - 88 points.

Savanna 15 yo 2003/2020 ‘Grand Arôme’ (66.5%, OB, La Réunion, cognac cask, cask #251, 420 bottles)
Seen the strength? And the fact that it’s grand arôme, so long fermentation? This is vintage 2003 but only filled in 2004, so I suppose they keep the white rum in tuns before they fill their casks. Or do they keep the molasses? Not too sure, I’ll have to fly to La Réunion once the virus is gone for good. I believe this is ex-molasses, not cane juice, while they make both at Savanna. Colour: deep gold. Nose: crude oil, liquorice, earth, black olives, bakelite, capers, sour brine, nail polish, acetone, and a lot of ethanol, so let’s not push our luck. With water: oh lovely, old books in a library, attic, old oils and petrol in a garage, liquorice, roasted nuts of all kinds, burnt walnuts, wood smoke, deep-roasted Brussels sprouts (or something like that), carbon paper and new fiberglass… I find this bold and superb. Mouth (neat): bang, curry, liquorice and diesel oil. Extreme stuff, water is streng obligatory. With water: smoky and salty, with some deep floral tones (lavender) and some aniseed-flavoured liquorice. Very oily mouth feel. Finish: very long, rather on salted liquorice and salted anchovies. Some sour vegetables in the aftertaste – Brussels sprouts again? Comments: extreme rum that takes no prisoners. Keep your pipette within reach. I like it a lot.
SGP:473 - 88 points.

Caroni 20 yo 2000/2020 ‘Basdeo Dicky Ramsarran’ (64.3%, Velier for LMDW, Trinidad, 1251 bottles)
Another one from their ‘Employee’ series. By the way, they all have great names, they could be characters in the Lord of the Ring or Game of Thrones, no? (but don’t tell them I said that…) Colour: amber. Nose: much, much gentler than the Savanna, more delicate, with notes of praline, soft honeys, chestnut purée, ylang-ylang, fudge… But at this strength, those feelings are purely anecdotal, water is obligatory. With water: balsamic woods, thuja, cedar, notes of old tea, cold smoke. It remains pretty gentle, mind you. Mouth (neat): oh pine sap, putty, plasticine, varnish, ether and menthol that almost anaesthetise your lips and tongue… It’s very strong! With water: extremely sappy, empyreumatic, with something roasted, burnt woods, a lot of tar, cocoa, oloroso, plasticine… Actually it takes its time, getting tighter and brighter, displaying citrons after two minutes, and some honeyed  lemongrass after five of them. This one likes to play with you, like a young dog. Finish: not that eternal, and rather a little soft. Cigars and toffee? Having said that some diesel oil appears in the aftertaste. Comments: a rather enigmatic Caroni, would I say. Quality remains very high, naturally, but I’m afraid that stoopid clairin that I liked so much killed everything.
SGP:563 - 88 points.

Hampden 10 yo 2010/2020 ‘LROK’ (59%, OB for LMDW, Jamaica, bourbon barrel, cask #92, 250 bottles)
The marque LROK indicates a kind of average esteriness (150 to 400 g esters/hlpa), but remember all Hampdens are estery anyway, even the ‘lightest’ ones, as we could find out last week with a totally awesome and pretty complex OWH. Colour: deep gold. Nose: take tinned anchovies. Let marinate in benzine. Then smoke over burning fuel, then add olive oil, nail polish remover, and embrocations, then wait for a long time. It’s to be remembered that fermentations there are extremely long, sometimes weeks and weeks, and that shows. The notes of cedarwood, heady honey and rotting fruits (bananas) are splendid too. With water: brine, coal smoke, rucola, clay, olives, mezcal… Mouth (neat): huge, perhaps a tad monolithic, gritty, rather rustic, salty, kerosene-y, ridden with liquorice and a little tar and rubber, some lemon juice beneath all that… But this baby keeps hitting you, water’s obligatory once again. With water: ah yes, perfect. Some salty and lemon-flavoured tar and liquorice. Finish: long, dry, drying, ashy. Grapefruit juice in the aftertaste, which lifts it. Comments: this one managed to play on an even field with the clairin. By the way, there are very lovely original drawings of endemic Jamaican birds on those very elegant labels.
SGP:463 - 90 points.

Pride of Orkney 12 yo (100 proof, Gordon & MacPhail, miniature, 1980s)
It just says ‘Highland Malt’ on the label. Could be either distillery on their own, or just as easily a vatting of both makes. Let’s see… Colour: deep gold. Nose: phew! Superbly rich, fat, oily, slightly grassy and with this rather greasy phenolic style. Camphor, marrow fat, mineral oils, soot and this slightly herbal waxiness. Totally charismatic and indeed very ‘Orcadian’ distillate. With water: drier, a little dustier with many pressed flowers, heather flowers, pollens and waxes. Superb! Mouth: brilliantly full of honeys, aged mead, wood resins, spices, natural tar, embrocations, minerals, olive oil, camphor and this pretty resinous, herbal, almost ‘sticky’ peat. Some shoe polish and caraway too. With water: more honeys but also more salty now too. Dried mint, camphor, pollens, tar, phenolics and herbal bitters. Finish: long, drying, tarry, menthol, coastal waxy. Comments: My guess is, rather obviously I suppose, Highland Park. Although, you can never be sure, I’ve also tried some rather hefty old 100 proof Scapas from G&M bottled during this era. What’s for sure is the quality of this humble wee mini is superb!
SGP: 563 - 92 points.

Scapa 1979/1989 (62.4%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #17.3)
One of these early, high octane and probably extremely naked, distillate-forward SMWS bottlings that seem to increasingly represent a singular snapshot of whisky history. Which is, of course, extremely cool! Colour: white wine - distilled indeed! Nose: raw grass, lemon juice, chalk, cactus, mirabelle, crushed aspirin. Very pure and with an undeniable freshness, but also rather punch and austere. With water: still rather closed and tough, seeds, fabrics, linens, sun lotion, cooking oils - all very natural and pure but a bit tricky. Mouth: pretty hot and tough really. Although there are some nice notes of sunflower oil, fruit teas sweetened with honey and heather flowers. Perhaps a touch of miso as well. With water: much better with water, there’s a spiciness, a more pronounced honeyed quality, some salinity, mustard, putty, camphor and a nice seam of waxiness has been exposed. Finish: medium, slightly medical, chalky, lemony, honeyed - rather like a hot toddy really. Comments: It’s to be wondered how the early era members of the SMWS remained sober when confronted with such monolithic rocket fuel whiskies. Of course, the answer is that they didn’t. Anyway, I think you can dispense with everything else here and simply pour into a tumbler with a good slug of water and you’ll have a highly pleasurable, if humble, wee Scapa. Otherwise it’s a bit of a brute.
SGP: 472 - 84 points.

Highland Park NAS (70 proof, Gordon & MacPhail, mini, 1970s)
One of these beautiful old St Magnus labels that G&M issued under license for many years in the 1960s and 70s. Colour: chestnut / amber. Nose: a very unctuous and earthy old style of sherry. Full of rancio and dripping in old balsamic, natural tar, walnut wine and things like cured game meats and old Burgundian pinot noir. Quite beautiful. Mouth: perfectly earthy, rich, medicinal, tarry and full of stewed dark fruits, crystallised citrus peels, orange oils, herbal liqueurs and again more rancio. Also hessian, more game meats and this particularly herbal and heathery Orkney peat. Finish: not the longest but beautifully rich, meaty, darkly fruity and herbal. Comments: A beautiful old glory. Hard to believe this was only 40% and survived all these years with such poise and freshness in this tiny wee mini. A style very much of its time - sadly.
SGP: 663 - 92 points.

Highland Park NAS (100 proof, Gordon & MacPhail, mini, 1970s)
A full strength version in the same presentation from around the same era, probably early-mid 70s. Colour: gold. Nose: superbly pure and just brimming with heather, salted honeys and the most beautifully rich and fragrant peat smoke. All studded with wispy herbs, gentle phenolics, natural tar, embrocations and this impression of coastal sea air. Elegance, beauty and also power all in perfect balance. With water: putty, oils, mechanical rags, ointments, soot, tar, bandages and seawater. Pretty stunning! Mouth: massively dense, oily, tarry and medical. Rather emphatically peaty and peppery too. Very herbal, oily peat, lots of heather honey, black and white peppers, guaze, lanolin and camphor. With water: there’s a dustiness which may well be OBE, but the oiliness and textural weight are becoming quite breath-taking. Hugely fatty, tarry, peaty, phenolic, drying, herbal and vividly saline now. Finish: very long, warming, honeyed, peaty, oily and full of wee things like seaweed, heather ales and more of these glorious tarry notes. Comments: Unbelievable distillate with almost eternal staying power. There was a tiny bit of OBE about this one so we’ll dock it one or two points, but this in a full sized , well-travelled bottle would probably be knocking on the door of 95 points very easily. I can feel it warming my toes!
SPG: 565 - 92 points.

Highland Park NAS (100 proof, Gordon & MacPhail, mini, 1970s)
This is pretty much the same except for the fact it has a blue capsule rather than a gold one. Not sure what that means for the contents though… Colour: gold. Nose: gentler in style, more towards honeys, aged mead, gentler saline qualities and heather beers. The peat is much shier here. Instead it’s all on soft notes of mustard powder, herbal liqueurs, ointments and medical embrocations. Also this pretty superb waxiness. With water: out come heather flowers, gorse, dried mango and pumpkin seed oil. Rich, dense and still rather medical. Mouth: here the power comes through, big and emphatic tarry notes, greasy phenolics, heathery peat smoke and more these rather textbook herbal liqueur qualities. Also these lovely textural waxy aspects adding weight in the mouth. With water: pow! Flower honeys, herbal ointments, gauze, lemon infused olive oil, putty, natural tar, camphor, seawater. Majestic! Finish: superbly long, thready salinity, fatty waxes, tarry phenolics, olive oil, grass, chalky minerals and herbal cough medicines. Comments: The way Highland Park used to weave peat throughout its spirit in the most compelling, ethereal fashion was just utterly genius if you ask me. They should really try to do some batches in this style again.
SGP: 653 - 93 points.

Highland Park 8 yo (100 proof, Gordon & MacPhail, mini, 1970s)
So this one is the livery that seems to have taken over from the St Magnus label and was used by G&M in the early 1990s. However, this is one of those slimmer, taller old flat miniatures with a smaller gold capsule, which theoretically should pre-date the slightly bigger bottles, which the previous two came from. (Keep up!) So this could pre-date the previous two drams slightly, or not. Oh God! I’m becoming a person who ‘does miniatures’ aren’t I? Please send help! Colour: deep, orangey gold. Nose: utterly sublime! Take the most dense, syrupy, ancient yellow Chartreuse and add pure heather honey, natural tar extract, drops of seawater, a cluster of top quality black olives, some of the saltiest Dutch liquorice, wrap it all in hessian and dip it in molten wax and you might be approaching this gloriously powerful, rich, layered and profoundly beautiful nose. With water: wider, fatter, deeper and more sweetness in the form of coconut and heather honey then bandages and anyway, you get the picture… Mouth: anti-maltoporn brigade! Instantly! Seriously, just a collision of the most beautiful honeys, the most compelling and complex herbal peat smoke and things like bone marrow, roast vegetables roasted in honey, Moroccan spices, ancient Claquesin liqueur and many, many various ointments, teas and roots. Sublime! With water: perfection. Mentholated, tarry, briny, peaty, oily, iodine, camphor, waxes, herbs, putty, teas, dried exotic fruits. Finish: endless. Comments: I feel deeply embarrassed to write such a note about piffling little old miniature. Clearly I need help. Please send six pallets of Speyburn to: Angus MacRaild, Miniature Rehabilitation Clinic, Edinburgh… 
SGP: 665 - 94 points.

Highland Park 8 yo (57%, Gordon & MacPhail, mini, 1980s)
In theory this should bring us back down to earth gently… Colour: deep gold. Nose: leaner, straighter and a little sharper. More on lemon juice, seawater, coconut, putty and things like wet rocks, ink, beach pebbles and crushed seashells. Wonderfully briny, lemony and still with this persistent mix of natural tar and rather vibrant heathery notes. But wasn’t Michael Jackson already pointing out heather as an HP hallmark decades ago? With water: becomes terrifically savoury, umami and salty. Things like bacon fat, herbal mouthwash, camphor and some rather sharp and invigorating minerality. Mouth: much hotter, sharper and powerful than the others. Pure seawater, mercurochrome, metal polish, soot, lemon juice, brine, green olives and these wee mustardy notes. Fantastic but obviously a different animal from the others. The peat is sharper, leaner and more precise. With water: broader in texture and deeper in flavour. More emphatically medicinal, more of a turfy, herbal peat profile and superbly peppery, salty and waxy. Finish: once again superbly long, resinously peaty, waxy, herbal, riddled with expensive olive oil, natural tar, embrocations and camphor. Comments: Water definitely joined the dots between this one and the previous examples. Not quite in the same league but this is still bewilderingly brilliant whisky. If there’s an argument to be made for terroir in whisky then I would say Orkney in the 1960s and 70s was probably a useful place to begin.
SGP: 574 - 92 points.

Highland Park 1973 ‘The Dragon’ (58.9%, Robertson’s Of Kirkwall, sherry cask, circa 1990)
There’s also versions at 56.6% and 56.4% (WF 94 and 91 respectively) never tried this one though. I’m also not really sure when these were bottled. Given they were semi-private bottlings done in cheap wine bottles I doubt the usual rules around 75cl to 70cl changeover apply here. Anyway, deep expectations… Colour: amber. Nose: extremely pure and fresh showing a rather lean and mineral sherry with plenty leather, wet leaves, smoked teas and chocolate. Olive oil, hessian, natural tar and shoe polish as well. Clean and beautifully precise. With water: bitter lemon, wintergreen, matcha and lots of dense sooty and heavy mineral qualities. Mouth: superb and huge arrival. Concentrated, syrupy and salty old school sherry. Lots of game meats, tar, herbal bitters, cough medicines, embrocations, leaf mulch and bitter cocoa. Some flint smoke and these wonderfully resinous flavours of precious hardwoods. Getting slightly jammy with red fruit preserves too. With water: now the peat comes through more clearly and with a very definite peppery edge. Black pepper, natural tar, ointments, vapour rubs, camphor, hessian and more smoked tea and dried herbs. Finish: long, tarry, deeply warming, peppery, lightly medical and with this lovely lingering gentle peatiness. Comments: Not sure there’s a dud amongst this whole series of Dragons if you ask me. Stunning old sherried Highland Park.
SGP: 563 - 92 points.

Fettercairn 22 yo (47%, OB, 2020)
As it appears, this one’s all ex-bourbon barrel, without any finishing this time. We should be even closer to Fettercairns very eccentric profile…  Colour: straw. Nose: heavens! I don’t know if the palate will be in the same vein, but this is gorgeous, extraordinarily clean for Fettercairn, perfectly waxy and fermentary, with notes of lemons and oranges, custard (moderately), then soot and clay, and just a touch of leather and gravel. Parsnips and beets glazed with honey. A little buttercream and nougat. Pour me this blind and I say Ben Nevis (and add ‘perhaps’). Mouth: a little more unbalanced and harsh, on the other hand it’s clearly Fettercairn. Pepper, ginger and turmeric, smoothened up with honey and vanilla. And there is a little saffron! All that is connected to an obvious earthiness in the background. And to bitter oranges. Finish: long, very spicy and peppery. Citron liqueur too, but this earthy pepper is back in the aftertaste. Cocoa pods, torrefaction. Comments: I have to say we’ve had quite a few excellent Fettercairns within the recent months, looks like they’ve upped their game. As long as they’re keeping the whacky personality…
SGP:562 - 89 points.

Buffalo Trace ‘Small Batch’ (45%, OB, for LMDW, USA, Kentucky straight bourbon, 2562 bottles, 2020)
This one might lift this little session a little bit… LMDW usually had some lighter versions at 40%, but this one should talk to us… Colour: deep gold. Nose: bread and brioche, honeycomb, mead, gingerbread, notes of ripe bananas and even mangos, gorse, dandelions, mirabelle tarte, apricot jam, vanilla and triple-sec, whiffs of aniseed and menthol… What’s not to like? Mouth: simple and uncomplicated (pleonasm alert), a tad woody for European palates, perhaps, but otherwise perfectly fine, fruity and fresh, cake-y, pastry-like, with notes of coconut balls and apricot pie. Only the oak is a tad too much. No botherings… Finish: medium, caky, with some cinnamon. A little sour and peppery oak in the aftertaste. Comments: have I said that I thought this was a very fine – albeit oaky - bourbon?
SGP:561 - 82 points.

Weller 12 yo (45%, OB, for LMDW, USA, Kentucky straight bourbon whisky, 2020)
This is ‘the original wheated bourbon’, you understand. Colour: deep gold. Nose: a lovely floral and fruity arrival, on orange blossom and honeysuckle, then we have honeycomb and proper chardonnay. Our friendly mirabelles too, and touches of cough medicine, eucalyptus, and camphor. Perfect uncomplicated nose, well composed, a little commercial in the best sense of that word. Mouth: very good, simple, with good spices and fruits, and jams. Preserved apricots, cinnamon rolls, notes of pears, and perhaps even echoes of calvados. Or there, applejack. Finish: medium, a little oaky as always. A little sour wood and pepper. Comments: seriously good, if not very complex. But are most bourbons really complex? Do not shoot, me friend of you!
SGP:551 - 85 points.

Port Ellen 35 yo 1983/2020 (47.9%, The Character of Islay, The Stories of Wind and Wave, cask #11535)
A rather self-restrained new line by the good folks behind Atom Brands, and one of those increasingly rare 1983s. Remember they closed the distillery for good in the spring of 1983. What’s more, I’ve often noticed that the 1983s were bolder (and actually better) than the 1981s or 1982s, for reasons I just couldn’t explain. Different specs, perhaps? The swan’s song? A farewell with panache? Just a personal impression? Colour: white wine. Nose: goodness gracious, what a nose! A whirlwind of aromas, never jumbled, always clear and precise, and yet ever changing, as if Danny Boyle had been the head distiller at PE in 1983. Almond oil, crushed anchovies, fresh putty, pencil eraser, shampoo, mint liqueur, agave syrup (yah mezcal), kelp, tarry ropes, hessian, leather polish, new electronics (Huawei… oops!), carrots and turnips, seashells, hand cream, ointments and bandages, brake fluid, new tyres… Phew, we could go on and on and on. Mouth: smoked almond oil and artisanal limoncello, then ale and mead, then various sea elements that we just won’t list. This palate is rather less complex than the nose, but… will you please call the anti-maltoporn brigade before it’s too late? Finish: yep. Resins and a savoury side, with some umami. Or rather, as the first man to discover that fifth taste in the 19th century, Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, used to call it: osmazôme. Comments: we may start to use the descriptor ‘osmazôme’ more often. As for this little PE, well it’s just brilliant and reminds me of that Old Bothwell stock from the old days.
SGP:367 - 93 points.

Balblair 14 yo 2006/2020 (56.3%, OB, for LMDW, cask #77, 573 bottles)
Still the old livery this time! Colour: deep gold. Nose: a few whiffs of struck matches at first, but those do tend to go away, while leather and marmalade start to play first fiddles. Dried figs too, a little gunpowder remaining, walnut cake, cast iron (old Japanese teapot), rancio, a little saltpetre perhaps, old pile of coal in an old cellar… With water: gets really complex know, with old pu-erh tea, a box of cigars, some old-school orange liqueurs, fig wine, some old malmsey, humidor… and the expected walnut wine. A little tarmac too, that’s close to those struck matches in this context. Mouth (neat): extremely creamy, starting with quite a lot of ginger, old walnuts, white pepper and cocoa, getting then drier by the second, going towards fino rather than oloroso. Or is that amontillado? With water: very good, on mocha, cigars, chocolate, Seville oranges, liquorice, a touch of caraway and clove… Chocolate crunchers will love this one – and perhaps have it with chocolate indeed. I mean, proper chocolate. Finish: medium to long, always with this raw chocolate with notes of gunpowder, old orange cordial, high-end Germanic herbal liqueur (the ones they make with hundreds of different plants inside)… Comments: totally excellent, once you go past the initial gunpowder.
SGP:462 - 90 points.

Vieux Sajous 4 yo ‘First Release’ (50.6%, OB, for LMDW, Haiti, 2316 bottles, 2020)
This ‘vieux’ clairin  is technically well rum and has been matured in a dozen casks such as ex-Benriach or ex-Caroni. So this one too is pretty ‘meta’ or ‘cross’, but I doubt Benriach had much impact on it, unless that was peated Benriach. Let’s see… Colour: straw. Nose: more linseed oil and picture varnish that at any painter’s, really. Goes then towards almonds, both bitter ones and regulars, then the much expected olives and benzine, and finally some softer, vanilla-driven notes, with touches of camphor and menthol. Feels older than 4! With water: we’re off to Jamaica! Plastics, petrol, tar, olives, camphor, goat head soup (not too sure about that one, but cheers to The Stones!…) Mouth (neat): very salty, brine-y, full of liquorice, earth, parsnips, petrol and olive oil, and of course sugarcane. It’s pretty rich, with very good clean power, while retaining some of the clairins’ much appreciated ‘soft dirtiness’. With water: goes on and on like that, with added citrus and star fruit. Finish: a notch less heavy, but still very salty. Notes of graphite oil, fusain… We’re at a painter’s indeed. Plastics are back in the aftertaste – typical! Comments: I would tend to enjoy the best white ones even better, but I just love this very characterful style. Basquiat (and the Rolling Stones) in a bottle.
SGP:462 - 87 points.

Caroni 22 yo 1998/2020 ‘Balas Bhaggan’ (68.4%, Velier for LMDW, Trinidad, 1158 bottles)
This one’s in the 4th ‘employee’ series, and once again, given the strength here, looks like they’re trying to kill us all - but we will not let it happen. Plus, it is heavy Caroni. Colour: deep gold. Nose: old dirt, old furniture, black earth, cigars, fermenting kombucha, a lot of tar and a lot of liquorice, and perhaps a little mango chutney, but not too sure about that with this quasi-lethal strength. With water: humidor and balsa wood, all model glue you’d need to make a wee plane out of it, and something reminiscent of some roughish Turkish fig arrak. Mouth (neat): five rounds against Mike Tyson or something like that. And you feel it won’t do any good to your throat either, so consequently… With water: it’s sweeter and rounder than the Sajous, but both share some similar flavours too. Petrol, earth and plastics plus well-overripe pineapples and bananas. Finish: very long, with our friends the olives coming to the rescue. Earthy and cane-y aftertaste. Comments: rather rustic, as many Caronis are or were in my book, but that’s also what we like in Caroni. Excellent.
SGP:463 - 88 points.

Caroni 22 yo 1998/2020 ‘Dayanand Yunkoo Ballon’ (68.4%, Velier for LMDW, Trinidad, 1180 bottles)
Cool, another readymade Molotov cocktail! It’s a blend of six casks, with the angel’s (well, the demon’s) share reaching 80% altogether. Indeed, same strength, that’s not a typo. Colour: golden amber. Nose: I find it rather rounder and softer than its brother, perhaps a little more on banana cake and cognac, and less on petroly elements. But only water will really tell… With water: not really, nail polish remover, olive oil, engine oil, tarmac, wine vinegar, rotting fruits… Mouth (neat): ouch! Officer, I have the names of the culprits! Extremely strong, varnishy, acetone-y, ethanoly, and just wacko-wacko. Not the kind of bottle to bring on a plane I suppose, but would anyone let you do that? With (a lot of) water: more pepper, some lemon too, cough medicine, lip balm... It got pretty medicinal, and some spicy olive oil is never far away. Now both bottlings really converge at this point. Finish: extremely long, spicy and medicinal at first, then more on barbecued fruits (pineapples) and Russian black tea. Comments: I think I liked this one a tad better today, but they’re very close as far as quality’s concerned and the outcome could be the other way ‘round right next week.
SGP:563 - 89 points.

Hampden 9 yo 2011/2020 ‘LFCH’ (60.3%, OB for LMDW, Jamaica, bourbon barrel, cask #296, 250 bottles)
There’s a lovely bird that’s probably featherlight on the label for this most heaviest rum, although I believe this mark would rather suggest this is some low-ester Hampden, let’s see… (it seems that only OWH is lighter than LFCH) Colour: gold. Nose: well, this is still rather petroly/estery/phenolic to me, but indeed, after a few notes of oil and tar, we would rather be going towards stewed vegetables, a little metal (iron), and flowers such as wisteria and jasmine. With water: yeah well, whichever the mark, Hampden is Hampden. Notes of old books, ink, tar, rhubarb jam, cracked pine needles… Mouth (neat): pretty balanced but certainly not light. As if someone would have smoked citrons and thrown ashes into some cane juice. Add cinnamon and a little brown sugar (crikey, The Stones yet again!) With water: salt, lemon, ashes, tar, olive oil and an agave-y side. Notes of fermentation for sure, ale… Finish: long and really fresh, with various kinds of lemons. I’m wondering if you couldn’t make a kind of rum Margarita out of this – but I seldom drink or do cocktails, so I could tell. The aftertaste is a little drying and bitter/sour, perhaps. Big chillies too in the end, Tabasco. Comments: lighter and, above all, cleaner and straighter than the Caronis. Quality’s just as high in my book.
SGP:552 - 89 points.

Hampden 8 yo 2012/2020 ‘OWH’ (61.7%, OB for Whisky Live Paris 2020, Jamaica, bourbon barrel, cask #667, 250 bottles)
Here it is, I believe the lightest mark at Hampden’s (40-80 g. esters/hlpa). Mind you the highest, DOK, shelters 1500g or more, as it appears. So no automatic toothpaste this time… Colour: gold. Nose: I hope you’ll forgive this truism, Hampden remains Hampden. Awesome natural rubber, pencil eraser, acacia gum, then indeed, some braised apricots and papayas, that’s not very common. Probably some cashew and pecans too. I find this pretty complex, if not as wham-bam in-your-face as most other Hampdens. Awesome! With water: yes yes yes, pine needles, fern and moss, tiger balm, eucalyptus… Mouth (neat): low-esters? No way, this is clearly estery indeed, even pretty smoky, with a feeling of chewing a candle (rather paraffin) and quaffing retsina, that Greek wine that harbours resin – our Greek friends confirmed there were great un-touristy bottles to be found here and there. But this Hampden is strong, so… With water: we’re going towards bone-dry and flinty white wine. And lime and bamboo shoots. Finish: long, perfect, rather refined and driven by high-class lemons and a little green pepper. A funny touch of HP-y heather honey in the aftertaste. Comments: they were all superb, but this is our winner today. Do you know why? Because it’s also moreish and almost refreshing. Well, I’m exaggerating a wee bit now.
SGP:462 - 90 points.

John Jameson 10 yo (no ABV, OB, circa 1920s)
Colour: gold. Nose: super old school! Full of metal polish and funny old liqueurs and ointments. Like nosing an episode of Peaky Blinders! Becomes rapidly extremely herbal, on herbal toothpaste, bouillon, cough medicines, mothballs and eucalyptus resin. Fir wood, hardwood resins, linseed oil and pot pourri. An ancient and long lost style. Mouth: ah, a shame, it’s kind of fallen apart. Even more so than the nose would suggest. There is some glimmers of herbal resins and even touches of medical smoke. But this is pretty much oxidised sadly. Finish: brief and very thin, a little sour wood residue. Comments: The nose was still showing and impressive amount of character and, had this bottle travelled a little better over the decades, I’d say it would be a fascinating and pretty good dram. As things stand, this is a pretty instructive lesson in the order in which a whisky dies.
No score.

Macallan 10 yo (40%, OB, mini, early 1990s)
Colour: amber. Nose: well, exactly. Just a superb and elegant old school, leafy and raisiny sherry. Almonds, sultanas, wee glimmers of chocolate, soft earth, mint tea and hints of leather. Simple, easy but extremely refined. Mouth: excellent weight for 40%. Robustly earthy and more focussed of damp tobacco, leather, stewed dark fruits and bitter chocolate than the lighter nose suggested. Rather a punchy and more assertive sherry profile here. Some notes of espresso, rancio and bitter herbs. Finish: good length, wonderfully leathery, drying, plenty tobacco, bitter chocolate, perfectly bitter herbal notes, treacle, dried mint and miso. Comments: Little wonder people got themselves in a lather about these bottlings. Just superb, effortlessly quaffable sherried malt whisky. One that managed to feel both bigger than its ABV and older that 10 years.
SGP: 561 - 88 points.

Macallan 10 yo (100 proof, Gordon & MacPhail, mini, mid-1970s)
In my experience these 100 proof batches from G&M during this era when they still held the Macallan license could be quite variable. Colour: deep gold. Nose: what I just love here is that the natural distillate is really exposed without any obvious cloak of sherry. Instead you have this wonderfully plush, full and pulpy fruitiness. Ripe yellow and green fruits, mirabelle jam, damsons, pollens, beeswax and flower honeys. Also wee touches of mint, dried apple rings, golden sultanas and melon. With water: a king of oily and fatty cereal profile emerges - cereal eau de vie - with touches of caraway, linseed oil, vase water and lanolin. Mouth: superb and powerful arrival, all on aged mead, dried flowers, waxes, putty, high class olive oil, mineral oils, waxed canvass, lime cordial and many wee herbal and medical touches. Just wonderfully full and ‘fat’ distillate that feels fantastically textural and mouth-coating. With water: again this impression of ‘fatness’ and breadth of flavour. Full of subtle floral, waxy and honeyed notes. Still lightly medical, mentholated and showing more crystallised fruits now. Finish: long, superbly thick, honeyed, resinous, mentholated, jammy yellow fruits, pollens and herbs. Comments: Another, I would argue pretty lost, style of Macallan entirely. The natural aspects of the distillate here - primarily fruits, texture and power - are just spellbinding.
SGP: 662 - 93 points.

Ardmore 9 yo 2009/2019 (58.5%, The Whisky Exchange ‘Single Casks’, cask #707912, ex-Laphroaig barrel, 242 bottles)
Seeing as Laphroaig and Ardmore are in the same stable and Laphroaig makes a big deal out of maturation in 1st fill barrels, it isn’t too surprising that its refills make their way to Ardmore. Nor that we are now seeing a fair few of the results finding their way to the indys. I think they are generally very good, but I also think that given the raw potency of Laphroaig, you could make an argument for this being a blended malt. Colour: white wine. Nose: sharply citric and slightly yeasty, like sourdough starter drizzled with lemon juice. Then some extremely fresh notes of wet fabrics, seawater and crushed seashells. Some gutsy medicines too. With water: pure, crisp, salty and with glimmers of cereals and carbolic wash acidity. Mouth: could be a light Laphroaig really. All sharp lemon juice, kiln smoke, tar and TCP, only later does there come some more classical Ardmore farmyard smokiness. Some tar, engine oil and dried seaweed. With water: a little softer and more complex with water. Fragrant smoke, beach sand, pebbles, ink and some scattered dry herbs. Still very drying, powerful and medical though. Finish: long, deeply smoky, ashy, mineral and very salty and medical. Comments: Given this blind and told it was Laphroaig I suspect I wouldn’t blink. An ideal whisky with which to kindle some impossible arguments. I find it very good, but still a little young and rough around the edges. These batches in a few years should start to be pretty great I think.
SGP: 366 - 84 points.

Ardmore 9 yo 2009/2018 (58.5%, The Single Cask, cask #1312, 217 bottles)
I would assume this is from another ex-Laphroaig barrel, but let’s see… Colour: white wine. Nose: perhaps not, this is much more focussed on that classical Ardmore farminess. Hay bails, cow sheds, horse sweat, pepped cured meats, hot mustard and notes of soot and herbal teas. A more gentle, industrial smokiness writhing underneath. With water: a little crisper and leaner in its smokiness, like frying bacon lardons, sootier, fatter and showing touches of tar. Mouth: smoked olive oil, boiled ham, seaweed flakes in hot ramen broth, smoked paprika, black olive bread and engine oil. Big, gutsy and rather powerful but definitely far more ‘Ardmore’. With water: very good, much more herbaceous, umami, saline, meaty and full of tar, embrocations, olive oil and spicy rye breads. Finish: long, brimming with leafy smokiness, natural tar, ointments, mercurochrome and black olive tapenade. Comments: I would love to know if this was also an ex-Laphroaig barrel. What’s for sure is that the distillery character is fully out and proud here, which is great. By comparison I really am left with the impression that these ex-Laph Ardmores are rather muddled and conflict-ridden whiskies in many ways - the Ardmore itself  seems rather lost in the crossfire. Anyway, this one was excellent.
SGP: 464 - 86 points.

Ledaig 26 yo 1993/2019 (45%, The Single Cask, cask #245, 94 bottles)
Colour: straw. Nose: feels like one of these funny vintages where Ledaig and Tobermory become kind of indistinguishable from each other. Some gentle barley sweetness and malt extract with lactic sweetness like condensed milk, vapour rubs, lightly waxed parchments, menthol tobacco, lemon peel, gentle herbal infusions and umami broths. Mouth: hang on! An immediate and rather striking departure - a handbrake turn almost - towards overripe orange peel, cheng pi dried orange peel tea, kumquats, preserved lemons, pink grapefruit and some rather bitter notes of blood orange. Weird citrus all the way! More barley extract, white mushroom and herbal teas. There’s also the funny chemical touches which occasionally veer into bubblegum territory. In time it realigns a little more with the nose and there’s some nicely salty / savoury bread notes emerging. Finish: medium and very savoury, herbal, oily cereals, minerals, putty, white pepper, lime pith and various breads. Comments: Strange, funny, talkative and at times downright unusual whisky. But it’s never less than charmingly esoteric and eccentric, and certainly far from boring. Another one of these drams to pour blind for whisky friends.
SGP: 652 - 87 points.

Ledaig 24 yo 1995/2020 (46.4%, Whisky Nerds, cask #128, hogshead, 102 bottles)
Colour: pale straw. Nose: brighter, more immediately on cereals, breads and honeys and probably a bit more classical. A clear coastal note, white flowers, soft waxes, herbal teas with lemon peel and touches of wintergreen and bergamot. Elegantly fragrant in fact. Mouth: wonderfully juicy on arrival, white jellybeans and other pineapple sweeties. Fruit salad juices, miso, green fruits, banana and a wee hint of custard adding a sense of creaminess. Goes on with herbal teas, dried tarragon and white pepper. Finish: good length, savoury, lightly salty, dried flowers, herbal teas, pithy citrus peels and a tiny medical kiss in the aftertaste. Comments: Very impressive. Probably my favourite thus far out of all these 90s Ledaigs that have popped up recently.
SGP: 651 - 89 points.

Laphroaig 17 yo 1989/2007 (50.3%, OB Feis Ile, 4000 bottles)
I have fond memories of quaffing this one with rather merry abandon during Feis 2007, but I never recorded proper notes for it. Time to make amends… Colour: gold. Nose: tar, seashore, coastal freshness, lemon rind, TCP and some very fragrant touches of grapefruit, Earl Grey tea and brine mixed with olive oil. With water: gets immediately younger and more vigorously coastal. Fresh Atlantic air, beach foam, sand and boiled langoustine. Mouth: here you feel the sweetness of the bourbon barrels rather more intensely with these notes of smoky, creamy vanilla, there’s also more natural tarriness, pine sap, seawater, soy sauce and camphor. Perfectly elegant and balanced with these wispy curls of pure peat smoke. With water: perfect! The wood sweetness steps back and we’re again getting this beautiful balance of fragrant, smoked teas, peat embers and pithy citrus peels. Finish: long, wood embers, iodine, smoked olive oil, cough medicine, salted liquorice and seaweed. Comments: At times there’s a tension between the sweetness of the cask and the ‘Laphroaigness’ of the distillate, however with a few drops of water the end result is harmony and beautiful distillery character.
SGP: 566 - 91 points.

Laphroaig 30 yo 1989/2019 (46.8%, The Whiskyfind, Mizunara oak finish, 1410 bottles)
I will admit to thinking that Mizunara is slightly overhyped as a ‘thing’. However, it may just be that I’m smelly Scottish philistine. Colour: gold. Nose: it’s taken on this wonderfully fragrant profile that mature Laphroaig from this era seems to possess. Sandalwood, dried herbs, lapsing souchong, crab sticks, mint tea, leather, miso, fir wood, dried seaweed, mineral oil and canvas. There’s a wonderful sense of umami, gentle coastal notes and various citrus peels. Mouth: richly tarry and with a lovely seam of soft, herbal peat smoke. Brine, olive oil, miso, soy sauce, more piney notes, preserved lemons and cough syrups. Finish: not the longest but superbly resinous, tarry, peppery, herbal and nicely saline. Comments: Rather simple and elegant in its construction, but everything is in its place and there’s no sense that whatever has gone on with the Mizunara has been anything other than very sensitively handled.
SGP: 655 - 90 points.

Daftmill 11 yo 2009/2020 (60.6%, OB for LMDW, sherry butt, cask #28, 630 bottles)
We’ve tried many more ex-bourbon Daftmills until now, but there was a 2006 ex-sherry for Berry Bros. that had been stupendous last year. Colour: deep gold. Nose: have I already written that Daftmill was of ‘grand cru’ quality in my book? Not unlike these garage wines in Pomerol that command higher prices than Pétrus or Lafleur? In fact, this nose is rather exceptional, without any of the heaviness or clumsiness that could be seen elsewhere in such a situation, and just a fantastic and very precise papaya/mango combination that no one can resist. Pink grapefruits too, and not too many raisins and walnuts. Luminous. With water: touches of tobacco and fig leaves. The grapefruits keep Hendrixing. Mouth (neat): high-precision citrus and other tropical fruits, coated with just a dollop of heather honey. Amen. With water: tiny bits of putty, saps, resins, chewing-gum, sweeter oils, waxes… Exactly what a great malty make would display. Exceptional drop and something, if I may, that’s reminiscent of some old sherried Rosebanks that D.L. used to have around Y2K. Finish: long, superb, slightly waxy and resinous, otherwise on the brightest citrus, bergamots, kumquats, grapefruits… Comments: I’m just totally impressed. Oh and no silly finishings and no silly labels, it is all about whisky at Daftmill’s (and BBR’s). Soooo smart…
SGP:651 - 92 points.

Balvenie 21 yo ‘Single Barrel’ (47.8%, OB, cask #5883, 300 bottles)
It says ‘traditional oak’, so I suppose that’s a refill American oak hogshead. And we are absolutely not against that. Colour: light gold. Nose: a lot of putty, some nail polish, then some green tea, wheelbarrows of almonds and marzipan, while it would then gear towards the more traditional mirabelles and apricots that I always enjoy in Balvenie. There’s a touch of mint too, perhaps wild carrots… All that before it would turn to buttered popcorn. Mouth: big bodied, with some peppery touches upfront, the usual mirabelles again (but as jam), a pinch of grated coconut, then really green barley that you would have stolen from a field (boo). It’s still got youth and a lovely firmness, we’re not quite in post-prandial territories yet. Finish: long as a Frank Zappa solo, and even improving, I’m even finding a salty touch. Salt in Balvenie? More popcorn too, it’s true that caramelised and salted popcorn is a slaughter, as we say. Never buy very large bags of that and sit in front of Netflix. Comments: still kind of young, and just excellent.
SGP:551 - 89 points.

Balvenie ‘Tun 1509’ (52.4%, OB, Batch #7, 2020)
I believe they’re doing one batch of this tun a year. Colour: gold. Nose: I suppose there’s some sherry inside this time, not too sure, I’ve haven’t seen the sacred list. Burnt raisins, panettone, fudge and toffee, café latte, perhaps a spoonful of fig jam and one of peanut butter… With water: herbal teas, menthol and pine needles – on top of all the rest. Mouth (neat): lovely, it’s got the sexy roughness that we’ve always enjoyed in some other well-known NAS (a.k.a. pretty young) Speysiders from the olden times, with a good dose of chocolate, coffee, roasted peanuts, raisins, toffee and allspice. Classic no-fuss rich and convincing whisky. With water: the spices further come out, but the whole remains rather rounded and even a little easy, in a good way. Gingerbread and Stolle. Finish: long and even spicier, I mean more on spice cake. No, not space cake, spice cake. Comments: 70% sherry and 40% bourbon? Maybe, I have no proper clue at hand. And yes we’re the best at math.
SGP:561 - 87 points.