Glen Scotia 10 yo 2008/2019 (58.0%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #93.108 ‘Earthy and masculine’ for Campbeltown Malts Festival 2019, 1st fill bourbon barrel, 222 bottles)
I was unhappy at myself for not including a Glen Scotia in my Campbeltown report last Saturday so let’s try to correct that wee oversight here. This is one of several casks the SMWS have released for the assorted regional whisky festivals in Scotland this year. Colour: straw. Nose: esters, diesel fumes and funk! We’re certainly in the weird and wonderful world of ‘medium peated’ Glen Scotia. Lots of strange ointments, brake fluid, bicycle chains, pencil erasers, tar, seawater and fish stock. There’s really nothing else like these funny peaty Scotias - they can be almost dundery and rum like in some ways. This one gets farmier with time, almost towards cow pats and silage. In a good way, I promise. With water: a little more traditional now. Earthy, salty, peppery, some rather fat notes of smoked barley, peat embers and starched linen. Mouth: pure antiseptic and medicine. Raw oysters doused in petrol and germoline. A huge spoonful of paraffin and high ester rum. Mental whisky. Fish sauce, sardine paste, anchovies and the sourest young Belgian Gueuze beer. I can’t help but really like this style, even if you couldn’t perhaps drink too many drams in one sitting. With water: again it’s a tad less extreme now. But also much oilier. More mechanical, sooty, lime skins, WD40, briny and with a kind of sharp salad vinaigrette note as well. Finish: long and very ashy, briny, sooty, mechanical, estery, fatty and smoky. Comments: I suspect some people will just hate this style. But I think it is probably amongst the most uncompromisingly characterful makes in Scotland today. Wish Glen Scotia would bottle more things like this themselves.
SGP: 485 - 87 points.

All Islay Batch 1 Blended Malt (47.5%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company)
This isn’t really a bottling for the festival, but the good folks from Master Of Malt were handing them out on Caol Ila pier so why not...? Colour: pale white wine. Nose: preserved lemons, whelks on a BBQ, sea water, lemon juice, oysters. The epitome of fresh, blustery, clean and rather precise modern Islay malt whisky. There’s also a rather yeasty and autolytic side which hints at the general youthfulness of the overall profile. Mouth: salted lemon juice, gravel, mineral salts, seaweed crackers and some gloopy spoonfuls of medicine. Something like pine resin and roof pitch as well. Good! Finish: medium and quite ashy with lots of lemon juice and a little brine and hessian. Comments: easy, quaffable and rather feisty Islay malt. Although I think the bottling strength was smart as it kind of tames the rougher edges well but still gives a good sense of body.
SGP: 355 - 83 points.

Bunnahabhain 13 yo 2005/2019 (61.8%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #10.168 ‘Cuquillo black olives’ for Feis Ile 2019, 2nd fill barrel, 205 bottles)
Sadly I couldn’t try Bunnahabhain’s official festival bottling this year (sorry also to Kilchoman on that front) but thankfully this wee SMWS offering was available. Colour: white wine. Nose: sea breezes and freshly laundered linen at first. Then sea salt, lemon rind, freshly rolled oats, miso broth and hints of various breads and toasted seeds. It’s a fitting bottling for a festival with this very evocative ‘Atlantic’ profile. Hints of mustard powder and cornflakes too along with green olive studded pitta breads and light hessian and bandage notes. With water: crab claws, taramasalata, olive oil, sunflower seeds, gorse and heather ale. Extremely pure, fresh and rather uncompromising with this austere quality. Mouth: big, rather textural and fatty delivery. Lots of raw barley, grist, vegetable broth, white asparagus, lemon pith, raw cereals, white flowers, chalk and limestone. We’re very close to the distillate here, which is good news as the distillate is excellent - if a tad intense and punchy at full strength. With water: really works well now! Wonderfully oily, getting more mineral, citrusy, flinty and with a big, textural cereal heart. Finish: good length and with lots of dry, wholesome and savoury cereal notes. Lots of oatmeal, brown bread, raw barley, toasted seeds and some lightly earthy notes. Comments: Not the easiest dram, but a great example of a naked, unpeated Bunnahabhain in full, no-nonsense swing. One to sip contemplatively on piers while wearing a dark overcoat.
SGP: 362 - 87 points.

Bowmore 1997/2019 ‘Distillery Manager’s Selection’ (51.7%, OB, first fill oloroso sherry casks, 3000 bottles)
This isn’t a festival release. It’s a recent bottling which had sold out by the time we got to the distillery, so we were able to taste it but unable to buy bottles sadly. Colour: reddish coffee. Nose: Modern Bowmore and sherry can be a bit of a funny combination sometimes but this one works well so far with big initial notes of salted walnuts, coffee liqueur, tar, toasted raisins, fruit loaf and various smoked meats. There’s a nice damp earthiness and notes of old leather. Lots of dunnage, hessian, coal dust and touches of lambic ales. With water: earthier, more hessian, plenty dark chocolate, more tar, black pepper and cola syrup. A wee hint of good quality root beer as well and with time there’s also things like ink and dried herbs coming to the fore. Mouth: Big bitter chocolate notes, espresso, strawberry infused pipe tobacco, game meats, walnut wine and tar liqueur. Black pepper, wood spices, jasmine, strong black tea and mushroom powder. Very good! With water: now there’s some fruit emerging too. Red fruit jams, orange cordial, peaches and dried apricot. That rather meaty aspect has started to balance out nicely. There’s more cola sweetness, more coffee and big spicy notes of star anise and five spice. BBQ sauce as well. Finish: long and prickling with heat. Spicy hot sauce, camphor, iodine, salted meats and old balsamic. Comments: This was a sherry and peat combo which danced rather than fought. Some may well find it a bit too much and indeed the sherry is a tad intense at times. Bit I find it a big, gutsy and very excellent wee Bowmore.
SGP: 575 - 89 points.

Bowmore 15 yo (51.7%, OB Feis Ile Collection 2019, first fill bourbon casks, 3000 bottles)
While we could taste but not buy the 1997, we could buy but not taste this bottling which was done for the festival. Apparently it was being ‘launched’ at a dinner the next night. I wasn’t aware ‘launched’ now means ‘we’ll sell it but we won’t pour it’. Thankfully I managed to find some open behind the Bowmore hotel bar. Interestingly this one is the same strength and outturn as the 1997, I wonder why they chose this bottling strength? Colour: white wine. Nose: very saline and sharply coastal at first. Lots of raw lemon juice, pink sea salt, pears, sheep wool, oysters, petrol, lime juice, coal dust and a slightly fragrant heathery aspect. There are a few classical Bowmore fruit notes as well but they’re really buried under this ocean of seashell, minerals, brine and pin-sharp freshness. Very ‘millimetric’ as Serge would say. With water: super medicinal now. Lots of embrocations, bandages, ointments and starchy notes. Cornflour, putty, rock pools and wet seaweed. Mouth: superb! Lemon oils, scented waxes, citronella, sandalwood, seaweed, beach pebbles, squid ink and even a sprig of mint. The fruits are pronounced as well. Still a fair bit of oily sheep wool but also lots of raw barley, kiln smoke and sourdough. With water: still sharp and pure but with an added layer of fruits such as tangerine and melon with a fuller thickness to the texture. Finish: long, full of raw barley, smoke, peat embers, lemon peel, yeast, wood ash and brine. Comments: ‘Dear Bowmore. Please do more stuff like this!’ 3000 bottles at £85 apiece. For me that’s the epitome of what a good festival bottling should be. Top notch, distillery character forward whisky that everyone there can get and enjoy.
SGP: 465 - 90 points.

Laphroaig Càirdeas Triple Wood Cask Strength (59.5%, OB, Feis Ile 2019, 36,000 bottles)
Another NAS expression from Laphroaig. So long as it was aged for as many years as there are words in the title then we should be ok... Colour: gold. Nose: lots of dense, polished oak. Very sweet smokiness, tar, pine resin, workshops full of sawdust and graphite oil. A funny mix of sweet soot, salted butter, mercurochrome, pink peppercorns and diesel. With water: pencil shavings, cumin, hot buttered toast, dried kelp, rubber fishing wellies and salty Bovril. Also odd notes of powdered foundation, old rope and peppered mackerel. Mouth: Punchy! Sweet peat, ashes, icing sugar, brake fluid, mechanical oils, green pepper, black olives, turpentine and paraffin. Big peat and big wood in a head on collision. It just about works. Just... With water: medical, oily, sweet, ashy, petroly and with plenty of lemons, waxes, raw paraffin, crayons, turmeric, hessian and new leather. Finish: long, very peaty, iodine, gravel, miso broth, black olive and sweetened brine. Comments: There’s undeniably too much wood for my taste. But this is some very silly, very powerful and very fun Laphroaig. And shouldn’t a festival be about fun? Maybe next year the Feis Ile committee could do t-shirts that say ‘Feis Ile 2020: Fun not flipping’? Maybe not...
SGP: 777 - 84 points.

Laphroaig 19 yo 1999/2019 (56.9%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society #29.260 ‘A visceral, elemental experience’ for Feis Ile 2019, American oak oloroso butt / Spanish oak oloroso butt, 507 bottles)
This one was re-racked from American oak sherry into Spanish oak sherry at 16 years old, an interesting type of finish I suppose. Colour: deep brownish amber. Nose: as we often note on Whiskyfun, modern peat and sherry don’t often tango well. However, there are exceptions and it seems that this is one of them. A deep, syrupy and intense mix of cola cubes, strawberry wine, black olive paste, paprika, smoked meats, herbal peat smoke and ancient tar liqueurs. If you marinated old leather-bound library books in brine and espresso you might get something like this. Also some very salty Dutch liquorice, aged cigars, Marmite and smoked prunes. Pretty fantastic I have to say. With water: cola syrup, root beer, raspberry jam, cloves, star anise, fir liqueur and smoked teas. Beautifully fragrant and complex with water. Mouth: the sherry is huge, as is the peat, but somehow they work together rather than do battle. There’s more of these deeply meaty and oily salami notes. Lots of camphor, fruity black coffee, mustard powder, tar, old rope, waxes, pot pourri, jasmine tea, sods of damp earth, old wine cellars and many old school syrupy cough medicines. Pretty great stuff. With water: as on the nose everything evens out and becomes more gentle and complex. Lots more sooty, oily and peaty qualities. Big notes of boiler smoke, tar and liquorice. Strong black tea, bitter chocolate, juniper and coal smoke. Also a hint of blueberry as well. Finish: long, deeply earthy, tarry and full of bitter herbal extracts, old ointments, medical tinctures, cured game meats, cocoa and sarsaparilla. Comments: I couldn’t tell you what the finish lent this one but something along the way, about both casks, has really worked a treat. It doesn’t feel like a finish and the richness, depth, complexity and concentration of the sherry and peat into a big, gloopy, earthy, fruity, peaty morass has just worked brilliantly.
SGP: 576 - 92 points.

Octomore 12 yo ‘Event Horizon’ (55.7%, OB Feis Ile 2019)
A tribute to that cult film starring Sam Neil and Laurence Fishburne... or perhaps not. It’s certainly the oldest Octomore released to date and the first full term sherry matured expression. Colour: light amber. Nose: quite gentle initially with lots of wafting smoky bacon crisps, hessian and marmite on brown toast. Then it’s moving more towards bouillon stock, miso broth, green olives in brine and antiseptic. There wee notes of salted brown butter, bitter herbal oils, lemon rind and pure seawater. It’s a very salty one with the sherry slightly more on the subdued side. It’s the sea salt, minerals and a dry, slightly grubby coastal smokiness that dominate. With water: still very salty but also more tarry now. Rare green pepper, black olive and lashings of brine. Touches of fruity black coffee in the background. Mouth: soot and salt in abundance. Salted almonds, raw bonfire smoke, wet leaves, liquid seasonings, cocktail bitters, celery salt, carbon paper and industrial floor cleaner. More bacon notes like frying pancetta and black pepper. Gets increasingly meaty and stocky. With water: big notes of smoked meats, marzipan, waxed paper, engine oil, tarry rope and some salty old madeira. I’m not certain the sherry and peat are dancing to the same tune. Finish: long, super saline, meaty, lemony, tarry and still lots of hessian and various seasonings. Comments: Did I mention salt? I wouldn’t say it’s as balanced or as integrated as it could be. But the raw, unbridled singular power can’t fail to impress. Octomore fanatics will be joyfully gooey over this one I’m sure.
SGP: 378 - 85 points.

Caol Ila 22 yo (58.4%, OB Feis Ile 2019, sherry-treated American oak casks, 3000 bottles)
Colour: deep gold. Nose: Surprisingly soft. A beautifully fragrant coastal character of sea salt, lemons in brine and beach pebbles. Sandalwood, heather honey, coal smoke and a lovely mix of beach sand and crushed sea shells. There’s a familiar and syrupy herbal quality that gets increasingly prominent as well. Things like mint syrup, herbal ointments and old style cough mixture sweets. I find it extremely aromatic and fragrant. Wonderfully approachable despite the strength. With water: citronella, hessian and a big dial up on the seashore notes. Seaweed, rock pools, pebbles, chalk, bracken and hospital corridors. More medical aspects such as disinfectant and bandages. Mouth: much bigger on arrival than the nose might suggest. Prickling with seashore freshness, minerals, citrus infused oils, gentle tar liqueur notes, old Benedictine and lapsang souchong. Underneath there’s green tea, dried wildflowers, tangerine, eucalyptus sweets and green olive. With water: perfect! Totally salty, mineral, medical, syrupy and with this wonderful fatness to the peat. You can add black olives, petrol, iodine and this persistent and terrific coastal character. Finish: very long. All on brine, both shares of olive, tar, parsley, ointments, sea salt and smoked shellfish. Comments: We’re not quite in the same ballpark as the early 80s casks which are pleasingly ubiquitous these days. But nor are we quite at the latter 90s style either. Rather, we’re somewhere between the two that’s very much its own style. The sherry aspect was very quiet but the overall impression was of an evocative, punchy, complex, elegant and brilliant Caol Ila. Along with the SMWS Laphroaig it’s my joint favourite of this year’s Feis bottlings.
SGP: 466 - 92 points.

Lagavulin 19 yo (53.8%, OB Feis Ile 2019, sherry-treated American oak casks, 6000 bottles)
This one seems to have played a game of musical casks according to the press release. Let’s see how obvious that is. Colour: gold. Nose: rather clean and full of rope, hessian, petrol and mineral oil at first. No great sherry influence up front but a sense of earthiness and some rather rooty peat notes. Hints of salted pistachio, Iberico ham, dried herbs, celery salt and cough medicine. Pretty good so far. With water: sea greens, white flowers, soot, smoked meats, pollens and black olive. Getting towards a rather classical Lagavulin style I’d say. Mouth: rather hot and full of toasted seeds and brown bread. Old rope, leather, hessian, ointments, cooking oils, scotch broth, iodine, lambic ales and heather smoke. There’s a kind of gingery sherry quality but it’s rather quiet and well-integrated - which is good news. Still very earthy and rather peppery as well. With water: some root vegetable notes amidst all the earthy tones, drying, herbal style peat, kelp, rope, ointments, dried apple rings and mushroom powder. Increasingly herbal, medical and drying with a lingering saltiness. Finish: long, lots of peat embers, cured meats, salt baked fish, tar liqueur, ointments, herbal extracts and cough syrup. Comments: A very good whisky, although, considering the pedigree, you could almost argue it’s also a mild disappointment. Now, let’s remember we’re splitting hairs here to a pretty big degree. It’s just we’ve come to expect pretty serious things from these Feis Lagas.
SGP: 466 - 90 points.

Hazelburn 10 yo 2007/2018 (55.9%, OB for Springbank Society, refill sauternes hogsheads, 846 bottles)
Colour: deep gold. Nose: slightly funny nose of fresh carpets at first, but then cereals, toasted nuts (peanuts in particular), mead, coal dust, green wood, hawthorn, olive oil and gorse. The sauternes isn’t very loud so far, overall its very pleasant if a little unlikely. With water: sunflower oil, air freshener, trodden grass, fresh mud, potting sheds, chalk and a hint of lime jelly. Funny stuff. Mouth: That carpety aspect is back and also new leather, plasticine, fabric, green pepper, coal ashes, citrus pith and hessian cloth. Touches of pollen, clay and maybe a touch of cardboard. Unusual is the word. With water: nicer with dilution. Now there’s a balanced mix of soft spices, juniper, white pepper, lemon infused oil, black olive and some overripe tangerine. Finish: Good length but a tad rough and simple. Aspirin, plastic and cough syrups. Comments: I maintain that Hazelburn needs age to bloom. Now, this one was undeniably a bit whacky, but it’s still good and plenty fun.
SGP: 461 - 83 points. 

Hazelburn 21yo 1997/2019 (46%, OB for Campbeltown Malts Festival, refill sherry hogshead, 222 bottles)
Colour: light amber. Nose: light and leafy sherry with salted caramel, snicker’s bar and candied mixed nuts. Hints of orange peel, hessian, damp pipe tobacco, chestnuts and something approaching bitter lemon. Add some soft, un-malted cereals and green tea with a slice of lemon. The coastal inflections are pretty light but they are present and very elegant. Mouth: superbly rich, nutty and chocolatey sherry. Plenty of bouillon stock, vegetable broth, Maggi seasoning, salted liquorice and dark fruit chutneys. Again there’s this lovely mix of damp, dark tobaccos and gently sooty, coastal and earthy tones. Some strawberry liqueur, umami seasoning and wee notes of dried mint and herbal ointments. Finish: long and on rather bitter herbal notes - Unicum etc - liquorice, sea salt, peanuts, menthol and a little espresso. Delicious stuff! Comments: This was a very good sherry cask, which isn’t always the case at Springbank in this day and age. I think Hazelburn is really getting into its stride at this age. These recent older bottlings are far better than many of their younger counterparts in my view. What I love most with this one though, is how the ‘Campbeltown’ character still shines through. A great wee Hazelburn.
SGP: 561 - 90 points.

Springbank 6 yo 2012/2019 (60.1%, OB Cage Bottle, refill barrel, 1 bottles)
An entirely pointless tasting note given that this is one of Springbank’s well loved ‘Cage’ bottlings from the Cadenhead Shop in Campbeltown. Unless you could consider it illustrative of younger contemporary Springbanks in general? Let’s say that’s our excuse. Plus, no visit to Campbeltown is complete without a rummage in the Cadenhead Cage. Colour: straw. Nose: rather chalky with lots of barley sugar, sherbet and lemon oil. Some gravel, light notes of seawater, fresh cereals and various fresh shellfish notes. The coastal side really shines here. With water: chalky, raw barley, mineral, yeasty - we’re really down amongst the raw ingredients now. Very gristy, mashy and with an autolytic aspect. Mouth: the immaturity shows here a bit more than on the nose. Some rather aggressive peppery heat, notes of fabric and fresh linens. Green pepper, rapeseed oil and hints of paraffin and more petroly notes. With water: again we’re getting close to the basics - yeasty, fermenty notes, sour apples, gravel, dry cider and various breads and toasted seeds. Finish: medium and rather hot and prickly but with some nice lemony, barley qualities underneath. Comments: It’s still a tad young but it’s interesting to try because the distillate is very good and you can really kind of feel it taking shape. A fun thing to try with geeky pals, although more than one dram would be a struggle I think.
SGP: 361 - 83 points.

Springbank 8 yo 2011/2019 (56.8%, OB for Campbeltown Malts Festival, fresh sherry casks, 1100 bottles)
This is one of three new bottlings especially for the festival. Colour: amber. Nose: a big leathery, earthy sherry. Lots of tobacco leaf, mushrooms, marmite, star anise, cough medicine and some rather punchy saline notes. Good so far but a tad sharp. With water: quite salty now, a touch of cigarette ash, graphite and various medicines. Mouth: Strong herbal teas and extracts, cocktail bitters, Seville orange, mustard powder and salty bacon. Quite robust, no nonsense stuff. And the sherry is pretty clean which is good. With water: sweeter and oilier now. Lightly tarry, more ointments, some grilled shellfish and BBQ sauce. Finish: reasonably long and on more of these BBQ notes like char, brown sauce, cough medicine and light antiseptic notes. Comments: I can see why they would bottle such a thing for the festival. This is big, gutsy, uncomplicated whisky for late nights and staying up for the sun. Now, I’d also say it’s a tad tough at times as well.
SGP: 472 - 84 points.

Springbank 21 yo (46%, OB, 2019, 3600 bottles)
Apparently this one was matured in a mix of 45% port and 55% rum. Not sure if that was full term maturations or re-rackings. Colour: amber. Nose: a nice mix of gentle, leafy earthiness, soft tarry notes, embrocations, tobaccos and red fruit jams. Things like raspberry liquorice, jasmine tea and various kinds of glazed, crystallised and dark fruits. Dates, sultanas, quince and plums to be more precise. In time it gets a little more towards mint and eucalyptus. Really harmonious and characterful nose. Mouth: here the different cask types jar a little more I think. Various overripe citrus peels, cornflakes, muesli, caraway and a more pronounced rum note. Golden syrups, brown sugar, dried herbs, cocktail bitters and some slightly farmy/coastal Springbanky goodness underneath. Finish: good length, back to tobacco, tea tree oils, herbal resins, dried dark fruits and red jams. Comments: a tough one to score. There are parts which really work well with this elegance and gentle complexity. On the other hand it can also feel a tad dissonant at times, especially on the palate. Still, perhaps we’re being a tad too picky...
SGP: 661 - 88 points.

Springbank 21 yo (47.5%, That Boutique-y Whisky Co ‘Batch 8’, madeira casks, 911 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: It does feel like we’re nosing an old wine loft. Lots of grape must, salinity, engine grease, plasticine, wet rocks, sheep wool, pollen and dry roasted nuts. Big, classical Springbank that also shows aspects of soot, lemon rind, tiger balm and - indeed - some rather old dry Madeira! Pretty superb. Mouth: the madeira adds a dry, salty and leathery edge. Underneath there’s some pretty deep, fatty earthy qualities. Turmeric, orange peel, some very old Calvados and roasted pistachios. Garden fruits glazed with golden syrup alongside, Somerset ice cider, waxes and hessian cloth. Unusual yet very good. Different yet very much still Springbank. Finish: long, leathery and very meaty with notes of various stocks and cured meats. Gets a tad dirtier in the aftertaste but it’s more along natural lines than artificial. Comments: I really like this one. Lost a single point in the finish but otherwise I think it’s a cracking and pleasingly unusual old Springbank.
SGP: 562 - 90 points.

Longrow 10 yo (46%, OB, rotation 2010)
Colour: pale white wine. Nose: fabric, beach sand, mineral salts, anchovies and sardines in olive oil, elastoplasts and dried seaweed. Further hints of canvas and hessian with various medical balms and embrocations. Pure, classical and pristine Longrow. Mouth: Bam! Perfect sinewy peat. Medicines. Antiseptic. Ink. Wet rocks. Minerals. Lemons in brine. Really great stuff. Finish: long, very salty, lemony, medical, briny, lightly sooty and fat. Comments: That was quick. A perfect, pure and peaty wee Longrow. These bottles are still pretty cheap at auctions I think. Worth getting, it’s really terrific, characterful Longrow.
SGP: 366 - 90 points.

Longrow 15yo 2004/2019 (52.4%, OB for Campbeltown Malts Festival, fresh rum casks, 911 bottles)
Hmmm, rum and peat? I have to say I’m not often a fan of rum cask whiskies, although this is a full term maturation so let’s see... Colour: white wine. Nose: there is indeed a rather sugary rummy quality, but it’s all wrapped up in embrocations, crushed sea shells and bandages. Lots of lemon rind, quinine, cough mixtures, seawater, rock pools and sheep wool. With water: shoe polish, fabric, metal, floor cleaner and aniseed. Mouth: Smoked grains, buttered cereals, anchovy paste, lemon barley water and things like caraway and aspirin. Squid ink, frying pancetta and salty mead. Pretty good and I don’t find the rum aspects particularly dominant, which I’m happy about. With water: sardines in oil, more anchovies, some rather sooty notes and a good trowel-full of peat. Finish: long, salty, lemony, ashy and full of beach pebbles and mineral salts. Comments: At times it’s rather austere which is not what I would have expected. But overall it’s a rather brittle, chiselled and petroly Longrow. The distillate sings and the rum knows to sit in the corner and be seen and not heard.
SGP: 365 - 86 points.

Angus:
Glen Keith 23 yo 1993/2016 (48.6%, The Whisky Agency ‘Art Nouveau Ladies’, hogshead, 140 bottles)
Colour: straw. Nose: an easy fruity one, ripe banana, guava, melon, some juice from a fruit salad bowl and then leafier, greener aspects beyond that. Some hints of pineapple, apple juice, sultana, nutmeg grated over rice pudding and a sprig of fresh mint. The height of easiness in malt whisky, I find it hard to imagine anyone not finding pleasure in this kind of nose. Goes on with a few wee hints of tonic water and orange vitamin tablets. Mouth: a surprisingly rich cereal and malty profile up front. Lots of juicy malt, lemon barley water, light cough syrups, dried mint, pastis, retsina wine, a touch of eucalyptus, mirabelle, young calvados and some softer earthy tones. Once again, who could be against this? Characterful while also extremely easy going. Finish: good length and rather honied with green fruit syrups, pear drops, candy floss and still plenty of plush cereals and some toast. bready notes. Comments: What more can you say? Easy, fruity, natural malt whisky at the right age. No shortage of enjoyment to be had here.
SGP: 551 - 87 points.

Royal Brackla 19 yo 1997/2017 (46%, Berry Brothers, cask #9911, hogshead)
Colour: white wine. Nose: a rather ‘swollen’ style of spirit. Lots of pretty fat cereals, olive oil, grasses, fresh herbs, tea biscuits, nettles and butter. Pretty good really, we’re some distance from blandness. Wee notes of white pepper, watercress, a scraping of lemon rind and some dried parsley. Eau de malt whisky! Mouth: again this sense of slight fatness. It’s all very cereal / barley driven - which is great - but the texture is what’s most notable. Lemon barley water, buttered brown toast, pot pourri, Darjeeling tea and a wee note of buttermint sweeties. There’s also some shortbread, various freshly baked breads, straw and milky cornflakes dusted with icing sugar. Finish: a little short perhaps. Peppery around the front of the palate in the aftertaste and with some residual cereals and herbal aspects. Comments: Honesty, simplicity and - indeed - loyalty. Exactly the qualities favoured by Her Majesty Queen Victoria. No wonder Berry Brothers bottled it. Probably a suitable tipple for when you’re waiting for the beaters to drive up a few extra Grouse. 
SGP: 551 - 84 points. 

Royal Brackla 27yo 1975/2002 (46%, Murray McDavid ‘Mission I’, 600 bottles)
A series that’s a tad forgotten these days, which is a shame as it sheltered plenty very fine drams. Mind you, that may well be because most of them got quaffed already. Colour: gold. Nose: what strikes first is a rather pronounced medical quality. Something that’s occasionally to be found in these old school highlanders. It’s this mix of balms and light embrocations that sits very well alongside soft waxes, honeys and touches of nectar and beeswax. Some softer fruit notes such as sultanas, banana bread and quince as well. Quite soft but very elegant and enjoyable. Mouth: nicely in keeping with the nose in that the medicines strike first but they’re quickly followed by pine needles, wax jacket, canvas, pipe tobacco, dried citrus peels, sunflower seeds and heather honey. Clean, light, refreshing, old school highland malt whisky. Quite a big difference from the 1997, but then isn’t that always the case with these older whiskies? Finish: medium length and on wood resins, herbal teas, salted honey, hessian, dried mint and putty. Comments: It looks like Serge scored this one 85 points back in the day but didn’t publish any notes for it. I like it a bit more, while it doesn’t quite have the requisite oomph to hit 90 I still think it’s a very solid 88. Probably the sort of thing Prince Philip would enjoy from an optic on his dashboard while navigating a public single track road near Balmoral on a crisp winter morning. 
SGP: 561 - 88 points.