Edition Spirits Speyburn 2005 (12 year old) 56.2%

Sherry/ Code: EDI0340/ Dist: Oct 2005 Btl: ?/ Tasted: Mar 2018

A chunky, coffee and raw cereal nose. Quite malty and toffee’d with developing, luscious apricot and orange conserve. With time a touch of cider apple.

The palate is grippy and toffee’d with gritty tannins, malt, cereal and apricot. Rather foursquare and lacking a bit of elegance. Medium length with the finish a little masked but lingering malt and a subtle, dark chocolate after-taste.

Diluted the nose becomes delightfully honeyed and floral. It’s really opened up now and shows hints of honeysuckle and sweet barley....

Carn Mor Celebration of the Cask Benriach 1990 (27 year old?) 49.8%...

Three Rivers Gin 40%...

Kinahan’s Small Batch Blended Irish Whiskey 46%

Matured for at least 6 years.

37.5% Grain aged in 1 ^st Fill Bourbon, 37.5% Grain aged in 2 ^nd Fill Bourbon and 25% Malt aged in 1 ^st and 2 ^nd Fill Bourbon casks.

Tasted: Feb 2018

The nose displays plenty of toasty vanilla oak with hints of pepper, orange, apricot and barley. There is a crisp, hard-ish grain note in the background but the oak is quite dominant.

The palate is slightly oily with like the nose suggests, plenty of toasty oak. A touch of sweet spice, barley and apricot follows....

Lunazul Tequila Anejo 40%

A 100% agave añejo tequila from Tierra de Agaves. Lunazul is part-owned by bourbon-producer Heaven Hill. Aged in ex-11 year old Elijah Craig barrels for 12 to 18 months.

Tasted: Feb 2018

A pungent agave nose with plenty of pepper. The oak is very subtle and adds hints of vanilla and milk chocolate. With time it becomes very peppery and slightly mentholated.

The palate is pleasantly rounded and soft with pungent agave and pepper. Slightly mentholated with subtle Bourbon oak, coffee and milk chocolate on the middle. Long and peppery finish with a touch of wood...

The English Drinks Company Cucumber Gin 40%

Distilled at Langley’s in Birmingham

Botanicals: Juniper, coriander seed, orange peel, angelica root, cassia bark, orris root, lemon peel, liquorice root, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Tasted: Jan 2018

The cucumber is very noticeable on the nose (which is good I suppose!) However it doesn’t dominate and hints of juniper, cassia, sweet lemon and coriander can be detected.

The palate opens with a pleasant combination of sweet and spritzy lemon with cucumber and juniper. Very lemony on the middle with a touch of cassia and coriander. Long and remaining fresh and citric.

The English Drinks...

Carn Mor Celebration of the Cask Mannochmore 1990 (27 year old) 42.5%

Bourbon Barrel 7431/ Dist: Jun 1990 Btl: Jan 2018/ Tasted: Jan 2018

A slightly taught, mature and straw-like nose, but it also displays a wonderful fruitiness – melon, apple and apricot with a touch of honey, vanilla cream and fills out well. Late sawdusty oak.

The palate is taught and subtly spiced with apricot, unsweetened pineapple, apple and a touch of vanilla cream. Hints of straw and barley come through on the middle as does the oiliness of the spirit. Lovely intensity with a subtle citrus and rose...

Two Brewers Yukon Single Malt Release: 06 Classic 43%...

Roughstock Montana Spring Wheat Whiskey 45%...

Bower Hill Reserve Rye 43%...

Smooth Ambler Old Scout American Whiskey 49.5%...

Dam Raider Gin 40%...

A.D Rattray Blair Athol 2009 (8 year old) 59.6%

Bourbon Cask 333334. re-racked into Sherry Hogshead

Dist: 2009 Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Dec 2017

Aromas of herbal rye-like notes with toasted oak and edgy, spirity notes. It’s all rather un-integrated and the slightly industrial spirit notes begin to dominate.

The palate displays more barley sugar and toffee. Again it’s youthful but less spirity than the nose would suggest, majbe that’s down to a touch of honey softening the middle. A little masked with subtle herbal spice finish.

Water transforms the nose and brings out some lovely orange and tangerine, along with...

Gleann Mor ‘A Rare Find’ Tennessee Bourbon 2003 (13 year old) 53.7%

George Dickle/ Dist: Sept 2003 Btl:2016/ Tasted: Dec 2017

A stunning nose of orange liqueur and soft corn, followed by vibrant vanilla, marzipan and herbal rye. Wonderfully complex with developing notes of brown sugar, violets, dark wood spice and subtle sour fruit. Wonderfully balanced with late toasty oak.

The palate opens with some drying, lightly coffee’d wood spice and rye spice. The oak and the corn are sat in the background., although a touch of treacle emerges to offset the dry spices. The sweeter oak vanillins come through...

Herno London Dry Gin 40.5%

Tasted: Nov 2016

Nose: A big hit of juniper, sweet rose petals, cardamom and citrus. Lovely intensity with some subtle barky spice notes.

Palate: Very juniper orientated but intense and fresh with a touch of citrus, orris, cinnamon sticks and cassia bark.

Finish: Long and citric with lingering orange/ lemon peel and spice.

Conclusion: Complex And well balanced. Great, tongue tingling finish.

Herno Navy Strength Gin 57%

Tasted: Nov 2016

Nose: Fresh, citric and junipery with a touch of cereal spirit beneath. Balanced with lemon verbena, coriander, cassia and perfumed juniper.

Palate: Soft and surprisingly...

The Single Cask Tobermory 1994 (22 year old) 59.1%

Cask A394/ Dist: Mar 1994 Btl: Jan 2017/ Tasted: Nov 2017

Dusty, mature and quite spicy on the nose with subtly, sooty peat, thick malt, dark honey and slightly marc-like note. It becomes quite earthy with time and a light manurey note appears. For an old ‘mory, it’s very impressive.

The palate opens with some delicate dark honey, malt and mature oak. Now that’s a sentence I never expected to write about an old ‘mory! Hints of milk chocolate, peat, sweet barley and liquorice follow. It’s not 100% clean as there...

Gleann Mor ‘A Rare Find’ Royal Brackla 2006 (10 year old) 59.8%

Refill Sherry?/ Dist: Nov 2006 Btl: Jun 2017/ Tasted: Nov 2017

Pungent aromas of toffee and honey with hints of barley, vanilla and what feels like subtle herbal Oloroso dried fruit and spice notes. It develops some lovely baked fruit notes and feels a little older than 10 years.

The palate opens with a lovely barley’d intensity, followed by hints of dried fruit and bitter spice. A touch of honey balances the bitterness and hints of vanilla and pepper appear on the middle. A little masked on the...

Gordon & MacPhail Private Collection Ledaig 2005 (11 year old) 45%

Hermitage Cask Finish/ Dist: Sept 2005 Btl: Aug 2017/ Tasted: Nov 2017

A serious sulphur overload! Yes, there are hints of syrup coated red fruit, peat and manure, but by god I haven’t smelt a whisky so sulphur ruined like this in ages!

The palate is, funnily enough, sulphur tainted with hints of dry peat and syrupy red fruit. A touch of coffee and dark chocolate come through on the middle but the finish is tart with the sulphur lingering. Whether the sulphur is cask or spirit derived I...

Bareksten Botanical Gin 46%

Distilled at the Oss Craft Distillery in Norway from Potatoes

Batch 0018/0757

Botanicals: Juniper, coriander, blueberries, grains of paradise, cardamom, angelica root. nutmeg, rose root, lemon peel, orris, rhubarb, lime peel, lavender, orange peel, chamomile, fennel, cinnamon, caraway, aniseed, red clover, lingonberries, elderflower,mint, arnica flowers, rose flowers.

Tasted: Nov 2017

Intense, but very fresh, slightly bitter juniper with pine-like notes, rose, berries, earth, bark, cinnamon and a subtle floral note. The citrus and salt sit in the background adding to the freshness.

The palate is full and slightly starchy with sweet juniper, orange, fern/ pine along...

Mackillop’s Choice Balblair 1997 (20 year old) 55.2%

Bourbon Cask 124/ Dist: maj1997 Btl: Sept 2017/ Tasted: Nov 2017

A lovely, mature nose of oxidised baked fruit along with hints of lime, barley, manuka honey and aromatic American oak. The oak becomes quite buttery with time and the barley becomes wonderfully fragrant.

The palate opens with fresher barley and citrus before the mature, baked fruit arrives. Buttery and toffee’d oak follows and the mid palate is incredibly granity with building lime and lemon notes, which adroitly balances the oak. Mouth-watering citrus finish with a touch of coffee, anise, sweet barley,...