08/08/2026 Whisky Fringe (Day 2 -- Part 1)

Following yesterday's adventures, I would be lying if I pretended I feel fine, this morning. But a run and a shower do wonders.

This sight helps too

As does meeting this beautiful bird

And breakfast does miracles.

Especially this kind of breakfast!
Brazilian Lemonade, Crème Brûlée,
Vegan Cherry Matcha, Tropical Cheesecake

It is soon time to leave -- in a hurry, even!

A short train ride later, we reach our first stop with a minute to spare and sit down for lunch. It is, of course, our usual spot, l'escargot bleu.

Talonmore & Apple (me)

Duck-and-pigeon terrine with onion compote (me)

Duck egg omelette with Comté cheese (JS)

Plaice filet [sic], smoked haddock, mussels with Orkney Scallop (JS)

honey beetroot + tomato salad

Suckling pig roulade with black pudding (me)

Ile Flottante (JS)

Chocolate Némésis (me)

Latte (JS)

Everything is excellent. The plaice, however, is legendary. Texture, seasoning, sauce, accompaniment, it is perfection in the form of a flat fish. So much so it has me shedding tears each time I take a bite. That is not an exaggeration for comedic effect. Plaice has long been my favourite fish, but this is something else. One of the best dishes I have ever had.

JS: "The fish was cooked to perfection. It had a sense of plaice."

Sadly the meal has to end. We have business across the road and a queue to join (it is much longer than yesterday).

We want to start by tying up loose ends at the Thompsons' stall, but it is busy already. Instead, we stop by Tormore. Before I have the time to ask the lady how she likes working with OC and SSS, she undertakes to tell us the history of the distillery. I do not have the heart to tell her we already know it.

Tormore Timeless (43%, OB, Bourbon + Sherry Casks, b.2026)

Nose: lemon drizzle, madeleine and sponge cake.

Mouth: more lemon-y goodness, muffin, drizzle or sponge cake.

Finish: it has a soft bitterness, here, mixed peel, lemon and grapefruit zest.

Comment: clever wording to describe a no-age-statement. It is a great starter.

Score: 7/10

As we obtain the next dram, someone farts. Several times. We need to flee to the smokers' corner outside to escape the pugnacity of the stench. tOMoH has been known to let some nasty ones rip on occasion (Psycho has a recurrent story on the subject), but this lack of consideration is very difficult to accept. Tomorrow, mine will smell similar and I will have fever. I blame the guy who farted in the tent, at Whisky Fringe 2026, around 14:15 on the Saturday. The NHS is in disarray because of your lack of restraint, Mister!

Tormore 12yo (46%, OB, Bourbon, Cream Sherry + Toasted American White Oak Casks, b.2026)

Nose: darker citrus, blush orange, faint oiled furniture.

Mouth: orange rinds and peels, a bitter bite, mixed peel.

Finish: wine-cured orange, blush orange and a dusting of white pepper.

Comment: very good.

Score: 7/10

Tormore 16yo (46.8%, OB, Cream Sherry + Oloroso Sherry Casks, b.2026)

Nose: orange chocolate cakes (PiM's) and cream.

Mouth: creamy, thick, mellow, it has a lick of chocolate. It turns desiccating upon chewing.

Finish: creamy and dark, it has earthy notes and decaying dark woods.

Comment: good too, if perhaps a little dry.

Score: 7/10

Finally, an opening at the Dornoch duo's.

North British 33yo 1991/2025 An Edinburgh Dram (40.1%, Thompson Bros.)

Nose: bakery scents from a shiny steel pipe. There is honey and jams coming up too.

Mouth: thin and subtle, it has vanilla milk, remnants of marmalade in a metal goblet and sweet corn.

Finish: short, fairly simple, with baking chou dough, marmalade and such. And a touch of metal as well.

Comment: unchallenging, but very agreeable.

Score: 8/10

I go back to Decadent Drinks, where one of the staff is a friend of DH's, who advised last night to go meet him.

A nice bloke alright, though he has fired his best shots already: we had the orange dram and the most-prestigious bottles at his stand yesterday. Today's halftime orange dram is not yet open, so that does not work. Instead, I get to try the Daftmill again.

And discover where Francis is!

Since we are here and have a man on the inside, there are a few less-flamboyant things we have not yet tried.

Highland 30yo 1994+1995/2026 (47.1%, Decadent Drinks, Refill Hogsheads, 250b)

Nose: hay and apricot jelly, baked peaches.

Mouth: crushed peach stones, apricot stones, fruity and drying.

Finish: very fruity, with peach jelly and tinned peaches.

Comment: lovely. Could this be a Glenburgie? So much peach!

Score: 8/10

Old Orkney Relics 30yo 1996/2026 (41.7%, Decadent Drinks)

Nose: buttered bread slices that soon morph into hardened leather.

Mouth: mellow, toffee-like, it is rather buttery in texture and old school in taste. Close to what one would imagine an old blend should taste like, in fact.

Finish: more toffee, Scottish tablet and dried peach shavings. Cardboard-y, not in an unpleasant way (JS).

Comment: Decadent Drinks managed to secure Gordon & MacPhail's last cask of Old Orkney, hence the name. It is reminiscent of the one we tried, ahem, twelve years ago.

Score: 8/10

JS comes back with a dram: she rolled the die to get a mystery dram from the Thompsons.

If you read this and are not familiar with the concept, the Mystery Dram series is a collection that bears but a question mark on the front of the bottle. It has the ABV on the back, because that is a legal requirement, but not much else. All bottlings in a batch have the same ABV, by the way. When they release a batch, the bottlers disclose which casks were bottled, how many bottles each cask yielded, and the proportion a certain cask represents amongst the whole batch. One blind-buys a certain number of bottles at a flat rate and fate decides what one receives. One needs to unseal the bottle (remove the foil) to reveal the distillery and the age written on the stopper. At a tasting or a festival, it is a neat way to surprise others and shake their prejudices.

When travelling to festivals, the Thompsons bring six bottles (numbered 1 to 6) and a die. Punters roll the die, which dictates which bottling they try. JS rolls a 4.

Mystery Malt #4

Nose: lemon, lime, grapefruit, pomelo, freeze-dried peach slices.

Mouth: light, creamy and summery, it has plenty of fruits, including citrus zest. And, yes, that means a certain bitterness. it is acidic most of all, though. Pepper appears at second sip.

Finish: more citrus-y goodness, a tad creamy, zesty, zingy, alive.

Comment: solid. Several attempts to identify it (based on the sheet with the list of distilleries used for this batch), none accurate. It is a Raasay. We are dumbfounded.

Isle of Raasay 7yo b.2026 (46.3%, Thompson Bros. Mystery Malt, 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel, B#6, 206b) 8/10

The stats sheet

Daftmill 2012/2025 (46%, OB Summer Batch Release, 5250b)

Nose: super lemon-y, almost a one-trick pony. A lemon-y pony, that is.

Mouth: soft and custard-y, it gains a bay-leaf bitterness upon chewing.

Finish: custard, punctuated with lemon juice. Citrus sweets occur later on.

Comment: simple, but excellent at what it does.

Score: 8/10

Time to strategise. We have not paid attention to the halftime-orange selection of the day and the time is approaching. We go correct that.

An inventive way to circumvent the use of a trademarked name

We have a few minutes left and there so much else to try.

Lindores Abbey b.2026 1494 (46%, OB, Bourbon Barrels, Red Wine Barriques & Sherry Butts)

Nose: slightly herbaceous, it has a whiff of a 1970s kitchen in Continental Europe. Hot cast-iron pipes, stale butter, old bread, lack of ventilation.

Mouth: corn syrup, though not much of the sweetness one would expect of that.

Finish: it has a bit of a kick. Mint lozenges, mint cream supplemented with lime zest.

Comment: decent, if uneventful.

Score: 6/10

Nc'Nean 5yo 2019/2025 Lemon Meadow (48.5%, OB The Huntress Series, STR Red Wine + ex-American Whiskey + ex-Oloroso Casks, 5729b)

Nose: acidic as pine needles, dried citrus zest and Douglas-fir needles.

Mouth: it is strong and desiccating.

Finish: acidic, dry, it has plenty of pine needles and pine cones.

Comment: alright. Will not make me fall in love with the distillery, though.

Score: 7/10

In that time, JS has the following ones too:

• Nc'nean Organic (46%, OB, unknown batch)
• Nc'nean 2017+2022/2026 Malted Teacake (48.5%, OB The Huntress Series, 56% STR Red Wine + 42% Bourbon + 2% Oloroso Sherry Casks, B#5)
• Nc'nean 4yo 2020/2024 Amy (48.5%, OB Quiet Rebels, 63% STR + 19% ex-Maury + 18% ex-Bourbon, 10132b)

We go queue for our respective halftime choices. I am first in line, this year.

him: "Do you want anything, or are you queueing for the orange dram?"
tOMoH: "Queueing."
him: "Alright."

A few confused looks, then a modest queue starts to form behind me. What a trendsetter!

They blow the whistle. The exhibitors start to pour. All excited with my newly-poured bounty, I lose my pen. There are many on the floor, so it is only a matter of picking one up. However, it is not the same colour. And I do not like losing my stuff. As the crowd at the stall dissipates, I recover my prized pen, no doubt a free promotional item from who knows what company, worth absolutely bugger all. But it is mine.

Continue reading here.

07/08/2026 Whisky Fringe (Day 1 -- Part 2)

It started here.

It is the halfway point. Here, that means exhibitors pour their special wares for a token that everyone received at the start. It is called the halftime orange dram. Queues have been forming for the most popular drams, but it seems there is nothing comparable to the chaos at the Tomatin stall last year. JS and I debate what to get: the only stand-out on offer is the Rosebank 31yo, but we had that last year already.

What is in our vicinity?

Glenburgie 38yo 1988/2026 Chapter Thirty Two (46.7%, Decadent Drinks Whiskyland, Refill Hogshead, 168b)

Nose: I want to say 'peachy', but that is SSS talking, who told us he finds Glenburgie peachy. It is fruity, though. Nectarines, plums, greengages, none too ripe.

Mouth: a tad mute at first, it wakes up with a chew: lots of greengages, apricot stones, but also something fiercely bitter that is not a fruit stone... Walnut shells turned into a paste?

Finish: explosive, long and bitterly fruity. Fruit stones, walnut shells, preserved pistachio.

Comment: I would like to like this more, but it is nice. It is a pleasant bonus that JS is told to keep her token and spend it elsewhere.

Score: 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, AMcR)

Port Askaig 25yo b.2025 (45.8%, Elixir Distillers)

Nose: meow! Ashes and char, elegant as an old Ardbeg. Fireplace grille, then algae scratched off an empty vase, lichen scrapped off an old stone. At long last, it becomes fruity, with peach and plum cloaked in a veil of smoke.

Mouth: tarry ropes, smoky fishing nets, diesel fumes hanging over harbour water, smoked plum. Ha! Ha! Some crushed glass and sand appear too, gently stripping.

Finish: biggish, sandy, flooded with diesel-tainted sea water, smoked cockles and fishing nets drifting in the current.

Comment: my dram of the day, so far. Probably a Caol Ila; it ticks all the boxes of a good one, at that.

Score: 8/10

Royal Brackla 23yo 2000/2023 Double Cask (53.3%, OB Exceptional Cask Series, Refill Puncheon + Tokaji Wine Finish, C#500005, 258b)

Nose: sweet, it offers dunked biscuit, sweet corn, lots of sweet corn, perhaps a cardboard box full of green grapes, gooseberries and unripe greengages.

Mouth: liqueur, brandy, corn syrup. It is a lot stronger than expected too. Crystallised apple drops, hard candy of sorts and briny cardboard.

Finish: toffee and cardboard. It struggles to develop the complexity I would like, even after a couple of sips. JS finds it a lot of red fruits.

Comment: it would be a good blend, but for a single malt, and a halftime orange dram at that, it leaves me wanting.

Score: 7/10

Daftmill 20yo 2006/2026 Chapter Thirty Five (53%, Decadent Drinks Whiskyland, 1str Fill Sherry Butt & 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel, 344b)

Nose: it is a perfume-y number that turns earthy. Then, we have dried kale, crackly leather an fruity flapjacks.

Mouth: earthy and drying, rancio turned to eleven. It is also strong, fierce, but that is balanced by remarkable berries (cranberries, boysenberries, mulberries) and bitter wood. Oh! it is bitter alright, if pleasantly so.

Finish: earthy and fruity. A beautiful Oloroso cask (I guess). A vatting of two casks, in fact.

Comment: imagine this! The first independently-bottled Daftmill and the oldest bottled Daftmill to-date. What a move to pull off! Apparently, there is a 22yo cask sample under the counter at the Daftmill stand, but it is neither here nor there. The cask is loud, but I like it. That said, I prefer Daftmill in a Bourbon cask.

Score: 8/10

Dufftown 13yo 2012/2026 (52.3%, James Eadie Distilleries of Great Britain & Ireland Commemorative, First Fill Bourbon Barrel, 530b)

Nose: honeysuckle, ethereal perfume, an empty Moka pot, barley water.

Mouth: warming, it has melted toffee, mocha custard that has not yet cooled down and hot metal.

Finish: toffee and cream of tartar or custard powder.

Comment: decent.

Score: 7/10

ST tells us they brought the cask end of their Highland 1976 -- the real cask end, cloudy liquid, vegetables and all. This is not exactly the bottling that was unveiled at the Whisky Fair.

Highland 49yo 1976/2026 Cask End (45.1%, Thompson Bros. specially bottled for Dornoch Castle, Hogshead, C#SR26050)

Nose: ridiculously fruity. Ridiculously!

Mouth: a lick of wood bitterness, but mostly fruit stones with tatters of flesh still attached.

Finish: exotic fruits, woodworm and rotten cherries. Crazy depth.

Comment: this is incredible. Dram of the festival.

Score: 9/10 (Thanks for the dram, ST)

Clynelish 12yo 2013/2026 (52.5%, James Eadie Distilleries of Great Britain & Ireland Commemorative UK Exclusive, Re-Charred Hogshead, 496b)

Nose: shaving foam.

Mouth: wick, fresh and spent, shaving foam and a dollop of minty toothpaste.

Finish: something fiercely minty in this finish, perhaps a lick of cardboard and toffee too.

Comment: good!

Score: 7/10

Ardmore 27yo 1999/2026 (50.5%, Thompson Bros., First Fill Barrel, 161b)

Nose: plaster bands, elastic bands, then a strawberry filling for chocolate wafers. Fruit juice sprayed onto old bandages.

Mouth: fruity paste it is (strawberry again), with quite a bit of alcohol and chewy bandages. This is so good! Fruitier and fizzier with each sip.

Finish: big, it alternates between smoked fruits and bandages. There is a pinch of earth and some grated mature Cheddar, as well as one manner or another of mature-Italian-cheese rind.

Comment: excellent.

Score: 8/10

Glenturret 35yo 1990/2026 Chapter Twenty Nine (41.5%, Decadent Drinks Whiskyland, Refill Hogshead, 231b)

Nose: wood and strawberry, the latter most prominent. That turns into strawberry yoghurt.

Mouth: more fruits -- freeze-dried raspberries, peach stones, apricot stones.

Finish: wonderfully fresh, it has rambutan, lychee, white peach, Korean pear, Korean melon... 

Comment: phwoar! If my palate was not so tired, this may well score a 9.

Score: 8/10

Time to go. They are clearing people out. A quick stop by the shop and we are out of here.

09/08/2025 Whisky Fringe 2025

JS and I are back in Edinburgh (after an eight-year hiatus) for the Whisky Fringe (after a ten-year hiatus). The whisky world has changed more than Auld Reekie, in that time. Not that we will notice the latter much: Oasis are playing in town tonight, which means everything is fully-booked and/or delayed. We have had to stay in Glasgow as a consequence, and will have virtually no time for the whisky shops tourism.

Glasgow first, then. Despite a late arrival last night and a busy day ahead, despite even the morning rain, we head for an earlyish run towards Clydeside distillery. We will turn around before, because we do not want to jeopardise our breakfast or risk missing our train.

Boston Cream, Crème Brûlée, Everything Bagel

Chai latte (JS)

Hot chocolate (me)

Good thing we were reasonable with the doughnuts: we have a 12:00 reservation at L'Escargot Bleu, a restaurant we have not visited in a decade or almost. We reach there fifteen minutes early, which does not buy us enough time to climb the Royal Mile. Instead, we call at the grocery shop across the road, kill the fifteen minutes, then enter our eatery. It has been open for a couple of minutes only, yet a customer is already sitting. It is AMcR. Lolle. I exchange a few texts with OB about the chance encounter before we order.

The food is its usual outstanding. 

Talonmore & apple (me)

Lost Orchard Cider (JS)

Lobster Bisque (me)
Waitress: "When I say 'lobster bisque', I mean it.
It is made with real lobster."
It is unclear what we are supposed to believe
lobster bisque is usually made of.

Steamed Shetland mussels, squid & courgette sauce (JS)

Ayrshire duck breast & black pudding w/ cabbage & girolles Sce.
Best duck breast I have had

Plaice fillet w/ monkfish cheek, squid & carrot pure (JS)

Beetroot Salad to share

Duck egg crème brûlée (me)

Griottines in Kirsch (JS)

It is time to make our way to Mansfield Traquair, which is conveniently located in the same street. The queue is long already. A bloke just ahead of us distributes lanyards to the others in his group who are incredulous. Incidentally, I pull mine out at the same time; one registers it and makes a comment.

tOMoH: "Trust me, you'll look like an idiot, but, in ten minutes, you'll think: 'this is fucking genius! Where was this during the rest of my life?'"
Him: "Sounds like we'd look like idiots and amateurs without them!"

The doors open, and despite the length of the queue, which certainly costs us fifteen minutes, we are in swiftly and easily.

In all its grandeur

I remember being a little underwhelmed with the quality of the selection, last time, so our strategy today is different.

Firstly, we will plan our half-time orange dram more carefully to avoid disappointment when the time comes. For memory, that is the local version of the dream drams: every stand has one, and they will pour it at 16:00 in exchange for the coupon that everyone gets with their entry ticket. Naturally, the most in-demand drams disappear quickly.

Secondly, we (I, at least) will spend the rest of the time exploring the New Kids On The Block. The late-1980s-early-1990s boyband from Boston is not here, so that means distilleries or bottlers I have not yet tried (or very little thereof).

Good. Let us start. Festival conditions, hence short notes.

Daftmill 12yo 2012/2025 Summer Batch Release (46%, OB, 23 x First Fill Barrels, 5250b)

Nose: lemon-y cereal and custard, or whichever way around.
Mouth: quite thin, it feels like a boozy custard. Then, it offers nice flowery tones, in the back.
Finish: lovely finish, creamy and cereal-y.
Comment: good start. 7/10

Daftmill 15yo 2009/2024 Fife Strength (56.3%, OB, 19 x First Fill ex-Bourbon Barrels + 1 x ex-PX Cask, 3840b)

Nose: rich, fruity custard topped with smoked berries. It is jammier at second nose.
Mouth: there is a slight bitterness akin to berry pips spread on toast.
Finish: long, bold, acidic and bitter in equal measure. It is also fairly nutty.
Comment: fruity dram. 7/10

Glasgow 1770 10yo 2015/2025 Sauternes Cask Matured (53%, OB Limited Edition Release hand selected by Royal Mile Whiskies to celebrate 10 Years of Whisky Making at The Glasgow Distillery, Refill Sauternes Barrique, C#15/97, 340b)

Nose: it is fairly woody, with mostly sandalwood. Some fruits emerge, such as cured apple. It becomes quite leather at second nose.
Mouth: drier than expected, light but almost grassy.
Finish: boozy toffee, brandy and birch oil.
Comment: Glasgow Distillery turns 10 this year, and this is the first I try them. Kwazy. 7/10

Glasgow 1770 Triple Distilled (46%, OB, ex-Bourbon & Virgin Oak Casks, d. ca. 2025)

Nose: this one is super fruity and ethereal, choc-full of candied pineapple and papaya cubes.
Mouth: yes, this is candied fruit cube galore -- papaya, mango, pineapple, Chinese gooseberry.
Finish: mellow, floral, delicate and elegant.
Comment: a proper Lowlander and a standout, really. 8/10

Glasgow 1770 6yo b.2024 Cognac Cask Finish (58%, OB Small Batch Series, 5 x First Fill ex-Bourbon Casks + French Cognac Casks Finish, B#2, 2250b)

Nose: briny smoke in the style of smoked ham drying in a barn by the sea.
Mouth: ash, chargrilled sardines, cigarette ash. It is pretty punchy and peddles burning hay.
Finish: hot and very smoky, ashy. It balances that out with timid smashed strawberries.
Comment: only an undeniable youth prevents a higher score. This was dubbed a lightly-peated dram, with 3 of the five casks filled with peated spirit. 7/10

Family picture

Ballindalloch 8yo 2017/2025 (62.7%, OB Single Cask bottled exclusively for UK, Virgin Oak Hogshead, C#69, 330b)

Nose: it has a mix of buttery pastry and white-wood oil (acacia, birch). The second nose adds apricot jam.
Mouth: pastry it is, with choux dough, faded tinned peaches and stale custard turning into cardboard paste.
Finish: very good, it has white wood and a huge associated bitterness. In fact, in the long run, that bitterness is a little bothersome, hardly made up for by pineapple gratings on a worn-out wooden cutting board.
Comment: from a refill virgin oak cask, the festival booklet tells us -- ha! ha! It is not exactly a winner in my view. 6/10

I try the oatcakes that are provided at almost every stand. They taste like sweat.

Springbank 12yo Cask Strength (56.5%, cask sample)

Nose: delicate and floral, it gains melted toffee at second nosing.
Mouth: woody, drying, yet also fruity. We spot cut fruits with their slightly-scarred stones.
Finish: dry, woody. Sawdust and ground spices.
Comment: JS asked for a Hazelburn and got this decent unreleased Springer. 7/10

Springbank 5yo 100° Proof (57.1%, OB)

Nose: toasted bread turns strongly perfume-y.
Mouth: soft (!), light, then furiously peppery (black pepper). It keeps a fresh touch nevertheless.
Finish: juicy and woody, it has a sprinkle of white pepper.
Comment: alright. 7/10

There is a tent?

Hi ST!

ST: "What would you like to try?"

Torabhaig 7yo 2018/2025 (57.1%, The Dornoch Distillery Co. for Thompson Bros., 1st Fill Bourbon Barrels)

Nose: smoky earth, dark earth, toasted barley and peat smoke grow alongside citrus (bergamot).
Mouth: it is very peaty, here, and big. We have hot tar, greasy earth and tarry sand.
Finish: chargrilled sausages, charred pineapple, char and coal. It is cloying.
Comment: my first Torabhaig, despite having been to the distillery. I like the label better than the whisky, but it is good enough. 7/10

Hi PT!

PT: "Is your glass empty?"
tOMOh:"No, but JS's is..."

J. & G. Grant from the Glenlivet District 12yo (40%, Grant Bonding imported and distributed by Girolamo-Luxardo, b. ca. 1970s)

Nose: very vinous, sherried, which, in this case, means extra fruity. (Rehydrated) prunes and dried figs are particularly impressive. Maraschino cherries are not far behind.
Mouth: syrupy, it is thick and coating, yet also rather fruity.
Finish: currants, prunes, figs.
Comment: "70% paxarette, 20% Sherry, 10% whisky," says PT (or something similar). Quite right! A strange undisclosed Glenfarclas by the proprietors. 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, PT)

It is almost 16:00. We position ourselves strategically for the mid-point. In a way we are wasting fifteen minutes; in another, it is not a minute too soon: some of the stands have huge queues in front of them. "Queue" is an orderly word to describe the blobs of punters, really. Where I am is a shapeless mass of enthusiasts that, as the bell tolls, quickly degenerates into a free-for-all, full with freeloaders jumping the queue using their elbows. It is a miracle it does not descend into fisticuffs. JS, for comparison, will wax lyrical about the well-oiled organisation at the stand she is queueing at, with assembly-line responsibilities, queue management and all. Bah!

TAKE MY TOKEN!

We both get what we are after; that is the most important.

Tomatin 45yo b.2023 (41.5%, OB Travel Retail Exclusive, Oloroso Sherry Cask, B#1, 225b)

Nose: this is on a different planet -- nay! In a different galaxy. To everything that preceded it. It rolls out an incredible depth of grapes, lychees, ripe peaches... Rhaaaa! The second nose may bring tame coffee in amongst all that fruit. Considering it is an Oloroso cask, that coffee is firmly under control.
Mouth: mellow and super-fruity here too, with (Mirabelle) plums, greengages and lychees. Chewing unearths more fruits, with only a minute bitterness. The whole is mouth-coating. "Tasty!" says JS, channelling her inner TM.
Finish: long, juicy and fruity again. Plump plums of all kinds, ripe apricots and all sorts of jams.
Comment: right? The context does not do this justice. It is amazeboulanger. By far the best dram so far. 9/10

Rosebank 31yo b.2022 Release 2 (48.1%, OB Limited Release, 4000b)

Nose: honeysuckle, lilac, jasmine... This is as floral as can be! It has cut orchard fruits too. The second nose brings honey-glazed apricots.
Mouth: mellow, juicy and drying all at once. We have apricot juice and quarry chippings competing for attention. Kumquat and bergamot round all that off.
Finish: sweet jams simmering in a hot tin pot, a dollop of melted milk chocolate, just a sprig of a herb or another -- tarragon, rosemary or sage, perhaps?
Comment: phwoar! 9/10

Back to our regular programme.

Inchdairnie The KinGlassie 8yo 2017/2025 Raw (46.3%, OB, ex-Bourbon Casks)

Nose: TCP, hay so dry it is falling to dust, a mix of ashes and cereals.
Mouth: creamy, custard-y, yet also smoky. Shall we call it ashy custard?
Finish: ashy custard indeed, although the ashes are loud, here.
Comment: I was eager to try this distillery, after pat gva commented about it, earlier this week. Based on this sole expression, I am less enthusiastic than he was. 7/10

Gone Grant 30yo 1994/2025 Chapter Eighteen (51.2%, Decadent Drinks Whiskyland for WhiskySponge, 26 Years in a Refill Barrel + 4 Years in a First Fill Sherry Hogshead, 230b)

Nose: a slap of nectarine on the olfactory organ. Then, it becomes ridiculously floral, with pink flowers that flirt with pink wafers from Champagne.
Mouth: soft and floral again, it ends up slightly drying in a vegetal way.
Finish: spellbinding. This has fruits, cosmetic powder and confectionary sugar.
Comment: love it. Excellent Caperdonich. 8/10

I try the other type of oatcakes on offer. They are bursting with chilli. Who had this terrible idea?

Secret Wigtownshire 6yo 2018/2025 Lemon sherbet, anyone? (50%, Keeble Cask Company Elevenses Whisky, 2 x 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrels, 565b)

Nose: it Is pretty mute, initially. Mild and soft-spokenly floral, it has little to say.
Mouth: the distillery is recognisable, here. Bold pastry, sugar and lovely fruits.
Finish: sweet, with a dusting of sugar, poached pears and baked shortcrust.
Comment: excellent undisclosed Bladnoch from a lesser-known bottler. 8/10

Benriach 17yo 2007/2025 (47.3%, Keeble Cask Company Fragrant Drops, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, C#700204, 278b)

Nose: a lot of wine smothers faint orchard fruits.
Mouth: fruits and gravel. I am not seduced. It gets juicier and a little more to my liking at second sip.
Finish: it is a fruitier finish than foreseen, but not enough to win me over.
Comment: no picture of this one, and it is not mentioned in the festival booklet. As for my feedback: meh. 6/10

Ah! It is that time of the festival when it starts smelling of fart.

Annandale 6yo 2019/2025 (60.2%, Gleann Mór Rare Find, Seasoned Oloroso Barrique, C#14201, 334b)

Nose: kippery AF, briny. It then develops smoked earth.
Mouth: ooft! Very drying, it is soon earthy and smoky, with crushed stones and abrasive sand.
Finish: very smoky and hay-like, this is also ember-hot.
Comment: second peaty Annandale that impresses me. 7/10

Random bloke: "CALLUM!"
JS: "Five hundred people turn around."

Glen Garioch 16yo 2008/2025 (55.4%, Gleann Mór Rare Find, Ribera del Duero Red Wine Finish, C#108, 309b)

Nose: winy and gamy, this may as well be a Mortlach. Or anything, really. It is overcome by the wine maturation.
Mouth: thick, winy, it has lots of tannins and mud patties. It is very chewy in texture.
Finish: huge, even after the colossal Annandale. This is earthy, with burnt mud and hay.
Comment: not my thing. 6/10

We (I) do not resist commenting on the logo that
looks grubby on the boxes.
We are assured it is not the founder's thumbprint
and it is not an easy way to crack into his phone

ST: "What can I pour you?"

Sutherland 5yo b.2022 (48.5%, Thompson Brothers celebrating 20th anniversary of whiskyfun.com, 590b)

Nose: lots of cosmetic powders and sherbet. Tickly!
Mouth: rather mellow and fruity, with apricots other turnovers, yet also ground apricot stones.
Finish: dry and fruity, reminiscent of peach and citrus juices poured onto rocks.
Comment: a blend of Clynelish, Dornoch and Brora (from a bottle), this is pretty good. 7/10

Glen Garioch 10yo 2014/2025 (56.2%, Little Brown Dog, 1st Fill Bourbon Barrels, 337b)

Nose: sand and crusted mud.
Mouth: blackberry-flavoured cough drops and earth.
Finish: yeah, earthy berries which never reach elderberry stages.
Comment: same as the one MR poured in June? Yes. Same score. 7/10

I confirm with PT and ST that the guy I do not know behind their stand is French and proceed to introduce myself. Shortly after, he offers...

An Islay 33yo 1991/2025 (49.1%, Thompson Bros. specially selected and bottled to celebrate the Thompson Family's 25th anniversary at Dornoch Castle Hotel, C#2681, 244b)

Nose: muddy fruits.
Mouth: beautiful smoked fruits augmented with a spoonful of mud.
Finish: mud, ink, crushed seashells and fruits.
Comment: excellent. 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, Shalil)

Ben Nevis 26yo 1999/2025 (50.5%, Little Brown Dog, Bourbon Hogshead)

Nose: concentrated and potent, it displays mild fruits only.
Mouth: mineral and fruity at once, which is pretty nice.
Finish: it is a little too hot for me in the finish, not to mention funky (it is a Ben Nevis, after all). That distracts from the subtle fruitiness.
Comment: too funky for me to give a higher score. 7/10

It is getting sweaty and blurry in that tent!

Lochlea Our Barley (46%, OB, Bourbon + Sherry + STR Casks, b. ca. 2025)

Nose: fresh and crisp, full of cut apples and candied fruits.
Mouth: fresh, candied fruit cubes -- lots of them! Mango and papaya first in line.
Finish: creamy, here are milk chocolate and more candied papaya cubes.
Comment: remarkable. Their basic bottling, at 46%, at the end of a festival, after several 60+% drams, and it still shines. 8/10

Secret East Highland 46yo d.1978 Half Time Orange (40.6%, Little Brown Dog for Whisky Fringe Edinburgh)

Nose: phwoaaaaaar! An explosion of candied tropical fruits, topped with colour-crayon shavings.
Mouth: watery candied fruits, which tastes better than it reads, probably. Even though it is less explosive than on the nose, it remains outstanding. In an odd sequence of flavours, it adds oysters and shrimps at second sip.
Finish: it is in the same vein, super-fruity and fresh, adding smashed strawberries to an-otherwise full roster.

Comment: yet another Glen Garioch, albeit an undisclosed one. They made only two or three bottles of this just for the half-time orange. What a belter to finish with! 9/10

There are fifteen minutes left, but exhibitors are packing up and everyone is leaving. I wish they had rung last pour a few minutes prior. We tried more and better than we bargained for, but I feel stopped in my track, with this surprise festival end. Ah! well.

Outside, Mary_Poppins / Strawberry_Shortcake / Nana_Smith picks us up in her automobile. We drive to The Fishmarket Newhaven, where we have supper before taking a digestive walk during which we see four herons over the space of a few metres.

Crispy Squid and Chips

Battered Scallops

Haggis Bon Bons

The Forth Bridges in the distance.
We spot three, but cannot see the Forth
*cough*

From there, Poppins takes us to S. Luca for an ice cream. The Black Hawaii flavour impresses us much and helps us overlook the noise from the Oasis concert which we hear in the distance.

Time to say goodbye, though.