16/08/2026 Prime numbers

Back in ze Heimat for a few days. Sadly, much of the German-speaking part of the country is burning. A thought for those who are fighting the flames and another for those, not all human, who have lost everything in the same flames.

In more rejoicing news, we are having a tasting. JS suggested the theme, which is wide enough to promise ridiculous connections.

red71, Psycho, ydc, GD, adc and JS join me. PSc, kruuk2 and Kirk Barleycorn will arrive at various points in the afternoon. dom666, on the other hand, called off at 8:20 this morning, victim of a bastard hangover, we speculate.

red71 made his famous canelés

One of them comes alive

red71, his canelés and his assistant for the day

We will call him red72 in a family picture

Psycho introduces Cellar 13 which, incidentally, is bottled at 43%.

Glenmorangie 10yo Cellar 13 (43%, OB, First Fill American Mountain Oak Casks, B#2, b. ca. 2004) (Psycho)

Nose: light, vibrant, ethereal, it has a fantastic mix of pressed lychee, mixed peel and rambutan. ydc finds Smyrna raisins and sultanas. It might have a drop of lemon juice too.

Mouth: thinned-out caramel, hot toffee and chilli flakes. We have a dollop of custard too, with a fistful of bitter wood shavings.

Finish: Quality Street's Toffee Penny (adc), toffee through and through, butterscotch, vanilla ice cream.

Comment: it is always a blast to try this, and it fares just as well as it did twenty years ago.

Score: 8/10

ydc unveils her savoury cake.

Tuna and preserved lemon cake

Psycho: “I know a Chinese proverb that says: ‘If you have nothing wise to say, quote a Chinese proverb.’”

We follow up with another Glenmorangie at 43%, this one a 23-year-old.

Glenmorangie 23yo d.1963 (43%, OB distributed by Wilmerink & Muller, Oloroso Sherry Casks Finish) (group)

Nose: marzipan and cherry coulis, berries cheesecake, orange PiM’s (Psycho and red71).

Mouth: chewy, thick, it has rubber and a delicate and elegant dusty side (red71). It makes ydc think of Christmas and dried fruits; Psycho drops the word 'kuglof' into the mix.

Finish: “candied fruits,” says ydc, who also finds it very warming, whereas red71 calls it very concentrated.

Comment: unabashed masterpiece. My full notes are here.

Score: 10/10

PSc enters. adc greets him with haggis bonbons with a mustard sauce.

Haggis bonbon

kruuk2 arrives shortly thereafter.

A merry gang we are

PSc presents a Benrinnes bottled at 43%.

Benrinnes 15yo (43%, OB imported by DBBY, b. ca.2026) (PSc)

Nose: it is fairly pickled, with red onions, gherkins and smoked tree bark. It evolves to include something metallic, but retains a hint of sulphur (kruuk2).

Mouth: PiM’s. This is really an orange filling, unctuous and jammy. It also has Pimm’s, just to make it confusing — the vermouth-like English fruit cup that is popular in summer.

Finish: big and orange-y, with a coat of dark chocolate. There is little of the Benrinnes pine-y character at play, here.

Comment: of course, it has a hard job, after the old Glenmorangie, but even disregarding that, it is hard not to be disappointed. The PiM’s notes are delightful; the sulphur and pickle not so much. Perhaps it will improve in the open bottle.

Score: 6/10

tOMoH presents a 29yo Jura.

Jura 29yo (42.9%, Elixir Distillers The Single Malts of Scotland A Marriage of Casks, 576b) (tOMoH)

Nose: citrus aplenty, namely pink grapefruit and lemon zest. It has lozenges too, then candied apricots. Psycho detects fruit cake. He is the fruit cake.

Mouth: mellow, fruity, a tad bitter, it has menthol (Psycho), citrus and liquorice (PSc). Tarragon too (Psycho).

Finish: mellow, apricot-y. JS finds Ricola cough drops, while kruuk2 calls it herbaceous.

Comment: we discovered this on Islay, a couple of years ago. At the time, I thought we had found OC’s masterpiece. My opinion has not changed. The majority had an apprehension when they saw the distillery, but they are bowled over.

Score: 9/10

Psycho: “Il est vraiment très sec sur la finale.”
tOMoH: “Très sexuel final?”

Psycho: “When I trim my beard, I shed between 300 and 500 grammes, depending on the length.”
PSc: "…and whether you wiped your mouth after eating!”

Psycho unveils a Tamnavulin 26yo, which is 2 x 13, two prime numbers, the first of which is the first (prime) prime number. Also, it was the first (prime) bottle he found when he opened his bar.

Tamnavulin-Glenlivet 26yo 1992/2018 (51.3%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, Bourbon Hogshead, 234b, 18/357) (Psycho)

Nose: dust (adc), grist and custard powder, then crayons and wax. The second nose has a strong whiff of wood (wooden trays), then freeze-dried raspberries.

Mouth: sweet yet lively, it has ginger powder and a drop of wine. A certain bitterness appears at second sip, maybe liquorice.

Finish: long, warming, it tickles a notch. We have some vanilla custard with ginger and pepper. There are some dried fruits too, very late in the game (Psycho).

Comment: I like this much more than when it came out. Chances are it will further improve in the open bottle.

Score: 8/10

GD and ydc bring forth a small bottle — a brewery they like distilled their wort as an experience. For the first (prime) time.

Lupus Ardens (45%, Brasserie du Loup) (ydc + GD)

Nose: beer on steroids meets plum eau-de-vie. PSc finds Śliwowica and Mirabelle plum. I have unripe-lemon zest.

Mouth: mellow, it has delicious citrus sprayed with eau-de-vie — or citrus juice sprayed onto eau-de-vie.

Finish: punchy fruit here too, it is light, almost beer-like and fresh.

Comment: love it.

Score: 7/10

Kirk Barleycorn enters. ydc and GD depart.

PSc proposes a Singleton, not because of its unicity (1 is not a prime number, after all), but because it has 281 in the bar code. He adds that, if one assigns a number to each of the twenty-six letters in the alphabet, Dufftown spells 109, which is a prime number. Keith, the larger town of which Dufftown is a part of, makes 53, also a prime number. PSc tells us that with so much aplomb that none of us double-checks. For all we know, it is all porkies.

The Singleton 18yo (40%, OB imported by DBBY, Bourbon and Sherry Casks, L23310M003 0000006243) (PSc)

Nose: orange liqueur, blush orange, zest, sawdust and bay leaves.

Mouth: mellow, it is another one reminiscent of PiM’s, those delicious chocolate-coated orange cakes. It also offers toffee.

Finish: more orange cake with chocolate, sawdust and ginger powder.

Comment: simple, efficient. In another context, I may go up one point.

Score: 7/10

kruuk2 pours us a Laphroaig bottled at 43%. It would be repetitive but for the fact he bought it in 2003 (prime) after discovering it in a restaurant Le Bois sans feuilles, owned and run by the Troisgros family. Troisgros literally means Bigthree, three being a prime number. The restaurant also has three Michelin star, yet another prime number (which kruuk2 does not mention).

Laphroaig 15yo (43%, OB imported by Allied Domecq Spirits & Wine, b. ca.2003) (kruuk2)

Nose: seaweed and ashes, smoked strawberries and ashy peach. The more one sniffs, the fruitier it becomes. It ends up bringing melon skins to the surface, in pure Laphroaig fashion.

Mouth: mellow, it carries on the ashy-fruity trip and becomes ashier when chewing. So much melon comes out too! Cantaloupe, Canary, Charentais, Hami, Snap, or even smoked Korean melon.

Finish: loads and loads of ashes. That spreads to serve juicy nectar.

Comment: fantastic. kruuk2 warned us it might be spent, or tired, at the very least. Instead, it reminds me of the superb 10yo we had earlier this summer.

Score: 9/10

Kirk Barleycorn presents a bottle from Campbeltown and tells us he has visited Campbeltown eleven times. Prime number.

all: “You’re accepted into the group.”

Springbank 1975/1995 Traditional Campbeltown (46%, OB for Tesco, Oak Casks, b#0262, 95/205) (Kirk Barleycorn)

Nose: inimitable Springbank from a certain era. Cut pears and carambolas, and halved cherries rolled in ashes. Caramelised orange rinds too, and marzipan (PSc and Kirk Barleycorn) kissed by cigar smoke.

Mouth: cherries (PSc). This has cherry jam, ash-sprinkled overripe peaches, more carambola… There is even a mineral touch at second sip.

Finish: a pinch of ash and cut fruits.

Comment: what a masterpiece. Extraordinary.

Score: 10/10

Kirk Barleycorn starts slicing a Jamón he brought.

A self-sufficient one, with knife, cutting board and all

red71 gives us a 23yo whisky. He delivers a whole masterclass on prime numbers, but I fail to capture it.

Linkwood 23yo 1998/2021 (53.3%, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice Cask Strength exclusively bottled for TyndrumWhisky.com, Refill Sherry Hogshead, C#13808, 267b, 21/214) (red71)

Nose: sweeter, it has marzipan mingling with wood.

Mouth: tannic, a trifle winy, let us be honest, but pleasantly so. Plump berries.

Finish: long, earthy, it has rancio, a whiff of game or cured meat, and lingonberry compote.

Comment: the Springbank is a hard act to follow, but this does it very well. Full notes here.

Score: 8/10

Kirk Barleycorn gives us a 31yo whisky.

Glen Garioch 31yo 1994/2026 (53.4%, Royal Mile Whiskies, Barrel, C#143078, 186b) (Kirk Barleycorn)

Nose: lemon cake, hot pastry on a heated baking tray, fruity turnovers. Sherbet appears later on, softly chalky.

Mouth: it is pronouncedly lemony, with chewy dried pineapple and grapefruit chunks. It gains a few spices at second sip and turns a tad chalky again.

Finish: sherbet, grapefruit drops, papaya drops.

Comment: this is excellent. Hope to try it again, one day.

Score: 8/10

We open PSc’s boulettes-liégeoises crisps pack.

Some are not convinced. They call the taste very subtle. I think they are delicious, but they are obviously a Flemish-made counterfeit: the real thing would have been called "boulets à la liégeoise." To not know ‘boulettes’ are called ‘boulets’ in Liège is a cardinal sin and a dead giveaway.

tOMoH: “Oufti!”
kruuk2: “La rétro-boulette olfaction!”
tOMoH: “The taste grows more accurate with each bite. The more you eat, the closer it tastes like the real thing. That goes well with Liège, where everything is slow.”
kruuk2: Les Belges ont l’heure, les Liégeois ont le temps.”

adc unveils her bottle. She tells us that, when one adds all the figures on the front label, one obtains 74. “That is not a prime number,” everyone shouts. But 7 + 4 = 11, which is one. Also, it is bottle number 79, a prime number.

Jura 7yo 2016/2024 (60%, OB Distillery Cask, C#1428, b#79) (adc)

Nose: cake (Psycho), candy floss, sherbet, metal, gingerbread (Psycho).

Mouth: sweet, custard-y, it has hot fruit turnovers, pineapple custard, cut papaya and an old, cushiony sofa (Psycho).

Finish: creamy, sweet, custard-y, it has a pinch of crushed mint crumble.

Comment: another one that no-one believed in. A Jura? At that age? Why torture us like that? Everybody ends up a believer. Incredible quality and integration. Delicious stuff.

Score: 8/10

JS introduces a 1989 Braes of Glenlivet (“Not a prime,” they all shout), bearing the cask number 1051, which is prime. Also, the distilling date is written 19/05/89; all three are prime numbers.

Braes of Glenlivet 22yo 1989/2011 (60.2%, The Scottish Liqueur Centre Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask, Bourbon Hogshead, C#1051, 267b b#69) (JS)

Nose: sweets and crystallised fruits (PSc and adc).

Mouth: candy floss or cotton candy (PSc).

Finish: “the chimney you sit next to in winter; it is that warming” (Psycho).

Comment: I make little effort to analyse this much. Firstly because I am loaded, secondly because others are on the move. We have had it before anyway. It is still a good dram.

Score: 8/10

Phew! we survived. Not a single broken cork, today. Must have been all fake bottles. :-)

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

Back in Edinburgh for another edition of the Whisky Fringe. The train was cancelled, this morning. We had to take another one, two hours later, which made us rush and join the queue a little too close to the opening time, without a proper meal. Not without food, though: we stopped in a wee shop for sarnies. The queue is just long enough to eat half of them and line our stomachs a little.

It seems the show has grown quite a bit, since last year, with more exhibitors and a whole new room called Lost Distilleries. As the name suggests, that one focuses on hard-to-get drams from closed distilleries, and one obtains drams in exchange for tokens, which cost £5 each. We could end up spending a lot of time (and money), there!

Oh! and there is a welcome dram from a closed distillery.

Port Dundas 15yo 2010/2026 (46%, Signatory Vintage The Un-Chillfiltered Collection, 1st Fill Sherry Hogsheads & 1st Fill Bourbon Barrels, L26/63)

Nose: buttery pastry, very sweet, doughnut, custard cream.

Mouth: the doughnut parade continues, which is ironic, considering we had no time to stop for doughnuts on the way here. There is also a corn-husk bitterness.

Finish: sweet doughnuts served on a metal plate (zinc?)

Comment: nice starter.

Score: 7/10

Now perusing the bottlings in the Lost Distilleries area. The selection is impressive. In fact, it is phlabberghasting.

A Glen Flagler? A Kinclaith? A Killyloch?

The most saught-after Glenlochy?

It is hilarious to see most people gravitate towards the Port Ellen, a Diageo Annual Release, at that, when there is much rarer stuff to explore. That said, I have tried or own ninety-five percent of what is on offer and elect to spend little time here. Perhaps others feel the same.

To note: the Rosebank is the official 31yo that we tried last year. It is offered this year as a halftime-orange dram again. To have it here too feels like a gaffe-and-a-half!

We continue our journey downstairs to the tent.

Balblair 12yo 2014/2026 (56.1%, Little Brown Dog Small Batch, Calvados Cask, 290b)

Nose: it has gherkin, then brine an moist paper bags from a perfume shop.

Mouth: very brandy-like. Plum, greengage, gooseberry, apple.. That last one is suggestion speaking, surely -- Calvados, innit.

Finish: yes, this is a fruit eau-de-vie in character, with crunchy apples and unripe plums.

Comment: it is okay. A bit thin and eau-de-vie-like for me.

Score: 6/10

Orkney 24yo 2001/2026 (53.1%, Little Brown Dog Small Batch, Refill Hogsheads)

Nose: comforting and medicinal nose, with old bandages, embrocations, age-old gauze. Roasted apples are behind, as are smoked apples and a bit of tobacco too (cigar).

Mouth: rather juicy, it has tobacco and gauze, through which pressurised fruit-juice steam has been pumped.

Finish: long, warming. Someone is smoking a cigarillo whilst roasting apples.

Comment: very, very good.

Score: 8/10

Caol Ila 12yo 2013/2026 (57.3%, Little Brown Dog Small Batch, Refill Bourbon Barrels, 384b)

Nose: spirit-y, it opens up to give a naked sweet crust (no topping). Fortunately, pressed apricot rears its head.

Mouth: ha. Very thin and very spirit-y, as if custard (without vanilla) and corn syrup (without sweetness) had a bastard child.

Finish: not much, here either. Wet cardboard with confectionary sugar. JS finds it a skunky aftertaste, while I find it astringent.

Comment: an unpeated Caol Ila. A curiosity that does not work for me. I remember trying the official unpeated expression, many years ago, and thinking the same. It must have been 2011's Special Release version or 2012's. It appears Caol Ila without peat is simply not whisky that works for me.

Score: 6/10

Invergordon 7yo 2017.2025 (58.8%, Little Brown Dog Small Batch, Virgin Oak Casks, 300b)

Nose: a lot of custard, at first, but that Irn Bru note so typical of rye whiskies appears at the end. Warm pastry, pie or other.

Mouth: a rye it is! Irn Bru, polished metal and something much weirder. Fart? Or is it the three blokes near us?

Finish: this is the best part, with custard sprinkled with Irn Bru, and smoked raisins.

Comment: a rye produced at the North-Highland grain distillery. The finish makes this interesting, not memorable.

Score: 7/10

LBD: "I hate these pourers. There is no stopper."
JS: "They're great, aren't they?"

Drookit Dug 10yo (45.1%, Little Brown Dog, Final Batch)

Nose: it smells very blend-y. Dusty cardboard, corn syrup... That dissipates and gives couque suisse and craquelin.

Mouth: the briny jelly of preserved pistachios, mocha custard.

Finish: lovely custard, but the cardboard-y element is hard to see past, and the alcohol is not elegantly integrated.

Comment: meh.

Score: 6/10

Aberdeenshire 12yo (46%, Little Brown Dog, b. ca.2026)

Nose: Scottish tablet, toffee, even fudge. Mostly fudge, actually. And thick ashes.

Mouth: mocha bitterness complements a custard-y texture (again). Melted chocolate with orange rinds and too much milk.

Finish: orange juice punctuated with melted chocolate chips.

Comment: decent likely Geerie.

Score: 7/10

Kingsbarns Doocot (46%, OB, 90% Bourbon + 10% STR Portuguese Red Wine Casks, b. ca.2026)

Nose: bluberry madeleines and blackcurrant cheesecake.

Mouth: it tastes younger than the nose suggested, with windscreen defroster complementing an undeniable fruity backdrop of unripe currants and gooseberries.

Finish: pleasant and comforting, it has blackcurrant cheesecake and blackberry sundae.

Comment: it is okay.

Score: 7/10

Glen Moray 18yo 2007/2026 (54.7%, Keeble Cask Fragrant Drops, Refill Bourbon Barrel, C#357, 218b)

Nose: a peaty Moray? This was announced as a lemon bomb, but it smells pretty earthy to me, with mud patties and farm paths. If there is any lemon, it is smoked. Antiseptic or dishwasher tablet (JS). Lemon rises timidly, given time.

Mouth: green olives meet dishwasher tablets. Chewing injects stringent lemon alright, but it is not that dominant, even if it becomes stripping, over time.

Finish: more dishwasher tablets (well spotted, JS) mixed with mud.

Comment: competent.

Score: 7/10

Tamnavulin 12yo 2013/2026 (60%, Keeble Cask Fragrant Drops, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, C#111516, 195b)

Nose: dried grass, hay (is that not the same thing?), mulch, custard powder, maybe a metal straw?

Mouth: hm. Naked. New ropes, turpentine. It is stripping. My tongue feels abused.

Finish: it is better here. It shows some fruits (plums, berries, not very ripe) and ginger biscuits. Or is that my craving those shortbreads they just put out at the stand? The next gulp is a tad more complex, but still not easy.

Comment: disappointing.

Score: 6/10

Kingsbarns Coaltown (46%, OB, ex-Peated Casks, b. ca.2026)

Nose: banana skins? That quickly makes way for baked bread -- baked to cardboard, in fact. We can hear the French residents of Auld Reekie slicing their wrists in despair -- and they are right. Cereals follow, mostly dry as stale granola.

Mouth: toasted cereals indeed, a bit of soot, charred husks and windscreen defroster sprayed onto raw cereals.

Finish: rough, it has defroster spray and bitter currants. Maybe cardboard too.

Comment: not for me.

Score: 5/10

Dalmunach 7yo d.2018 (55.4%, Blind Summit, Amontillado Sherry Hogshead, 170b)

Nose: Mokatines and warmed digestive biscuits are joined by a soap bar. That turns very buttery with a moment's breathing. Later on, we discover plain coffee.

Mouth: cardboard, Horlicks, Mokatine again. It is supremely drying at second sip and rather spicy too.

Finish: ashes, rocks, fruit stones (dry, stripped of any flesh). Long finish, almost invasive.

Comment: okayish.

Score: 6/10

Halftime is looming. Time to decide what to do.

This poster comes in handy

Mossburn thought it useful to specify that 100 ppm
classes as heavily peated :-)

Continue reading here.

26/04/2026 The Whisky Fair (Day 2 -- Part 1)

It is much less crowded, today. It also feels more relaxed altogether. And that is good news, because the excesses of last night are not yet forgotten. Astoundingly enough, some of our co-tasters from last night went to Villa Konthor after the tasting. Some went to several bars. A few are less fresh and proud than we are, this morning.

We decide to start by ticking the boxes we left blank yesterday.

But first, I have an errand to run. Back to Maltbarn!

There is no-one at the stand, which will help. Only the boss himself. I remind him I left the stand yesterday after purchasing A, B and C. I add that, when I unwrapped them in the evening, they were A, C and H. I show him H and explain it is a nice whisky, but I already have it, having purchased it last year. He seems very relieved: his stock-take last night showed a missing H and an extra B. We simply swap bottles and one can see anxiety leave both of us. Phew!

Now, on to the drams.

Ben Nevis 29yo 1996/2026 (48.9%, Thompson Bros., Refill Oloroso Butt, C#1497, 436b)

Nose: it is a bit mute. Waxy dark grapes, maybe.

Mouth: big and powerful, almost too concentrated to be enjoyable.

Finish: long, bold and rather wine-y.

Comment: JS was really upset to miss this one when it came out. Today, we rejoice that it is not really a profile either of us looks for. At the same time, the cranes on the label are irresistible.

Score: 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, ST)

Glengarioch 1975/1990 (46%, Brae Dean Int. imported by Moon Import The Birds, Oak Barrel, C#5910, 600b, b#278)

Nose: mesmerising old-bottle effect. Follow marinated meat ready for the barbecue, with thyme and rosemary. Then, we have concrete dust, asbestos, embrocation, plasters, bandages. It has gherkins at second nose, without that causing any negativity.

Mouth: phwoar! Embers, rosemary, concrete dust and marmalade slathered onto the whole. This is Überkomplex.

Finish: at once welcoming and austere, it rolls out the marinated-herbs carpet with a veil of smoke. It is highly acrid, and produces more asbestos than jam.

Comment: superlative dram. On any other day, I may score it higher.

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

Have we peaked too soon? I boldly declare the dram of the festival (clearly forgetting some of yesterday's discoveries). For how long?

Obfuscating the bottle number
to protect the innocent

Bowmore 1969/1978 (58 GL, OB imported by Fecchio & Frassà for 15th. Anniversary of Monica brothers, Sherry Cask, C#6636, 300b)

Nose: immediate Bowmore eyes. While JS tries to capture them on camera, I remain spellbound by the ethereal fruitiness of this nose. It suffers not one bit from its softly-metallic edge.

Mouth: just how is this possible? Yellow maracuja, carambola, papaya, unripe pineapple and a lick of tin are supremely augmented with a pinch of soot.

Finish: as Katy Perry would say: roar! It is powerful, yet precise, sharp as a blade and so fruity it seems unreal.

Comment: new dram of the festival. This may be even better than yesterday's 1969/1979.

Score: 12/10 (Thanks for the dram, EG)

Clynelish 12yo (43 Gradi, OB imported and distributed by M. Di Chiano, b.1970s)

Nose: soot. Crystalline soot. It has brine and distant pickles too, but the soot dominates.

Mouth: drying, ashy, burning, sizzling. It is also full of soot, yet nothing sticks out; all notes are harmoniously balanced. And, at 43%, it does not lack power in the slightest.

Finish: apricots rolled in soot and white ash.

Comment: this is a masterpiece. It reminds me of the one for Giaccone that I obtained from the same person as this.

Score: 10/10 (Thanks for the dram, elskling)

Enough killeries, for a second. Time to pay the Swisskies a visit. Savoureur is on the stage and insists we try one of his samples.

It is made more difficult by the fact he cannot find it in his bag of tricks.

Blind sample

Nose: waxy as hell. Ferns (JS), tarragon (JS), stewed berries.

Mouth: hints of gas, rancio and berries again.

Finish: boldly fruity and waxy, we find Mirabelle plums and fruit jellies.

Comment: delicious. We fail to identify it. Upon reveal, I am delighted that it is one I have wanted to try for a long time.

Score: 8/10

Glenburgie 33yo d.1949 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice) (Thanks for the dram, Savoureur)

Ichiro's Malt & Grain b.2025 (48%, OB Limited Edition distributed by Japan Import System)

Comment: too rushed to take notes. It is as well made as any Chichibu, really.

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

Highland Park d.2005 (59.7%, Duty Paid Sample for C. Dully Selection, Sherry Hogshead, C#37, ca. 300b)

Nose: this one is also quite waxy and fruity, with but a smidge of smoke.

Mouth: chalky fruit juice enhanced with honey, poured on burning weeds.

Finish: 'splosion of delicate tropical fruits.

Comment: slow start, excellent arrival. When this is bottled and released, it is well worth seeking out.

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

HS recognises us from the tasting last night.

HS: "Do you like tequila?"
JS: "Not really."
HS [fetches this ceramic decanter]: "This one is special. It is painted by orphans in Mexico. Each bottle is more or less unique. When the decanter is empty, my wife uses it for olive oil."

I have pictures of child labour flashing through my head. JS is worried that this tequila is going to wreck her palate for the rest of the day. Good intention, but we are puzzled by the gesture.

Laphroaig 31yo 1993/2025 (42.4%, C.Dully Selection, Hogshead, C#6793, 197b, b#194)

Nose: barbecue and spare ribs pave the way for TCP and guaiacol. Aromatics move to the foreground, after a moment.

Mouth: yup, spare ribs on the barbecue and a herbs marinade.

Finish: char and chargrilled meat.

Comment: look, it is good, okay? I do not resonate with it today is all.

Score: 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, CD)

Let us get off the stage.

Bruichladdich 17yo 2008/2026 Cask Le Sens #7 (52,7%, Claxton Joint Bottling for Cask Le Sens & Highlander Inn Cask Le Sens 5th Anniversary Bottling, 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel, C#2590, 254b)

Nose: melon, peach, apricot.

Mouth: more fruits, which is unexpected. Melon, peach, physalis.

Finish: glowing (JS). It has hot wax and a plaster-y death.

Comment: lovely.

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

Ben Nevis 18yo 2007/2025 (48.4%, Highlander Inn Maggie's Collection, C#10154, 278b)

Nose: orchard fruits are in the shadow of leather, suede sofas, then chocolate milk and chicory infusion.

Mouth: roasted apples, chocolate pudding. It quickly becomes frankly drying, almost chalky.

Finish: long, bright. Yellow fruit and a spoonful of mud.

Comment: beautiful. JS is not enthusiastic at first, but likes it more with each sip.

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

Glen Grant 17yo  2007/2024 (53.4%, Highlander Inn, C#70053141, 276b, b#269)

Nose: floral and ethereal until citrus rinds enter the scene (oranges, not lemons).

Mouth: more of that citrus-y goodness, pink grapefruit, blush orange.

Finish: it is a textbook Glen Grant, ripe with citrus zest, peels and segments that build an effective balance of acidity and bitterness.

Comment: excellent.

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

TM: "I need to go wee."

He adds the gesture, which cracks us up immensely.

Another few loose ends need tying up at another stand.

Where I finally manage a picture of GN's
best shirt of the festival

Allt-A-Bhainne 28yo 1997/2025 (58.8%, Scout Drinks, Hogshead, C#3498, 127b)

Nose: fresh, it has nectar-filled flowers leading to chewy red sweets. More flowers come back soon enough.

Mouth: flower nectar, thick, coating, sticky as peach nectar.

Finish: super long, it offers more yellow flowers and cut fruits.

Comment: succulent. Good thing they do not sell on site, or I would leave this festival even poorer and heavier.

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

Ardmore 15yo 2010/2026 (60.3%, Scout Drinks, Barrel, C#804044, 166b)

Nose: this one is very earthy, reminiscent of the contaminated soil on an industrial estate, for some reason

Mouth: it is a trifle medicinal, here. Iso Betadine, tincture of iodine, Merbromin. There may be piping-hot apple peels coming out of the oven, but that is how fruity it gets, i.e. not very.

Finish: cauterising. It remains firmly medicinal, with old bandages and dried-up tincture of iodine. Not much of the original earthy onslaught subsists.

Comment: another top drop approved by KC.

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

Time for food.

Today, we stay on the main floor, where the cafeteria is serving sandwiches.

GG, whom we met at the tasting last night, passes by. He pulls bottles out of his pockets like a magician pulls rabbits out of a hat. I only want to try one. He pours...

Garreau Bas-Armagnac d.1965 (45%, cask sample, Barrique, C#P04)

Nose: wonderfully fruity, of course, this is an avalanche of raisins, prunes in syrup, sultanas, currants of all colours. We are clearly in brandy territory and I can hear no-one complain.

Mouth: the deluge of dried currants continues. Sweet without being vulgar, raisin-y without being a caricature or a one-trick pony. It is plainly delicious. It turns warmer and drier at second sip.

Finish: much earthier, now, tertiary, it pours the water used to rehydrate raisins, mushroom cooking water simmering in the pan, then prunes in syrup, squashed raisins and elderberries.

Comment: as a malternative, one could do far, far worse. This is excellent.

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

Aight. let us eat and carry on.

My Brie-und-Hirnbeeren Bagel

JS's Räuchelachs Croissant