Cragganmore 2003 Distillers Edition Whisky Review: Feeling a little thin in texture at 40% ABV but otherwise lovely soft fruits and cereals and that gentle suggestion of smoke & spices. 83/100
Glen Moray 17 Years Old 2003 Chardonnay Cask Whisky Review: Pretty full on at cask strength this is packed with fruits and tannins, with water some peppery spice still remains. 85/100
Knockando 12 Years Old 2003 Whisky Review: A fruity and creamy expression with more than a touch of minerality, more like antacids than Edinburgh rock, reasonably pleasing creamy texture but a bit meh flavour wise. 74/100
Tomatin 15 Years Old 2003 Moscatel whisky review: Flavourful and rich, balanced sweetness and oak and some lovely bright fruits in here. Tomatin’s spirit is quite delicate and this enhancement complements it well. 86/100
Edradour 12 Year Old 2003 11th Release Bourbon Cask Matured whisky review: Straightforward, massive bourbon maturation, hints of apples, cereal and butter from the spirit but this is mostly cask for me, takes water very well. 85/100
Balvenie Peat Week 14 Years Old 2003 whisky review: A superbly smokey and sweet Balvenie with a great malty backbone to support it. 86/100
Highland Park 2003 Post-Octave whisky review: Having taken an already superb whisky and finished it for presumably only a short period (of all the samples this appeared to have the least difference/increase in colour), sadly there is too much spice on the initial palate for me and I struggled to decide whether I liked this one more or less than the Pre-Octave sample. I guess I was hoping for more here which didn’t come but this is still undeniably a good whisky. 87/100
Highland Park 2003 Pre-Octave whisky review: A simply beautiful Highland Park expression, the bourbon cask has imparted a delicious sweet creamy vanilla to counter the herbal smoke, surprisingly I didn’t pick out much malt but it is there all along adding a lovely weight to this dram. A purists dream this one. 87/100
Caol Ila 2003 Distillers Edition whisky review: A deliciously sweet and peaty Caol Ila Distillers Edition with a burst of well-integrated fruits adding to the heady malt and smoke mixture. 84/100
Oban 2003 Distillers Edition Highland single malt Scotch whisky review: Quite a different dram to the 2001 DE, cleaner and crisper in the nose and palate but much more sour. Not like the sweetness of the 2001 DE and for that I liked it a lot less. I felt this had more spirit character and less influence from the finishing casks perhaps? 80/100
