Highland Park 12 Years Old Viking Honour

Rich, malty and complex, there is a lovely sprinkle of sea salt which accentuates the flavours here, spiced heather honey adds to the thick malty backbone, the result is well-structured. 84/100

Rich, malty and complex, there is a lovely sprinkle of sea salt which accentuates the flavours here, spiced heather honey adds to the thick malty backbone, the result is well-structured. 84/100

Balvenie 12 Years Old Doublewood

Smooth and honeyed, a very well put together expression from The Balvenie. I feel I picked out more of the sherry component more clearly possibly due to age or experience or perhaps this batch the sherry influence is more defined. A real pleasure to re…

Smooth and honeyed, a very well put together expression from The Balvenie. I feel I picked out more of the sherry component more clearly possibly due to age or experience or perhaps this batch the sherry influence is more defined. A real pleasure to revisit and simply enjoy. 84/100

Borders Malt & Rye

A robust and entertaining blended scotch whisky using both malt and rye derived components in great balance. I suspect a portion of the sweetness here derives from the fresh bourbon cask too but this whisky hasn’t been in these casks long enough to bec…

A robust and entertaining blended scotch whisky using both malt and rye derived components in great balance. I suspect a portion of the sweetness here derives from the fresh bourbon cask too but this whisky hasn't been in these casks long enough to become overtly vanillic. 83/100

Glenlivet Caribbean Reserve

Drinkable and well-textured (light & silky or smooth) as expected from The Glenlivet. Filled with plenty of fruit, some tropical, with a touch of syrup and spice to help it along. A refreshing alternative to The Glenlivet’s classic 12 Year old expr…

Drinkable and well-textured (light & silky or smooth) as expected from The Glenlivet. Filled with plenty of fruit, some tropical, with a touch of syrup and spice to help it along. A refreshing alternative to The Glenlivet's classic 12 Year old expression for example and in similar price bracket. 83/100

The Irishman Single Malt

Of similar quality to The Irishman The Harvest expression but quite a different character, lacking that Pot Still spice and also complexity from both malt and mixed cask maturation resulting in something very enjoyable. 84/100

Of similar quality to The Irishman The Harvest expression but quite a different character, lacking that Pot Still spice and also complexity from both malt and mixed cask maturation resulting in something very enjoyable. 84/100

The Irishman The Harvest

Robust thanks to the Pot Still spices bestowed by green barley, vanilla from the Bourbon oak and biscuity malt notes also lead to an entertaining and complex dram for an entry-level price. 84/100

Robust thanks to the Pot Still spices bestowed by green barley, vanilla from the Bourbon oak and biscuity malt notes also lead to an entertaining and complex dram for an entry-level price. 84/100

Spearhead

As you would expect this has all the diversity and flavour of a single malt whisky, if anything the Coffey distillation has allowed the extraction of cask flavours to come through even more in the final whisky. 84/100

As you would expect this has all the diversity and flavour of a single malt whisky, if anything the Coffey distillation has allowed the extraction of cask flavours to come through even more in the final whisky. 84/100

Samuel Gelston’s Blended Irish Whiskey

A fairly basic and very pleasant blended Irish whiskey. There are hints of youth and some solventy spirit nature, triple distilled for smoothness and bourbon matured there’s not much to hide behind and this does develop some interesting & more comp…

A fairly basic and very pleasant blended Irish whiskey. There are hints of youth and some solventy spirit nature, triple distilled for smoothness and bourbon matured there's not much to hide behind and this does develop some interesting & more complex flavours. 77/100