Cragganmore 27 yo 1989/2016 (51.6%, Whisky Agency for Art Taiwan & The Drunken Master ‘World Bar Tour’, hogshead, 239 bottles)
Colour: light amber. Nose: quite a different world from the Weymss. This is all on sweet pastry, polished hardwoods, some dark fruits, toasted brioche, buttery croissant, sultanas and some light mechanical oils - an oily old bike chain. Develops a leaner and slightly drier side with notes of putty and wood spice. Very satisfying. With water: light notes of tobacco, molasses, wild strawberry and pomegranate liqueur. Mouth: quite rich with lots of of leafy and milk chocolate notes, golden syrup, a hint of truffle oil and some treacle sponge cake. Ginger biscuits, cinnamon and a little marzipan. With water: fruit cake, maraschino, shortbread, butterscotch and darjeeling tea. Finish: Good length, all on soft spices, breads, quince, leafy tobacco notes and a little plum sauce. Comments: Sold and very quaffable Cragganmore. A good selection from our Taiwanese friends.
SGP: 541 - 87 points.

Strathmill 21 yo 1990/2012 (54.4%, Duncan Taylor ‘Dimensions’, cask #4248, 280 bottles)
Colour: amber. Nose: ooft, it’s one of those sherry casks that seems to have previously held bovril or oxtail soup with a residual hint of natural gas. A dense and rather flabby sherry, lots of bicycle inner tube, slightly off prune juice and something akin to sour leather. Not sure this is the cleanest sherry really... some stale mushrooms, distant raspberry jam and a few clods of damp earth. Tricky stuff so far. With water: fresher raspberries now, mint julep, coal hearth, soot and some old wine cellars. Water seems to do the trick. Mouth: not so funky as on the nose, which is undoubtedly good news. Instead there’s quite a bit of earth, damp tobacco leaf, red fruit jams, more meaty tones but in this instance they’re more towards cured meats and heavy dark beers. Black coffee, stout, maraschino cherry liqueur and a touch of metal polish. With water: all rather good and classical now. A lively and lean mix of earthy, fruity and meaty sherry. Finish: Medium length and all on light notes of lamp oil, hessian, aged calvados, raisiny sweet sherry and balsamic. Comments: Well, that was touch and go to start with. Thankfully water and time seemed to clean things up nicely. I’m not sure how much the distillate character of Strathmill had to say amongst all this but it’s a fun wee bottling all the same. I’d avoid the nose though, just pour into a tumbler with a dollop of water and watch Planet Earth II.
SGP: 561 - 82 points.

Strathmill 11 yo 1980/1992 (60.6%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection)
This one looks like we’ll have an uninterrupted view of the distillery character of Strathmill - whatever that may be... Colour: white wine. Nose: tough! Lots of plastic, chalk, clay, plasticine, ink, newspaper. Pretty austere really. Some sunflower seeds and a drop of sesame oil, then a little tang of mint and wax. But generally it’s rather brutal. Let’s go directly to the water... With water: a few geraniums emerge alongside this sort of greenhouse note. Aside from that there’s brake fluid, WD40 and some kind of generic ‘kitchen grease’. Mouth: it’s one of these slightly bizarre and unusual high strength things that Cadenhead seemed to specialise in during the early 1990s (alongside many legendary bottlings as well), it seems to be very much a style of these blending factory malts during the era of the whisky loch. It’s all on plastic, sour apples, silage, cardboard, old chip oil and printer paper. Weird, difficult and pretty hot. Not hugely flawed, just a struggle. With water: getting more sour now, more cardboardy and even a tad on the rancid side. Finish: mercifully brief. Lingering vegetable notes, something like baked courgette. Comments: I had hopes that this one might be a nice alternative to the Duncan Taylor, but it’s really pretty naff I am sorry to report.
SGP: 241 - 64 points.

Bruichladdich 8 yo 2009/2018 (50%, OB ‘The Organic’, bourbon)
According to Bruichladdich’s website this one is made entirely from organic barley grown at the Mid Coul farms in Dalcross outside Inverness. Apparently it has to take its turn in a seven year crop rotation that includes cattle, sheep and other crops. Rather cool I think.  Colour: Straw. Nose: a lean and buttery sweetness from the first fill bourbon casks initially but underneath quite a bit of lemon peel, sea air, citrus marmalades and some trodden greenery such as smooshed dandelions and dock leafs. Grassy olive oil, a clean, pure and slightly dusty maltiness and gentle farminess in the background. Lots of crushed oatcakes and hay as well. Really excellent I think. With water: lots of rather brittle but fragrant minerality: beach pebbles, flints, chalk and sandalwood. And many more cereal and citrus aspects. Mouth: barley sugar, lemon barley water and a surprisingly saline edge that alludes to brine and raw sea water. More sweetness after this, some vanilla cream, sweetened mascarpone, a tiny flicker of ointment and lamp oil. With water: this seesaw between sweet and dry continues. More gristy, punchly maltiness alongside notes of sherbet, vanilla ice cream and light earthiness. Finish: long, lemony, earthy, malty, slightly sooty, salty and extremely crisp. Comments: I really love that these contemporary Bruichladdichs manage to manifest so much character and flavour at a younger age and largely without any peat. It’s really excellent whisky. Give these batches a couple more years and they should easily be exceeding 90 points I think.
SPG: 552 - 89 points.

Bruichladdich 12 yo 2005/2018 (62.0%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, ‘Punchy, wacky, ashy!’, #23.74, first fill barrel. 221 bottles)
Colour: White wine. Nose: There is something undeniably distinctive about these ‘new’ vintages of Bruichladdich - especially now that they are starting to get into a more mature stride. There is a real grubby, greasy kind of coastal/farmy quality to this one. Overlaid with a creamy vanilla aspect from the cask and then subtle notes of cornflakes, mashed potato, cider apples, chives and wholegrain mustard. There’s also a medical aspect, curious notes of dental floss, very light antiseptic and a big, gravelly, bruising, sooty minerality. With water: lots of white flowers, flints, beach sand, sea salt and a background hint of olive oil. Still a beast. Mouth: A mouthful of crushed nettles, grass liqueur, Tequila blanco, concrete, chalk, lime juice, wax and crushed aspirin in lemon juice. Totally crazy, rather immense distillate. Almost goes to war with you without provocation. I rather love it. With water: coal tar soap, lanolin, fabric, smouldering sandalwood, juniper and hessian. Immensely characterful distillate. Finish: Long, thick, farmy, oily, salty, ink, chalk, lime rind - superb! Comments: I love a lot of what Bruichladdich do, but I would like to see them put out more totally naked, pure, potent bottlings such as this. It’s undoubtedly one of the most characterful distillates still made in Scotland. Great selection by the SMWS. I suspect it may be too brutal for some people, but for fans of raw, unbridled, distillate-derived personality in their whiskies, you could do a lot worse.
SGP: 472 - 90 points.