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) (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. :-)

09/08/2026 Winding down at the SMWS

JS and I have a couple of hours to spare before our train back to the big(ger) city. The rain is the perfect excuse to shelter at the SMWS. But first, breakfast. At Dishoom.

Hadli Doodh (me)

Oat flat white (JS)

Haggis Pau (me)

Veg. Sausage and Egg Naan Roll (JS)

Replenished with food, we board the SMWS ship a few minutes later.

We take a while to select. They stopped doing the Vaults Collection of the month "because no-one was buying it". They do flights of Creators' Collection, though, and will be lax regarding what Creators' Collection mean. Woo!

72.125 29yo 1995/2025 Whispers of Spring: A journey of reawakening -- Blossom reverie (49.1%, SMWS The Creators Collection, Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 318b)

Nose: seal wax and lit candles. Melted crayons follow, plump apricots, a whisper of smoke. Indeed, we have lit wick, smoked plums and hot wax applied to a scroll. Hints of leather emerge on the second nose, as if a cowboy had laid a bag of plums on a saddle, then sat on it. It would be a waste of good plums and make for an embarrassingly-looking pair of trousers, but that is what we have here. Mouth: mellow, elegant, it peddles similar themes to the nose, with smoked plums (including of Mirabelle variety), white candles and seal wax. Chewing pushes more waxy fruits to the fore, barely balanced by a pinch of grated burnt wood. The second sip sees a timid whiff of tobacco ash (cigarette) and fruit tea (peach). Finish: nail varnish, yellow fruits (mainly apricots, not fully dried, but neither fresh nor juicy), earth, wick coated in paraffin... Yes! Paraffin! That is what dominates, here: bitter, waxy paraffin. the second gulp presents rose-petal jelly dusted with cigarette ash. Excellent! 8/10

105.41 31yo 1992/2023 Lemon de luxe (58.2%, SMWS The Vaults Collection, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 184b)

Nose: crushed mint and menthol, mentholated cigarettes and ashes. It then moves towards pot-pourri pouches, dried lavender and cotton candy cloaked in cigarette smoke. Even that evolves until we see blue cigarette smoke billowing in a closed automobile. Further on, we we find crème brûlée. The second nose introduces some metal, lead or steel, and pastry stuck to the tray it was baked on. Mouth: caramel coffee, for a second, or melted toffee. Chewing gets rid of the coffee (phew!) and makes this a deluge of toffee, sweet, yet perfectly controlled. Heat builds up and seems to bring about a plume of smoke -- smoke from a caramel-making factory, certainly. JS detects almond croissant and marzipan. The second sip has croissant, slightly burnt and sticking to the teflon baking tray. We also have hot apricot turnovers charring in the oven and turning black. Finish: long and powerful, it rolls out caramel presented on a hot, shiny metal plate, which is to say it has a gentle bitterness. The second gulp leaves a pleasant glow, hot pineapple rings, hot teflon tray, a fruit turnover left in the oven for too long. Dram of the day. 8/10

70.48 33yo 1989/2023 Espresso Romano (62.3%, SMWS The Vaults Collection, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 150b)

Nose: despite a noticeable alcohol bite (see the ABV?), it showcases a bold fruitiness (baked plums and stewed apricots) to cover a whisper of black coffee. It acquires metal as it goes (tin, aluminium) and underlines its earthy roots. Potting soil in a planter, milk chocolate, albeit one filled with an apricot paste. The second nose is more openly coffee-like, if one with cream. A coffee in which one would have pressed a few drops of apricot juice. Mouth: milk coffee? Chocolate milk? Hadli Doodh? It has something earthy and creamy alright. It takes a bit of swirling around the mouth to realise how strong this is, because it initially appears friendly and relaxed. When it wakes up, we have chicory infusion and braised endives. The second sip is a tad mellower, with caramel-coated ginger shavings and chicory granules appearing slowly to desiccate the palate. Finish: big, never-ending, possibly earthy, but so creamy that is swiftly excused. Chicory infusion, milk coffee, latte, cappuccino, a vague memory of the tin pot that was made in (this is the reason for the bottling's name, one may guess). The second gulp has caramel and fudge. It is a little less earthy and a little sweeter, which is good. 8/10

4.396 25yo 1999/2024 Peat Plants: The essence of Scotland's untamed landscapes -- Heather ember (49.5%, SMWS The Creators Collection, 1st Fill ex-Bodega Oloroso Butt Finish, 591b)

Nose: leather and animal skin, probably pig, because there is no sign of hair. It is very dry, with roasted coffee beans, waxed walnut shells. With a bit of imagination (or a lot of suggestion), one could picture heather brush and old brooms. On the other hand, extinguished stoves do appear, comforting. Tilting the glass reinforces the brush aspect. The second nose is meatier and winier, yet it also presents a chalkier side that absorbs all moisture from the above. Later on, we have nuts and dried mushrooms. cavalier66 would probably call this 'tertiary'. Mouth: cured ham, a smoky bothy. Chewing turns it into a meaty one, with cold pastrami, smoked beef with a dried-herbs crust (rosemary, oregano, juniper), and elderberry compote and rancio. It turns very desiccating, after a moment in the mouth, like chewing on ground bones. The second sip has punes and dried dates. It is rather drying, really, if not unbearably so. It is closer to the acridity of a fire whilst enjoying a winy barbecue (as in: marinated meats and lots to drink). Finish: cured meat here too, pastrami again, and a big puff of smoke. Opposed to that is a juicy touch, part cranberry sauce, part meat juice (including blood). It has a faint vegetal touch as well, perhaps a bay leaf or fresh rosemary. Something with with rough leaves, in any case. It gives rich wine at second gulp, Cahors or a New-World red that has seen too much sun for my taste, and is rather tannic. 7/10

Good wee sesh! Time to go.

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

The story started here.

Armed with my halftime orange dram, I find a quiet corner to savour it.

Benromach 40yo b.2022 (56.5%, OB, Oak Casks, B#2, 1098b)

Nose: very deep, it has all sorts of noble woods, forest floor and dried mushrooms. Shiitake, maitake, porcini. Smoked raspberries enter the dance. Phwoar!

Mouth: there are traces of Sherry, here, with cured meat, smoked blackberries and myrtles, and the desiccating character of unripe blackcurrant or elderberry. And how powerful, at this venerable age!

Finish: long, evolving, it goes from game-y, wine-cured meat to dark-berry compotes. Elderberry sauce, smoked blackberries, blackcurrant jam.

Comment: phwoar!

Score: 9/10

JS comes back with her own treasure. She shows me pictures of the chaos at Decadent Drinks: their halftime-orange dram today is the acclaimed Glen Garioch 52yo Whiskyland. It went in minutes and AMcR put on a show.

That is not what she went for. This is.

Imperial 27yo 1998/2026 (45%, Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask, Bourbon Barrel, C#104071, 108b)

Nose: rosehip, jellied lychee, rose-petal jam, peach jelly. It even has preserved nuts in jelly. The second nose brings rambutan and tinned peaches.

Mouth: marmalades and jams, compotes. Peach, lychee, physalis, rosehip. It has power too; kicks like a young'un.

Finish: juicy and mineral, rather incredibly, it contains jams and limestone, quarry dust an tinned peaches.

Comment: a-beli-bobol. Completely overlooked too: JS was the only one queueing to try this, with the sheep on the other side of the tent, fighting for the Garioch. Ha! Ha!

Score: 9/10

Clynelish 8yo b.2026 (48%, Thompson Bros., Refill Hogsheads, B#001, 2187b)

Nose: bright and fruity, it has apricots, Mirabelle plums and greengages. Waxy yellow fruits, in other words.

Mouth: a notch bitterer than expected, it offers quarry dust sprinkled on Mirabelle plums.

Finish: big, waxy yellow fruits, a hint of drying quarry dust and other mineral components.

Comment: very good.

Score: 8/10

JS: "I'm so glad you thought of the spare glass. This is exaclt ythe problem it was supposed to solve."
tOMoH: "Believe it or not, it is not my first radio show."

tOMoH: "Wait! Where is the other glass?"
JS: "Erm, in your hand?"
tOMoH: "Oh."

Highland 15yo (46%, Thompson Bros., Moscatel Casks, b.2026)

Nose: hinoki (or bathtub wood, as we know it), thuja and cypress wood. Very drying, yet oily, sappy conifer wood. There is a faint manner of fruit too.

Mouth: the Moscatel is strong, here; caramel coulis, crème brûlée and winy dessert (whatever that means).

Finish: more Moscatel influence, with earthy fortfied wine and caramel.

Comment: a secret Highlander with a label showing sardines in a tin with tomato sauce. Wonder what that could be...

Score: 7/10

Torabhaig Taigh b.2025 (46%, OB, Bourbon + Refill Bourbon + Madeira Casks)

Nose: peat. Muddy peat patties. It opens up to reveal hay and mulch. It is a farm-y number, all in all. Maybe it has seaweed too, but mostly peat.

Mouth: softer than expected, with lemon custard and mussels, oyster sauce and custard with lots of charred wood for shits and giggles.

Finish: sweetened sea water. It maintains a smoky backbone, but becomes a maritime force with a sweet nuance.

Comment: very good.

Score: 7/10

tOMoH: "Champagne is just beer with fewer -- I mean less foam."

Torabhaig Sound of Sleat b.2025 Batch Strength Chapter 4 (46%, OB Legacy Series, American Oak Casks)

Nose: very different. We see smoked preserved lemons in brine, and wet sands.

Mouth: soft and sweet. At 46%, how could it be different, after drinking whisky all afternoon? Chewing gives away a bit of smoke, as in: smoked seaweed drowned in custard.

Finish: lovely subdued smoke kisses mint crumbles, custard and crushed dried-seaweed thins, all complementing one another. Bigger gulps bring more smoke and some wood.

Comment: really good. I can see this being a daily sipper for many.

Score: 7/10

Torabhaig Sound of Sleat b.2025 Batch Strength Chapter 4 (60.2%, OB Legacy Series, First-Fill Bourbon + Refill Barrels + Virgin American Oak Casks)

Nose: this one has antiseptic and dsinfectant. It gradually becomes closer to the reduced version, but remains "a little" less accessible. Mud patties, wet clay, smoked pottery, tractor tyres.

Mouth: sweet, it has a mix of smoked shrimps and candy floss. Chewing revives the muddy peat, hidden behind antiseptic.

Finish: big, if not stupidly so. Peat smoke, earth and mud, smoked seafood and an undeniable sweetness. The second gulp is decidedly numbing and medicinal.

Comment: very good, if much less easy to drink for most people, it is safe to imagine.

Score: 8/10

Aberargie Inaugural b.2025 (48.2%, OB, 1st Fill Bourbon & SHerry Casks, 2905b)

Nose: cereals, sweetness, shortbread.

Mouth: easy-going, with cereals in milk, doughnuts with too much caster sugar on top. It ends up fairly drying.

Finish: vaguely-minty custard cream. It is pastry aplenty  with each following sip. That and shortbread.

Comment: really, really easy, though really, really simple too.

Score: 7/10

Someone barges in at the stall and demands the Glen Keith from under the counter. Since it is out, I ask for it too. Yay.

Glen Keith 27yo 1993/2020 (49%, Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask, Bourbon Barrel, C#31450, 178b)

Nose: lots of yellow fruits; physalis, plum, Mirabelle plum, greengage, apricot. Insecure tasters would call this: 'not bad'.

Mouth: mellow and fruity, it properly bursts with yellow fruits. There is a minor wood bitterness, but it is mostly stunningly fruity.

Finish: long and creamy, fruity as fook.

Comment: hard to beat a 1993 Glen Keith. sonicvince would undoubtedly love this, the born-again fanboi he is.

Score: 9/10

JS rolls the die at the Thompsons' again.

Mystery Malt #2

Nose: a strange herbacous profile, with thyme and sage. Sure, it has some creamy elements, but it is mostly an arometic affair.

Mouth: it tries to be soft and delicate, but cannot help being drying. It has a vegetal freshness to it -- angelica? Buckwheat?

Finish: it is elegant, at this point, with fresh herbs complementing cut nectarines.

Comment: interesting. We fail to identify it again.

Blair Athol 27yo b.2026 (46.3%, Thompson Bros. Mystery Malt, Refill Butt, B#6, 326b) 7/10

Someone I met queueing for the Benromach, earlier, urges me to try the Ardnahoe. Quite rigt, as I have not been to that stall yet.

Ardnahoe 5yo b.2026 (61%, OB Cask Strength, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrels, B#2, L26 021 26/01/13PB)

Nose: smoked hay, ink, burnt grass. It is an exremely-smoky number, overall.

Mouth: big, smoky, it has lots of hard, dry cereals and numbing alcohol. Surgical alcohol, novocaine, xylocaine... This is so numbing!

Finish: very, very punchy, this is also peaty to the max. It has thick plumes of smoke and continues to numb.

Comment: good. A bit challenging, if not overly complex. It is simply uncompromising, peaty whisky. The first Ardnahoe on this blog too, since I took no notes for the three we tried in 2024.

Score: 7/10

JS manages to obtain one last one before they file everything away. Although she is annoyed, because they no longer have any of the Humboldt Cask that she wanted to try.

Isle of Raasay 4yo 2021/2026 Hungarian Oak (50%, OB Oak Species Maturation Series, ex-Oloroso Sherry Quercus Petraea Barriques, 8000b, b#0681)

Nose: mud and a cow's behind, smoky (not scorched) earth.

Mouth: it is much fruitier here, with pressed apricot hidden amongst the smoke.

Finish: long, earthy. Scorched earth makes an appearance, apricots trampled in the mud.

Comment: another good one.

Score: 7/10

We are encouraged to leave, and it takes being very close to some of the exhibitors to not be swept out with the masses.

We bid our friends goodbye and proceed to the exit, along with our fellow festival-goers, many of whom are staggering.

Next stop: Thamel. 

A wee pun, here

Thamel Margarita (JS)
Gulmeli Mule (me)

Salmon Bhuteko (me)

Scallops Mollee (JS)

Peshwari Naan

Pilau Rice

Still bright outside, which comes as a shock,
after spending two hours in a dark basement
stuffing our faces