25/09/2026 DW's Pre-Show bash at Milroy's

Yes, it is called Milroy's again. Bye-bye, 3 Greek Street! Well, the address has not changed.

Anyway, DW gathers us for a wee tasting the week before Whisky Show. BB, BA, cavalier66, YM, PS, SW, JL, CDn, IH, JS, DK and Gx join DW. And myself, obviously.

As usual, it is fast and furious, rather than an analytical tasting. We freestyle our way through whatever everyone has brought. For the record, my contributions are Dalaruan (46%, The Lost Distillery Company Archivist’s Selection, B#1/i, b#298) and Royal Lochnagar 10yo b.2006 (57.2%, OB The Manager’s Dram, European Oak Cask, b#1189); JS brought Dailuaine 29yo 1982/2012 (60.6%, The Nectar of the Daily Drams). I do not try any of them tonight.

Ocean Whisky Victory (42%, San-Raku Ocean distributed by Japan Import System) (BB)

Nose: spirit-y and green. It smells a little rough around the edges.

Mouth: very neutral. Sweetened water, caramel soaked in water, Βανίλια and a bit of cardboard.

Finish: Werther's Original, cardboard and stale caramel.

Comment: a decent blend and a decent starter.

Score: 6/10

Nikka Apple Wine (22%, OB, 128510622) (JL)

Nose: unfuckingsubtle. Sickly sweet. Causes diabetes just smelling it. Candied apples, pine-needle liqueur, salmiyakki without the liquorice, vanilla biscuits.

Mouth: apple juice. It is still unsubtle, but it is no longer sickly. In fact, it is very pleasant, I am surprised to find out.

Finish: juicy apples, apple juice, cloudy apple juice.

Comment: off the back of the Victory, JL fishes this out of a cabinet. I love it. Objectively, it is vulgar, of course. But it does the trick. Probably works a treat as a highball too.

Score: 6/10

Glen Keith 28yo 1993/2021 Release No.39 (52.2%, Alistair Walker Infrequent Flyers, Rye Barrel Finish, C#4827, 294b) (DW)

Nose: Gummibärchen. This is one of the fruity Glen Keiths, even though the bottle was opened only ten minutes ago and it has not had a chance to open up.

Mouth: mellow, chewy, it develops a soft bitterness on the tongue.

Finish: long and warming, with remnants of the earlier fruits.

Comment: nice. It will likely become even better after breathing.

Score: 8/10

Inchgower 24yo 1990/2014 (~54%, duty paid sample, C#5567) (CDn)

Nose: mineral, it has crushed rocks, then gauze and old cardboard packaging.

Mouth: what a split personality! On the one hand, it is fresh as water sprayed onto rocks; on the other, it has dusty cardboard.

Finish: big and blend-y, it has cardboard and rocks wet with sea spray. It is fruitier with water.

Comment: CDn explains he was sent this duty-paid sample that was a contender to be a Manager's Dram, one year. Talk about an exclusivity!

Score: 7/10

Ardmore 26yo 1997/2024 Summer (50.3%, The Whisky Exchange The Seasons, De-Char Re-Char Hogshead, C#901299, 211b) (DK)

Nose: a wonderful farm-y nose, full of mud patties and cow pastures. Next, we have cigarette ends, extinguished in a fruit bowl.

Mouth: soft and fruity, remarkably mellow but not weak. Apricot slices dunked into ink. Chewing turns it darker and darker.

Finish: long, fruity and a tad earthy-ashy. There are hints of peat, even. It leaves the tongue numb.

Comment: very good. What a reliable distillery that is!

Score: 8/10

Glenburgie 17yo 2009/2026 (53.7%, Thompson Bros., 1st Fill Bourbon Barrels, B#2, 1134b) (BA)

Nose: butterscotch and Custard Cream biscuits topped with a drop of caramel and shoe polish.

Mouth: caramel, fudge, chocolate custard and butterscotch indeed. A pinch of lemon zest too. It is dangerously easy to sip.

Finish: beautiful custard, flan and a drop of caramel for a softly-bitter touch.

Comment: very good, though I struggle to find it exceedingly exciting, tonight.

Score: 7/10

Longrow 15yo 2004/2019 (52.4%, OB, Fresh Rum Casks, 911b) (DW)

Nose: smoked metal. Cast iron and the smoke that comes from heating iron to melt it, probably. Some scorched earth, maybe, though that may just be suggestion playing tricks with my brain. It definitely has crushed seashells, on the other hand.

Mouth: the maritime influence is more pronounced, here. Candied seashells, razor clams, wet sands, fishing nets, scorched earth wet with sea water.

Finish: scorched earth again, backed by ozone and sea spray. It has a lick of menthol as well.

Comment: I love this. It is objectively not better than the previous dram, but it works better for me tonight.

Score: 7/10

Springbank Cask Owner's (unknown ABV, OB Private Bottling) (BB)

Nose: farm paths in the summer and cut orchard fruits. A cowboy walks past, clad in suede clothes. Yes, it looks a bit tacky.

Mouth: ooft! This has an unlikely mix of mint lozenges, jelly sweets and leather boots in desert dirt. There is rubber at second sip, if only a little.

Finish: dry leather, tumbleweeds and cut orchard fruits embellished with a pinch of desert dirt.

Comment: excellent.

Score: 9/10

Others now gravitate towards IH's prestigious bottle.

cavalier66: "Remember that time we had eight Port Ellens?"
DCn: "Yeah."
cavalier66: "We started with eight..."
CDn: "We had the other eight three years earlier."

cavalier66: "I wasn't at that one.
"CDn: "It was nice."
cavalier66: "It was also at eight in the morning..."
tOMoH: "Oh! baby..."

Bruichladdich 25yo 2010/2026 The Laddie (61%, OB Valinch Limited Edition for UK Academy April 2026, 2nd Fill Bourbon Cask, 7b, b#007) (JL)

Nose: super dry, it has a Highland coo that just had a shave, and the razor used to shave it is there too. It opens up to shine a minty gel.

Mouth: quite big, it reveals suede and soft leather with time.

Finish: huge finish, teeming with Trefin mint sweets and camphor. It is a tad numbing, really.

Comment: rather nice.

Score: 7/10

Port Ellen 29yo 1978/2008 Eighth Release (55.3%, OB Annual Release, B#8, 6618b, b#5394) (IH)

Nose: greasy, tarry earth. It is super dark, super petrolic. It moves towards ploughed fields, tractor fumes and citrus zest after a while. JL smells wood glue.

Mouth: it turns very maritime, now, with fishing nets, kippers and lots of petrol floating on sea water. It gains citrus turnovers at second sip.

Finish: charred grapes (JL), ink, smoked dark grapes, smoky cotton buds (JL). It is much earthier at second gulp, but revives the citrus turnovers, now slightly charred.

Comment: it is alright. Very good, even. But it is hard to accept the cult status these Port Ellens have achieved as totally justified, based on quality alone.

Score: 8/10

Cooley 11yo 1992/2019 (52.9%, Cadenhead specially bottled for Cadenhead's Whisky Shop London, Barrel, 198b) (DK)

Nose: warm wax and struck matches, hot orchard fruits. Keep sniffing and it will give windscreen defroster as well.

Mouth: rotten fruits on the palate, or overripe, at least, with an acidity that flirts with rotten apples (bruised, really), and metallic bitterness.

Finish: we come back to orchard fruits (not rotten). The second gulp gives us more fruits and thyme.

Comment: DK reminds us that he bought this seven years and a week ago. How time flies!

Score: 8/10

JL [to SW]: "Have you seen the time?"
JS: "Are we being kicked out?"
tOMoH [to JL]: "I can still insult your marriage, you know?"

137.10 8yo d.2012 Smoky, sweetie, meaty (64.7%, SMWS Society Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 231b) (PS)

Nose: oh! what is this? Liquorice rolls? Marker pens, white boards and lots of herbs -- dried sage, lemon thyme. It is earthy-minty at second nose.

Mouth: chewy as fook, it has mud and a rising heat. In fact, it is very hot. We find a bit of Parma ham shortly after the taste buds get accustomed to the heat. The second sip brings a lick of suede and earth. It is red hot, though.

Finish: big, buttery, it juggles herbs (basil, oregano) with muddy tones.

Comment: impressive, for the heat, if nothing else.

Score: 7/10

Teeling (58.8%, OB Single Cask imported by Teeling Whiskey Company for Binny's Beverage Depot, Bordeaux Red Wine Cask, C#35340) (YM)

Nose: it is caramel and fudge with alcohol on steroids. It somehow has a cast for a broken leg, then hot metal pipes.

Mouth: it feels plastic-y for a second, then offers lovely fruits, mainly nectarines and plums. Chewing underlines plastic and nectarines.

Finish: lukewarm (it is not meant as an insult) and kind of fruity. It is a bit generic a finish, but I am perhaps a trifle toasted.

Comment: nice enough.

Score: 7/10

BA: "I have a tasting in Ipswich. It's a group who want to do a gentlemen's club."
DW: "What does it take to be a gentleman? Shagging someone's wife? Or some wife's son?"
[We laugh]
DW: "Please remove the wife bit from your notes."

CDn is about to leave when he realises there is a Lochnagar on the table. He stops to try it and seems to appreciate it.

So many others we do not try.

PS brought this classic

cavalier66 and BA brought the same bottle

DW brought the remainder of a bottle he had bought for a party at cavalier66's

SW shows off the new wares

BB proves he is a Japan fanboi

cavalier66 brought the remainder of this that we had an eternity ago

An interesting-looking Moray that I will never try

YM brought souvenirs from Campbeltown

PS took this prestigious drop with him

Another of cavalier66's sample

Imported whiskey from cavalier66

Someone brought this bottle
which we tried a year ago

cavalier66 brought this masterpiece

Another cavalier66 special, this
legendary Irish from many moons ago

BA put this rum under my nose first thing,
then I still failed to try it

Time to go.

12/06/2026 Welcome tasting at 3 Greek Street

As a first act to a weekend of extravaganza, those who are already in town gather up at 3 Greek Street for a tasting with headmaster SW.

Two years ago, when it was still called Milroy's, we inaugurated the newly-refurbished tasting room on the first floor; this year, we are breaking in the room on the third floor. I viewed it on Wednesday: it was freshly painted, but bare, and still had tools on the floor. Today, tables and stools make it more welcoming.

It is a bit high up for some of the old knees on display, and the stairs are rather uneven, but we are all thrilled to be there, in that shiny and breezy new room.

pat gva, YdS, JS, BA, sonicvince, Psycho, ruckus, EJ, PS and cavalier66 join me for this shindig. We try everything in full knowledge of the label, for once.

Vat #3 30yo 1994/2025 (49.5%, Milroy Soho Selection, Peated Cask, C#36653+54+101180)

Nose: lovely toffee, soft, melting. It has a bit of mashed wood or papier mâché and chocolate-coated ginger slices.

Mouth: mellow, unctuous, it has delicious toffee, augmented with a lick of tropical fruits and a whisper of smoke from the Islay cask. It is creamy at second sip, with smashed peach and persimmon.

Finish: a comforting warming glow with toffee, slices of persimmon and chocolate-coated peach.

Comment: meow! A vatting of North British, Tormore and a "special blend". I tried this one on Wednesday and insisted SW use it as opener. It slaps just as much today. Most of the others seem as impressed. 

Score: 9/10

That adequately leads to my own contribution, which we try blind. The move was concerted with the staff ahead of schedule, of course.

Dram #1.2

Nose: olives (pat gva), olive bread (cavalier66), Stollen (Psycho). It becomes buttery as mango with some breathing.

Mouth: ever-changing (Psycho). Lychee and other tropical fruits (BA).

Finish: ruckus and EJ find it a lingering bitterness. sonicvince tells us it leaves the mouth a bit chalky. It is almost decaying fruits at second gulp. pat gva thinks the ABV is quite high, if well integrated.

Comment: "Glenlivet or Glen Grant" (pat gva). A little divisive, though mostly liked. My full notes are here.

Auchentoshan 22yo (48.3%, Creative Whisky Co. for The Good Spirits Co., 123b, b#101) 9/10

Tun 89 36yo 1989/2025 (52.4%, Milroy Vintage Reserve, Barrel, C#2500682)

Nose: cosmetic powder, lemon-drizzle cake, confectionary sugar. We have warm citrus segments at second nose.

Mouth: ooft! It is good to remind oneself how good Balvenie can be. This is custard with droplets of lemon juice and oily cake with almonds. Simply beautiful. It is a tad drying at second sip without being very bitter.

Finish: warming, it serves warm custard and vanilla cream. It turns a little more hay-like at second gulp and adds warm peach with a dusting of grated Aspirin.

Comment: we are flying high!

Score: 9/10

Royal Brackla 17yo 2008/2025 (47.4%, Milroy Soho Selection, Bourbon Barrel, C#6634)

Nose: lemon zest and herbs (tarragon, dried chives -- PS). SW calls it waxy, while I notice pineapple slices. It develops oily birch at second nosing, fragrant and beautiful.

Mouth: mellow, coating, silky and creamy. It is fruity yoghurt, smashed peaches served on wooden plates, plum tomatoes and tomato stems. The second sip revives the pineapple vibe. It is somewhat indistinct, but fruity and spicy overall. Delectable.

Finish: long and bright, it has pineapple and ginger powder. It tingles the gums. It is fruitier at second gulp, if slightly indistinct again.

Comment: this was meant to be a shared barrel with Taiwan, yet somehow washed up on these shores again. EJ calls it "a whisky for the Indian summer."

Score: 8/10

tOMoH: "I wake up early, so I sometimes water the plants naked on the terrace, to see if anyone is watching."
cavalier66: "No way! Mrs. cavalier66 does that all the time!"
tOMoH: "I was about to say: 'the ancient Greeks found it liberating.'"
cavali66: "She's not ancient!"

This is a good place to pause for food.

Cold cuts

Cheeses

Nachos, houmous and shortbread

Cold cuts, olives and strawberries

Inchgower 28yo 1997/2025 (56.6%, Milroy Vintage Reserve, Hogshead, C#6926)

Nose: grated orchard fruits (crisp apples and pears), saline sea breeze (PS), fleur de sel on a lovely vanilla custard and sherbet. It becomes buttery upon breathing -- buttery fruits such as mango and even avocado. It has crusty bread on a hot metal baking tray.

Mouth: very salty, here, it also has spurge shavings sprinkled on smoked mango, and a metallic touch. It has a eucalyptus-bark kick at second sip too.

Finish: there is a big dose of pepper at play. Strangely enough it does not seem to throw PS off too much who is sensitive to pepper. It is spicy on a bitter background. It develops cardboard and papier mâché applied on chicken wire -- in a good way. The second gulp brings pan-seared apples.

Comment: a hit on the night. pat gva is particularly enthusiastic, and already wondering whether his luggage allows him a bottle of this, considering how much loot he already has to carry.

Score: 8/10

SW: "[...] a microdot of [...]"
cavalier66: "Did you say 'microdot'?"
tOMoH: "Acid."
PS: "We're back to the Haçienda."
cavalier66: "You talk about whisky, and then you drop 'microdot'..."
tOMoH: "You drop indeed."

JL walks in.

JL: "The room downstairs is free. I'll just do a little clean-up."
tOMoH: "Yeah, please take a shower, mate!"

Kildalton 22yo 2003/2025 (53.7%, Milroy Vintage Reserve, Bourbon Barrel, C#112)

Nose: an excellent Ardbeggian nose, with old tarry ropes and ink, fishing nets and diesel, followed by stained boating gear, linseed oil and oil paint. Psycho finds it dusty.

Mouth: burnt wood-stick tips, ink, burnt rubber, creosote, tar and tarry ropes. Tapenade rocks up, as does diesel or kerosene.

Finish: long and grimy, it has more petrochemical compounds.

Comment: EJ adores this, without surprise. She finishes two or three drams and giggles the night away.

Score: 8/10

JS: "Those pours are too generous!"
tOMoH: "If you have too much, give it away. Someone will want it. Probably EJ or pat gva."

As planned, with five (six) drams in, we move down to the first floor. JS and I are worried about the food. In the kitchen, we catch sonicvince on a mission to polish it off. JL assures us he will bring the two slices of salami, half-a-bowl of nachos and the houmous downstairs, all that remains. We will never see them again. It will probably be JL's dinner.

Once in the usual tasting room, we resume our dramming -- blind, this time. SW explains these are cask samples, and we are the Guinea pigs who will help decide whether to bottle them or not.

Dram #2.1

Nose: wax (pat gva), cloying Sherry cask (cavalier66), plummy marzipan. Later on, we have ginger bread and French toast.

Mouth: thin spirit (cavalier66). We note pressed prunes on lacquered wood. Chewing releases a slap of juicy fruit. It is so fruity and juicy and sweet! Pressed sultanas and prune syrup.

Finish: big and prune-y, it also has figs (dried and fresh) and raisins or dried currants.

Comment: lovely drop, but where is the Auchentoshan character? This is a good Sherry, really. Psycho is all excited, of course. Two expressions from his favourite distillery on the same night.

Score: 8/10

Auchentoshan 38yo d.1987 (50.7%, cask sample, PX Cask)

pat gva: "Forty-two years?"
tOMoH: "No. Distilled in 1987, sample taken in 2026, that is thirty-nine years old [at most]. Give me your keys, you are not driving, tonight."
BA: "It's been a long day."

Dram #2

Nose: apple, candied apple (pat gva) and a slap of papaya in delicious custard.

Mouth: a little gravel and a lot of jam or marmalade, a dusting of pepper. Chewing sees lichen on Bourbon-barrel staves, fruity, vanilla-ed, and adds a fistful of cranberries to keep it interesting. It kicks harder at second sip.

Finish: it turns out to be another fruity number in the finish, with prunes and raisins.

Comment: wow.

Score: 9/10

Clynelish 9yo 2015/2025  (55.38%, Duty Free Sample, 2nd Fill Bourbon Hogshead, C#51245)

SW: "Bring the Irish, please."
JL: "What if there is no Irish left?"
tOMoH: "Come and tell me. I will make a scene."
Psycho: "Belgium style!"
tOMoH: "Hide your children; they're not safe."

SW: "We can't call it Bushmills, because of naming rights."
PS: "You could have called it Mill's Bush, which would have caused another string of legal problems."

Everyone has a dram, save for me, whom SW forgot (because I was behind).

tOMoH: "I don't have a glass."

PS: "tOMoH, you wouldn't like it."
tOMoH: "You sang a song for me. I had to pretend I was listening."
cavalier66: "Definitely not for you."
tOMoH: "Let me tell you in this country's language: 'I wouldn't mind trying this.'"
BA: "I heard it was quite good."
cavalier66: "Oh! Why didn't you say so?"

Causeway Irish Whiskey 31yo 1991/2023 (47.8%, Milroy Vintage Reserve, Bourbon Barrels, C#RC649+650+651+652)

Nose: banana-tree bark (Psycho), and loads of overripe mango and overripe papaya. This is ridiculous. Incredibly juicy. "Oh! But it is a fruit bomb!" pat gva points out.

Mouth: mellow, astonishingly fruity. It is at once acidic, bitter, drying in an ashy way, but it is that surreal fruit that dominates.

Finish: more dazzling fruitiness.

Comment: beyond notes, after eight drams. Boy! is it good or what?

Score: 10/10

tOMoH: "How was the Irish for you?"
PS: "It was quite good, thank you very much. I don't have much left to judge, though."
tOMoH: "I wish I could share mine with you, but there is no chance of that happening, is there?"
BA: "Oh. Meow."

Dram #4

Nose: dark grapes, plums, apple compote. It develops a chalky touch, but it remains very fruity. The second nose peddles plastic caps.

Mouth: pizza dough, chalky papaya -- phwoar!

Finish: long and juicy, fruity. We find smoked strawberry slices and apricot jelly.

Comment: the killeries keep coming.

Score: 9/10

Ardmore 47yo d.1978 (47.8%, Duty Paid Sample, C#8)

SW: "It's 1978."
PS: "It's a sufficient year."
SW: "I was finishing..."
tOMoH: "...your first tab of ecstasy!"

Dram #5

Nose: Fisherman's Friend (cavalier66), lemon juice sprinkled on cockles, then hay, mulch, mud and citrus. Excellent.

Mouth: warm, citrus-y mud, with calamansi purée and mango shavings. It is a trifle spicy too, with ginger powder.

Finish: big, hairy and a tad muddy. It then collapses under the weight of tropical fruits (mango, papaya, persimmon, cherimoya).

Comment: say, this is good, eh?

Score: 8/10

Bowmore 15yo d.2010 (56%, cask sample)

pat gva: "It's very different from the Bowmores we are used to."
tOMoH: "You mean the ones from the 1960s?"

The second line-up

What a night! Amazing drams in vast numbers, lots of silly nonsense, good food and the promise of a good weekend. The morning will be a little rocky at the start, but not for long.