Tastes

Nose: Honey, vanilla, sultanas, oak, leather. Tasted neat it’s an intense but simple nose and it’s best to enjoy it that way. Adding water does not achieve anything. Palate: Syrupy sweet vanilla and honey. Sponge cake, orange peel, light malt syrup. With water it’s all vanilla honey water. The texture is rich and heavy both neat and reduced. Finish: Medium. Sweet honey and malt. This is not a very complex whisky but it is so luscious and seductive you have to overlook its simplicity. There is vanilla by the bucketful, a whole beehive of honey, and a bushel of sweet juicy oranges. What’s not to like? It’s not a challenging dram but it’s quite beguiling, and reducing it makes it almost comically easy to drink. A great dessert whisky to take instead of a sweet sherry or liqueur. Tasted from a sample bought at Tobermory Distillery, April 14th 2025 “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)

Nose: When neat it’s a big winey nose with raisin, honey, dark chocolate and old wood aromas. There are earthy notes after it has rested in the glass for a while. Adding water brings out leathery qualities and deepens the earthy notes. Palate: An interesting combination of very sweet wine, stewed fruit flavours and very dry, grippy tannins. Honey, red berries, leather, mixed herbs and some flinty, mineralic ash. The texture is almost syrupy. Reduction greatly softens the palate by modulating the tannins and developing the honey flavour. Finish: Medium/Long. Spiced honey wine and mint. There’s a lot to like about this whisky, but I thought it demanded reduction before it showed all its finest points. It’s intense and interesting neat, but adding water adds complexity and elegance. Tasted from a sample bought at Tobermory Distillery, April 14th 2025 “Very Good” : 87/100 (4.25 stars)

Nose: Sweet, full-bodied wine aroma. Grapes, candied orange peel, malt. Adding water releases floral fragrances. Palate: Sweet, hot winey arrival. Red fruits, raisins, dark cocoa, dark honey, orange concentrate. When reduced the heat is greatly reduced and some soft oak spice comes forward. Finish: Medium/Short. Orange juice, grape juice. The aftertaste is sweet. A pleasant whisky if not a great one. The sample was from a set of 4 purchased at the distillery, and it was one of the better ones. Tasted from a sample bought at Tobermory Distillery, 14th April 2025 “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

Nose: watery cereal mash, lemon, vinegar. When neat the nose is incredibly tight. Adding a generous splash of water opens it a little but nothing much more shows up. Palate: When neat this has a spicy and simple cereal arrival, and like the nose it is almost impenetrable in that state. Adding water does little apart from making it easier to take. The texture is nice once it is reduced. Finish: Short. Cereal, lemon, brine. Not a particularly good whisky. In fact, it’s pretty boring. I had expected a lot more from an 11 year old sherry-finished Tobermory. If you reduce it and allow it to sit in the glass for a long time it does eventually blossom a little, but it never achieves much. This was a distillery-only special bottling but I can’t imagine why, and I can’t imagine anyone being a big fan. Yes it’s pure and shows the distillery character well, but it’s just not interesting. I was disappointed on the whole but I can’t bring mysely to rate it less than 70 because despie its dullness it is faultlessly made. Tasted from a sample bought at Tobermory Distillery, 14 April 2025. “Adequate ” 70/100 (2 stars)

Nose: Sooty peat, woodsmoke, citrus, honey. There is a light maritime note but it is not briny. A dash of water brings out floral notes. Palate: Sweet citrus arrival with rapidly appearing pepper and capsicum, but the sweetness persists and is dominant. White grapes, vanilla, brown sugar or treacle, ginger biscuits. The texture is oily and satisfying. Reduction makes the late arrival sweeter and more nectar-like. Finish: Medium/Long. Sweet honeyish peat, like a spicy Highland Park. Reduction increases the length. A few years ago Ben Nevis released an expression called “McDonald’s Celebrated Traditional” in a distinctive tall bottle and old-school label. It had a short run and then disappeared, but recently this new expression simply called “Traditional” has been released and seems to be a part of the core range. Whether this malt is the same as the previous bottling I don’t know (I do have a bottle of “McDonald’s Celebrated” in my stash but it has not yet been opened). Regardless, this is lovely whisky and it gets a definite rating of “excellent” from me. Highly recommended if you like peated single malts. Tasted at Ben Nevis distillery, 9 April 2025 “Excellent” : 88/100 (4.5 stars)

Nose: Honey, sweet citrus, vanilla. It’s a lightly dulcet nose that is not spoiled by a dash of water. Palate: Easy arrival that is sweet, but not overly so, and certainly not syrupy. Light honey and cereal. A little vanilla and banana. The texture is good, surprisingly oily for a blend, and the grain whisky presence is detectable but not objectionable. Finish: Medium/Short. Cereal with sweet notes of vanilla and thinned honey. A perfectly acceptable blended scotch that shows no obvious faults. The grain whisky component is balanced and soft and the Ben Nevis malt character shows through. Sometime ago I reviewed the Nevis Dew Red Label 12 old blend and gave it 3 stars, which in hindsight was a little generous. This Blue Label, although cheaper and not bearing an age statement, is less complex but more approachable and it is reasonably priced. I would recommend a taste for anyone who enjoys mild and unpeated blended scotch, and it is particularly good with a cube of ice or a dash of soda water. This would be a perfect session whisky. Tasted at Ben Nevis distillery, 9 April 2025. “Above Average” : 82/100 (3.25 stars)

Tasted at Laphroaig Distillery, April 18th 2025. Nose: Sweet jammy smoke, oily smoked herring, mineral and wet stones, lemon, seaweed. A stunning nose. Palate: Full-bodied, oily smoke. Barbecued meat, smoked fish, iodine and sweet wine. The texture is rich and has excellent weight. Reduction brings the sweet notes forward and adds soft complexity. Fimish: Medium. Smoke, sweet at first veering to sour lemon and tannin in the aftertaste. The tannic notes diminish with water. A really satisfying Laphroaig nose with the signature maritime peat being enhanced by deep ex-bourbon vanilla and sweet sherry aromas. The neat nose is stunning and while water makes it more approachable it loses little from dilution. Water also works wonders with the palate and for my taste this whisky could not be fully appreciated when neat. It is an unfinished symphony without just a dash of water, but a work of creative genius once reduced. “Excellent” 88/100 (4.5 stars)

Tasted at Oban Distillery, April 13th 2025 Nose: Big, oily and malty with lemon peel, vanilla, treacle and toasted oak. A deep nosing reveals brine, and reduction does no damage to its robust character. Palate: Like the nose, the palate is big and rich with oily malt squarely on display. The development brings in citrus, a little pepper and some tannic spice. The texture is oily and dense. Finish: Medium/Short. Oily lemon and cereal. The nose is very impressive and a great example of how rich and satisfying a simple, oily cereal profile can be. It gets better with rest in the glass and even better with just a dash of water. The palate also benefits from reduction, gaining soft creaminess and integration. I had expected this whisky to be like the old distillery only limited edition, but it is quite different. It’s more like a version of the 14 year old core edition that has greater intensity in every dimension. This is a very good whisky that is definitely worth at least a taste if you visit the distillery, however I think many people might prefer the sherry character of the Distillers Edition. I’d happily buy a bottle of either (or both). Oban is a distillery that I overlooked for a long time. That was a mistake. “Very Good” : 85/100 (4 stars)