Jameson 18 Years Old Bow Street Cask Strength whiskey review: Spiced from the unmalted barley and rich and complex from both spirit and maturation, this is slightly removed from the smoothness of your usual Jameson blend and strikes me as something really quite memorable.
Tobermory 12 Years Old whisky review: Full of dark sugars, ripe fruits and a hint of spiced pepper, much sharper than the stalwart 10 year old expression but with those flashes of unmistakabley Tobermory qualities. 84/100
Cragganmore 1997 Distillers Edition whisky review: A touch more citric spirit and musty Port cask than usual but still a great expression, loving the strawberry and lime combination in this expression and the general fluffy and jammy sweet qualities. 86/100
The Borders Distillery New Make Spirit review: A great base spirit for maturing. Fruity and very cereal/malt heavy – I look forward to trying some more matured variants of this in a few years time!
Kura the Whisky whisky review: A little abrasive at first, has layers of sweetness and spice, eventually balances out but still has some oddly sweet nature to it. 80/100
FEW Single Malt Whisky review: A rather unusual single malt example, does what it says on the tin. It’s like Scotch single malt but only superficially, so I guess this really is a US style single malt whisk(e)y – I’m still unsure whether or not to include the ‘e’! 72/100
FEW Bourbon Spirit review: An unusually spicy bourbon/spirit drink, lots of new make spirit influence and a good dose of new american/white oak wood – that’s about where any similarity to (my experience of) bourbon ends. 70/100
The GlenDronach 27 Years Old Grandeur Batch 10 whisky review: A masterful GlenDronach expression full of rich dark fruits balanced against bitter chocolate and coffee. Hugely drinkable at 50.1% ABV, this goes down far too easily! Captures the essence of what GlenDronach is about right now and easily matches the pinnacle of their single cask releases. 93/100
The GlenDronach Master Vintage 1993 25 Years Old whisky review: A little thinner and woodier than I hoped for/expected. A classic heavy sherry GlenDronach but quite a bit of spirit and old wood on display here too – quite distinct from some of the single cask releases of the same (or many other) vintages. Delivered at 48.2%, this is a little lower than many of the single casks of this age and I’m unsure if this is batch/marrying strength or reduced – feels reduced, which is a shame as otherwise this is a good whisky. 87/100
Lagavulin 2001 Distillers Edition whisky review: Despite overall revealing similar flavours this one seems different again, a little less well integrated, cracks are beginning to show here, the smoke is muted and also a little more menthol crystal accompaniment makes it less well suited to what is essentially less sweet, more dry nut and saltier – if any malt is present it is more in the Custard cream biscuit range than the thick, heavy malt extract I’m used to from Lagavulin. 83/100
