There is now nothing I love more than travelling by air. Mostly for the fact that I get some serious time at World of Whiskies to try out most of their new arrivals and retail exclusives. There is nothing more satisfying than laying out serious money for a bottle of whisky that you know is fantastic because you have tried a dram or two. Following on from my earlier forays into the travel retail market I now had a much clearer idea of some of the basic flavours from distilleries and what particular maturation and finishes may add to these. Due to several spells of seriously inclement winter weather in the UK and Icelandic volcanic eruptions, I have almost gained a sick sort of pleasure at the prospect of being stuck in airport lounges for prolonged periods. This simply equates to more whisky sampling time. During these times I selected the following to supplement my rapidly burgeoning collection.

Ardbeg Corryvreckan & Bunnahabhain Darach Ur from Edinburgh Airport. Bunnahabhain is an Islay Distillery that mostly produces non-peated malts whilst Ardbeg lies on the south coast of Islay next to Laphroaig and Lagavulin – all of which have reputations as peat-monsters.

Old Pulteney WK217 Spectrum & Aberlour 12 year old sherry cask both from Edinburgh Airport. Both from Distilleries I hold in high regard.

The Balvenie 17 year old Peated Cask from Edinburgh Airport. Just because I liked The Balvenie and found the idea of a peated Speyside whisky intriguing.

Old Pulteney 21 year old from Edinburgh airport. Purchased because it had been voted 2012 World Whisky of the Year by the prestigious “Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible.” [http://www.whiskybible.com/] plus I have grown quite fond of the other expressions I had tried from this distillery too.

Dalmore 15 year old 1L from Schiphol airport, Amsterdam on returning from a business trip, this was a real bargain at around €30.

Highland Park Drakkar & Ardbeg Uigeadail I picked up having been confined to Gatwick airport overnight due to snow en route from Marseille to Edinburgh. I was looking for a Highland Park to sway my earlier disappointment at their 12 year old. I had tried a fantastic cask-strength old and sherried example at the scotch malt whisky society [http://www.smws.co.uk/] with one of their typical names like “A good cigar in a leather chair” which strangely enough summed it up perfectly. The Ardbeg I chose because the Corryvreckan was so good and I had also spent most of Christmas depleting one of the local pubs Ardbeg Alligator which they were selling at £5 for a double measure. The Alligator bottles had sold out before I got a chance to buy one, and my admiration of Ardbeg expressions was also growing.

All together another great range of styles of single malt scotch whiskies for me to try. Reviews of each coming soon…