Rich and smooth like good dark chocolate, subtle peaty and coastal elements mix with plenty of wood influence here. 88/100
Bowmore 18 Years Old
Bowmore 15 Years Old Darkest
Ok for me this is not really an improvement on the 12 Years Old but rather a different perspective on Bowmore, I feel this is never as overtly sherried as the colour suggests and is much more neutral. 84/100
Bowmore 12 Years Old
Lovely, gently smoky and coastal elements with lots of honeyed soft fruits too, the perfect introduction to Bowmore’s core range. 84/100
Ledaig 12 Years Old Batch 18
A superb Ledaig expression full of peat smoke, salty coastal influence and sherried/dried fruits. 84/100
Tobermory 12 Years Old Batch 15
Quite harsh/spicy, black pepper and cinnamon overpower the fruitiness quite quickly, certainly needs a drop of water and readily reveals that metallic edge/hot radiator nature. 77/100
Tullibardine 26 Years Old 1989 Single Cask
Woody oak and tropical fruits prevail in this delicious old dram, I’m left searching a little bit for character here but maybe that’s just my distraction? 86/100
Redbreast 10 Years Old Cask Strength Batch 1
Rich and full Pot Still whisky expression, great depth of distillate here lending generous ‘heavy’ character, leathery spice offset by sweet and fruity cask influences. I can only guess at the historic 10 year old profile but this new re-imagining of the 10 year old expression certainly fits in my mind to what it could have been. 87/100
Paul John Christmas Edition 2020
Sweet and softly peated, I already suspected a mixture of peated & unpeated casks used in the mixture here similar to some of Paul John’s standard range, strikes a really lovely balance between sweet & peat. 88/100
Nantou 4 Years Old Batch 1
Lovely fruity aroma and also on the palate but much too spiced for my liking, quite sharp/prickly. 78/100
Langatun 5 Years Old Batch 3
A touch woody but with some lovely sweet and floral notes, also a little bit vegetal on the palate. 79/100
