Daffy’s Gin 43.3%...

Rock Rose Gin 41.5%

Bulgarian and Italian juniper, rhodiola rose, sea buckthorn, rowan berries, blaeberries, cardamom, coriander seed and verbena.

Tasted: Jun 2015

A pungent nose of juniper and cardamom with hints of rose petal, fragrant smoke, berries, verbena, sweet coriander and citrus. Fresh but quite heavy, distinctly artisanal with underlying cereal spirit notes.

Fresh and crisp on the palate. A little sweeter and lightly creamy with juniper, cardamom, green spices and bitter spice notes. A touch of berry fruit on the middle along with citrus. Long and full of spirit character with lingering sweet rose petals and dry spice....

Douglas Laing Syndicate 12 year old Blended Scotch 40%...

Douglas McGibbon Provenance Longmorn 2003 (11 year old) 46%...

Carn Mor Celebration of the Cask Arran 1996 (15 year old) 52.6%...

Carn Mor Black Gold Series Bunnahabhain 1995 (19 year old?) 51.1%

Sherry Hogshead 2536/ Dist: 1995 Btl: maj 2015/ Tasted: maj 2015

The colour is as black as the Ace of Spades! Gently spiced, thick, pure and unctuous Oloroso aromas are sliced through with a sliver of citrus. Hints of toffee, baked apple, liquorice, green nuts and taught herbal aromas appear. With time it becomes quite treacly and an almost PX-like dried grape note appears along with a touch of black coffee.

The palate is awash with succulent Oloroso – dried grape, plum, liquorice, treacle and herbs. Expansive and lightly...

Carn Mor Celebration of the Cask Garnheath 1974 (41 year old) 50.8%

Bourbon Cask 313235/ Dist: Feb 1992 Btl: maj 2015/ Tasted: maj 2015

A stunningly deep, soft and lusciously honeyed nose with sweet grain notes and plenty of dried sultana, banana and coconut. Some beautifully sweet spices join with vanilla, coffee and toffee.

The palate opens with the deliciously moist dried fruit and sweet grain followed by hints of grapefruit and busy spices. It becomes crisper on the middle as the sharper grains emerge but the oily dried, rum-lie fruit balances superbly. Stunning spicy finish with hints of vanilla,...

Carn Mor Celebration of the Cask Strathmill 1992 (22 year old?) 52.6%

Bourbon Cask 924/ Dist: 1992 Btl: maj 2015/ Tasted: maj 2015

The aromas are initially quite earthy and straw-like, but then a profusion of orange, lime and aromatic barley erupts! Lightly malty with light treacle and hints of fresh, minty herbs. Beneath lies some supporting vanilla oak along with some edgy but supple spices.

The palate is a lovely mélange of soft, succulent apricot, barley and citrus. Long and lightly toffee’d with a very citric, mineral and although the alcohol bites a little on the finish it does...

Nikka All Malt, NAS, 40 % The whisky of the day is a blended malt from Nikka. They have mixed single malt from their Yoichi Distillery on Hokkaido, and what they call ‘coffey malt’ – Maltwhisky distilled in their Coffey stills at the Miyagikyo Distillery near Sendai. You can buy the Nikka All Malt in […]...

Adelphi Limerick Slaney 1991 23 YO Cask #8265, 58,1 % Today I dig into a fairly old Irish whiskey. This is a single cask release from independent bottler Aldephi. It was distilled in 1991, and bottled in 2015, with a total outturn of 202 bottles. It was matured in a refill hogshead, and from what […]...

The best thing we had on our little tasting last week? Definitely this 30 years old Brora 1972 in the Old & Rare Platinum series from Douglas Laing .

It is from the legendary 1972 vintage (the one that shows the most farmy notes, including these specific sheep stable notes) and matured in sherry casks. Usually a great recipe for outstanding Brora.

Brora 30 yo 1972 (49,7%, Douglas Laing Old & Rare Platinum 2003, 222 btl.)

Nose: without doubt the farmiest nose I’ve ever experienced. There must have been sheep in the stillroom. It’s stunning. Manure and wet...

Hunter Laing Old Malt Cask Speyside 1993 (21 year old) 50%

Sherry/ Code: OMC2475/ Dist: Oct 1993 Btl: Apr 2015/ Tasted: maj 2015

Dusty but fresh on the nose with an almost grain spirit nip. Juicy coffee laced dried fruit follows along with herbal, baked apple, a touch of vanilla and pastry.

The palate displays more of the dried sherry fruit, spice and treacle, along with malt and dark, baked fruit. Hints of toasted oak and drying tannins come through on the middle with again, that grain-like note. Long and succulent with hints of marzipan and gentle Cognac-esque oxidation notes...

Clement Agricole Rhum 2003 (10 year old) 42.8%

Bourbon Cask 310016/ Dist: Oct 2003 Btl: Dec 2013/ Tasted: maj 2015

Full and rich aromas of dusty spice, chunky dark honey coated dried fruit along with a light medicinal/ vegetal note. It becomes quite thick and treacly with time but the medicinal notes balance.

The palate is a little tannic, but those tannins are relatively soft. Hints of dark chocolate, treacle and dried plumy fruit comes through along with a delicate vegetal rancio and iodine. The tannins grip on the middle but don’t overwhelm the palate. Quite an earthy finish with...

Craigellachie 13 year old 46%

Tasted: Apr 2015

Nose: A beautiful, crisp and mineral nose with fragrant honey and hints of apricot, orange, tangerine and peach. With time hints of mocha and toasted oak appear.

Palate: The palate mirrors the crisp, mineral character of the nose except it is showing a little more barley and a greater degree of oiliness. Relatively straightforward but pleasantly honeyed and very deep.

Finish: Delightfully long and mineraly with lingering barley.

Conclusion: A lovely, vibrant malt with what appears to be plenty of Highland character. (Mind, it’ll probably turn out to be to from somewhere...

Douglas McGibbon Provenance Talisker 2008 (6 year old) 46%...

Malts of Scotland Ben Nevis ‘His Excellency’ 1970 (44 year old)

Dist: 1970 Btl: 2014/ Tasted: april 2015

Dense and fragrant with a lightly floral Cognac-esque rancio. Hints of marzipan, liquid vanilla, aromatic violets, butter and gently oxidised white fruit. A trade mark malty/bready note appears and the vanillins continue to sweeten, however the lovely citrus notes keep the balance. With time a touch of thyme, camphor and rosemary comes through along with citrus scented candle wax and avocado butter.

The palate opens with the buttery vanilla oak, but it’s cut through with a lovely seam of fresh line along...

Douglas Laing Old Particular Glen Moray 1999(14 year old) 48.4%...

Malts of Scotland Linkwood 2000 (14 year old) 55.8%

Refill Sherry Butt/ Dist: 2000 Btl: 2014/ Tasted: april 2015

A beautiful, fragrant nose of dusty barley, manuka honey, freesia, perfumed rose and light herbal notes as the sherry aromas arrive. Hints of burnt toffee and malt darkens the aromas with time.

Succulently barley’d with sawdust, apricot, honey and light coffee. Quite alcoholic which masks any further development. Intense, dry finish but the juicy barley reappears.

Water emphasises the drier oak notes and brings out some buscuity notes as well. Still quite dusty and subtly herbal. The palate is softer and...

Highland Laird Strathisla 1989 (25 year old) 52.2%...