Tastes

Nose: Orchard fruit, oak, hints of dried fruit. Palate: Honey, black pepper, ginger, dried fruit, milk chocolate. Finish: Medium finish. Honey, spices (more ginger and black pepper). Lightly floral. This is a fairly nice spicy and fruity dram. An easy drinking, old-fashioned style of whisky. £64.95 for a 50cl bottle 1 of 1,049 bottles My last taste of this was possibly a little harsh. I gave it 2.5/5 and I think I would raise my score to 3/5. My tasting notes were pretty limited before, simply stating "Pepper and ginger. Slightly harsh up front but quickly mellows. The pepper and ginger kick lasts for ages". I'd agree with the profile, but there is a little more to it than I'd previously given it credit for. Overall, it's a little better than straight down the middle - not much better, and definitely not worth the c£65 for a 50cl bottle.

Nose: Honey, malt loaf, baking spices. Very light Palate: Oak, dusty, dry brandy, apples, pears, floral, caramel Finish: Medium long finish. Oak and caramel, sweet (but strangely drying). Citrus and candied fruit on the aftertaste. A nice, if unremarkable, easy drinking dram. Slightly unusual, in that it has a drier note than many blends, although it is still a fairly sweet whisky.

Nose: Buttered popcorn, caramel Palate: Caramel, milk chocolate, vanilla, raisins/currants, light dried fruit Finish: Medium finish. Sweet and caramel. More hints of dried fruit. Nice, if a bit one dimensional. There's not a lot to this whisky, very sweet and all about the caramel. It's an OK dram.

Nose: Smoke, kids sweets, sugar, furniture polish, spice, floral Palate: Caramel, butterscotch, ginger, peat smoke, oak Finish: Medium finish. Oak, tannic, very sweet finish. Cinnamon, ginger and golden syrup. Overall, this is very sweet, ginger and oak dram. Not a lot to say about it other than that, it's easy to drink and generally OK. For my money, I'd prefer to drink the standard NAS Black Bottle but this is a decent session whisky.

Nose: Citrus, orange, pears, sweet Palate: Sweet, vanilla, light oak, summer fruit, cherry sweets Finish: Long finish. Vanilla, oak, a little white pepper We dropped in to visit the distillery when driving home from a visit to my in-laws. They were just about to close the shop and visits for the year but they kindly chatted to us for a good while before they closed the doors. Bottle number: 178 Distilled: 2007 Bottled: 20th December 2021 This is a lovely dram. It has the usual Balblair notes of orange, vanilla and cherry, but adds a layer of oak and spice. The higher ABV also gives it a more luxurious mouthfeel. Delicious!

Nose: Salt/saline, funky, citrus, caramel sweet, seaside, iodine Palate: lemon / citrus, tropical fruit, iodine, salt, chlorine, light smoke, herbal/floral/minty Finish: Medium short finish. More citrus and light sweet smoke. Hints of cigar and leather, with a little BBQ sweetness on the aftertaste. This is quite a light dram for all its 53.6%. There’s a depth of flavour that you’d expect from an older Glen Scotia that edges on the coastal and funky, but with more citrus and lemon than I’d typically expect from their spirit. Very drinkable! Glen Scotia Distilled: 7 February 2003 1 of 223 bottles

Nose: Sour, baby sick, turned milk, barley, berries, citrus Palate: Woody, black pepper, chili, artificial sweetener, honey Finish: Medium long finish. Sweet, wood, white pepper 1 of 157 bottles 50cl bottle Woody, sweet and spicy. Unremarkable, but a decent spicy dram.

Nose: Petrol, farmyard, sulfur Palate: Smoke, oil/butter, ash, tobacco, earth, mud Finish: Long finish. Muddy/dirty, ashy Matured in a single refill hogshead Distilled: 2002 Bottled: 2015 1 of 378 bottles This is a genuinely unpleasant whisky. Dirty, ashy and oily, with -sadly!- a long finish. Pretty rank!

Nose: Citrus/lemon, nutty, oak, black pepper, ash Palate: Citrus/tart, chocolate, coffee, liquorice Finish: Short finish. Leather, nutty, oak, malty 1 of 199 bottles 50cl bottle This is a very tasty, gristy and nutty dram. Waves of chocolate, coffee and nuts. A great, easy drinking dram.

Nose: Chocolate cherries, dark dried fruit, Christmas spices/ Christmas cake, baking spice, malt Palate: Chocolate, latte, caramel, raisins, dates, prunes, malt loaf Finish: Medium long finish. Sherry, Marsala, raisins, sweet dried fruit, Christmas cake Matured in American oak casks Finished in Sherry oak casks 1 of 375 bottles Malt loaf/ Soreen. Unctuous and tasty. A great, Christmassy whisky. Delicious!