
Aberfeldy 1993 Connoisseurs Choice whisky review: A beautifully sherried Aberfeldy, dry and leathery with plenty of dark fruits and chocolate, with water this opens up a lot more and just gets better. 88/100
Aberfeldy 1993 Connoisseurs Choice whisky review: A beautifully sherried Aberfeldy, dry and leathery with plenty of dark fruits and chocolate, with water this opens up a lot more and just gets better. 88/100
Glenrothes 1974 Private Collection whisky review: A delicious nose and initial palate on this old Glenrothes before the sherry wood really takes over, a shame really as if it reserved a little body and sweetness throughout this could be an amazing dram. 87/100
Inverleven 1985 Private Collection whisky review: A lovely old ex-bourbon matured expression, unfortunately I have little frame of reference for this as I haven’t previously sampled Inverleven output. Certainly display’s its age and is full of lively and entertaining flavours that I enjoyed very much. 86/100
Longmorn 57 Years Old 1961 Cask #512 whisky review: More closed on the nose, this one rewarded a little more fruit on the palate but again another Cask-heavy wood-centric expression that sadly could have come from any number of distilleries. Once again no hint of Longmorn here. Despite the big numbers on these casks I found both more than a little disappointing. Perhaps I had set my expectations far too high, yet I have had other G&M old or even very old whiskies that have been simply sublime. Of the two casks this one was definitely more palateable. 79/100
Longmorn 57 Years Old 1961 Cask #508 whisky review: Great nose, and a wonderful experience to try such an old Longmorn, but, the contrast between the nose and palate is too great. Far too over-oaked for my palate, too spicy, bitter and harsh. Masses of or practically liquid/distilled European Oak wood didn’t make for a pleasurable drinking experience. Water made it more spicy and tannic, something this whisky didn’t lack. A lesson in wood. 63/100
Ledaig 12 Years Old Discovery Island single malt Scotch whisky review: For me Ledaig can be brilliant and on a par with Ardbeg with the first sip and like drinking out of stale beer can used as an ashtray from the party the night before the next. This is one of the great ones, and mostly thanks to Gordon & MacPhail’s excellent cask management here. The Sherry influence isn’t overt but just an addition of dried fruit, nut and tannin in the right places to carry this expression. The end result is actually quite amazing. 85/100
Bunnahabhain 11 Years Old Discovery Islay single malt Scotch whisky review: A lot more balanced – of course, classic Gordon & MacPhail’s pairing of spirit and cask. I’d have loved much more sherry influence, but this excels in its balance. A rather reminiscent nose led to initially quite closed palate, but given time it opens up to its own wonders. This is the sort of dram you could drink all night and keep finding new flavours. 85/100
Tomatin 2007 Discovery Highland single malt Scotch whisky review: A creamy dessert-filled expression, this is so redolent of banana split I expected twice the calories of a standard whisky! Fresh bananas and masses of ‘Bourbon’ flavours such as vanilla and coconut add a mass of sweetness to the palate of this whisky, which was simply delicious. 85/100
Glendullan 24 Years Old 1993 Connoisseurs Choice whisky review: Apart from the initial sensation of chewing on wood chips this Glendullan expression has plenty to get excited about. Lovely tropical fruits in syrup followed by vanilla tablet, chocolate limes and Murray mints, sweeties for a long car journey on a beautiful summers day. 87/100
Blair Athol 20 Years Old 1997 Connoisseurs Choice Whisky Review: A juicy, sweet and fruity expression with touches of citrus and exotic spices, mouth watering. 86/100