TOP 10 WHISKIES £100-£200

Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky 
Distillery Bottling 70cl / 48%

This 21-year-old from Glendronach is matured in a combination of Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez casks making it a particularly sumptuous and decadent expression for their core range.

It belongs very much in the super sherried, old-style Glendronach arena. Lots of stewed fruits, leather, dark chocolate, dates, prune juice, fading spices and touches of rancio.

A great dram for the fireside at Christmas.

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Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky 
Bottled by: Ian Macleod Distillers 70cl / 54.6%

Glenallachie was a whisky that was rarely bottled as a single malt but instead used in a lot of blends by previous owner Chivas Brothers.

This single cask offering is finished in a white wine cask, which are still not yet used as much as red wine casks which give rich and bold flavours. This finish is likely to give the whisky a lovely hint of sweetness and fruit to balance this perfectly.

This Glenallachie was distilled in November 1995 and matured in cask #95161 before being finished in a white wine cask and bottled for Ian Macleod's Chieftain's series in May 2019 with a yield of just 206 bottles.

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Islay Single Malt Whisky
Bottled By North Star Spirits 70cl / 53.5%

Lochindaal is one of Bruichladdich's peated spirits, usually at around 50ppm - so a bit more phenolic than Port Charlotte but certainly gentler than the brutal Octomore spirits.

This particular Lochindaal is a single refill barrel from the 2010 vintage bottled by the splendid folk at North Star in 2021 as a 10-year-old at 53.5%. At this age and from this kind of cask the spirit will surely sing, so this should be absolutely fantastic.

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Tasting Notes

Nose: Peated grapefruit and oily dark chocolate.

Palate: Toffee apples with sooty notes and whipped cream.

Finish: A very long sweet medicinal smoky finish.

Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky 
Bottled by: Signatory Vintage 70cl / 52.9% 

Glenburgie is a distillery that has been coming to the fore a little of late as distilleries hoard casks of the more famous stuff, leaving indie bottlers such as Signatory to do what they do best - find great casks at good prices from distilleries no-one cares about, and get people interested in them.

Glenburgie is basically the spiritual home of Ballantine's blended Scotch, so it's hardly surprising that until a few years ago there weren't a great deal of indie editions aside from the odd G&M bottling. This 1995 vintage hogshead has been bottled at cask strength of 52.9% after 25 years of ageing in cask 6543, yielding 236 bottles.

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Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky 
Distillery Bottling 70cl / 43%

We just love the 10-year-old and 15-year-old expressions from Benromach and when we found out that there was to be a 21-year-old in the new lineup we couldn't wait to get our hands on it.

Matured in both first-fill sherry and bourbon casks for 21 years this is a fantastic addition to the Benromach stable. The Subtle smokiness really compliments the sherry maturation.

We really recommend trying the 10, 15 and 21 side by side.

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Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky 
Bottled by: The Alistair Walker Whisky Company 70cl / 46.7%

New on our shop we have the Autumn 2020 releases from Alistair Walkers Infrequent Flyers series.

Release number 23 is another long-aged undisclosed Speyside distillery bottling that was distilled in 1992 and aged in a virgin oak barrel #4824 until it was bottled some 28 years later at a natural cask strength of 46.7% with a yield of just 271 bottles. 

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Tasting Notes

Alistair's Tasting Notes
Colour: Rich gold.
Nose: Floral, fragrant, and very fruity - pears, bananas and ripe pineapple. A hint of toffee.
Taste: Really vibrant. Vanilla custard, honeycomb, cookie dough. Malty, with soft oak prevalent, and warming spices.
Finish: Viscous and oily.

Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Bottled by: Gordon & MacPhail 70cl / 46%

It's always a pleasure to see a Gordon & MacPhail Mortlach, and this new 25-year-old in the Distillery Labels series looks like a belter. Mortlach is one of those distilleries that have defined Gordon & MacPhail, just as they themselves have helped define the ideal character of this distillery in the minds of many single malt fans. 

G&M have upped the strength of this 2021 release Distillery Labels Mortlach 25-Year-Old to 46% (recent previous batches were bottled at 43%), giving a welcome bump to the flavour intensity of what was already an excellent whisky.

Gordon & MacPhail and Mortlach have a remarkable symbiosis. There's certainly no question that Gordon & MacPhail's Mortlach has always comfortably outclassed Diageo's mediocre and overpriced official bottlings.

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Tasting Notes

Nose: Rich sherry aromas combine with fruitcake.

Palate: Autumnal spices and undertones of orange compliment summer berries.

Finish: A long, lingering finish of almonds.

Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 
Bottled by: Duncan Taylor 70cl / 54.2%

A special Laphroaig 2011 from Duncan Taylor, who've taken a cask of 2011 vintage Laphroaig and re-racked it into a small octave sherry cask for the last three months of its maturation.

Bottled in 2021 at its natural cask strength of 54.2%, just 81 bottles of this sherry finished Laphroaig 2011 9-year-old were ever bottled.

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Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 
Bottled by: That Boutique-y Whisky Company 50cl / 50.3%

A lovely colour on this early millennium Bowmore 18-year-old from those wacky japesters at That Boutique-y Whisky Company. There's no indication of vintage or cask type but that won't stop this flying out the doors.

Batch 20 of TBWC's Bowmore has been bottled at 50.3%, yielding 218 of That Boutique-y's individually numbered 50cl bottles.

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Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky 
Bottled by: Gordon & MacPhail 70cl / 59.1%

Time for another of Gordon & MacPhail's splendid Connoisseurs Choice Cask Strength bottlings, and this one looks like a peach - a longer-aged Glenburgie 1997 bottled in 2020 as a 22-year-old from a single first fill sherry butt, cask 8530, that somehow retained an impressive natural cask strength of 59.1%

You don't see much in the way of official Glenburgie due to the distillery's importance for owner Pernod Ricard's Ballantine's blend. This 22-year-old Glenburgie is even more interesting as it's from the old distillery, which was demolished by then-owners Allied in 2003 with only the stills retained for the new building.

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Tasting Notes

Nose: Tangerine zest and dried strawberry aromas give way to fudge.

Palate: Creamy and mouth-coating; black pepper and fruitcake combine with brown sugar.

Finish: A long finish with chocolate-covered raisin and gentle aniseed.