02/11/2026 Dalwhinnie

Dalwhinnie 30yo b.2019 (54.7%, OB Special Releases 2019, Hogsheads & Butts, 7584b, b#3278): nose: dusty leather-bound books in a musty cellar, clay floor, mortar dust and fungi starting to grow in the corners. We promptly leave that to step into a wood-panelled tasting room, with drinks cabinets, oily exotic woods (mahogany veers towards iroko, and even ebony) and chestnuts. It then goes back to mushrooms, pan-seared maitake, to be precise, and black-mould-riddled grout. Something sweet tries hard to be heard, liquorice bootlaces or such, but it struggles, in the shadow of the oily woods mentioned above. Maybe it has some kind of cake, brownie or so, still very moist (runny) on the inside, crusty and blackened on the outside, almost charred. The second nose has woodworm and wood dust. Fewer mushrooms, now, and not the same species: we are closer to dried birch polypore or hoof fungus. It could also be fungus-infested garden furniture, oiled in a bid to give it another year. But then, someone spilled apricot juice on that furniture. It is extremely jammy with water: peach jelly, rose-petal jelly, rosehip jelly, stem-ginger syrup. Woah! Mouth: it has the texture of apricot nectar and pouring honey, thick, yet flowing. It is sweet without being sickly. Chewing pumps apricot jam, smoked hot peaches, a few grains of cocoa powder and a lick of a Teflon tray straight out of the oven. The sides of the tongue detect a minute bitterness, cocoa powder or metal, which adds an additional dimension to this. The second sip is jammier, sweeter, and that comes with what seems to be a whisper of smoke. Oh! nothing crazy; it is as if the jam just came off the wood stove is all. And that impression lasts until the taste buds are a bit numb, really. Then, we find stem ginger and mace covered in honey. Sadly, water makes this a bit thin. It is nicely fruity, it makes me think of an elegant fragrance burner, but it has lost its lush texture. Finish: big and robust, it is fairly hot and kicks harder than the palate suggested. It has enough grated cocoa beans to make one miss the hot tinned peaches -- the peaches in particular, because the hot tin becomes clearer and clearer with each passing second. It is remarkably long and warming and ends up propelling cassia bark, which increases the impression of warmth and comfort. The second gulp brings up stem ginger dripping syrup, pouring honey augmented with a twist of the white-pepper mill, or English mustard served on a hot tin plate. It is still the donkey's with water, thankfully. Spices (ginger, pepper) and fruit juice, albeit thinner now than when undiluted. This is very, very good. 8/10

30/10/2026 Ardnamurchan

Ardnamurchan 8yo 2018/2026 (63.3%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, Bourbon Barrel, 228b): nose: it has a mineral cleanliness from the get-go, like a stone puled out from a stream, dried, yet inexorably polished by years of erosion. Shortly thereafter comes a mildly-medicinal touch (disinfectant or guaiacol), followed by a whiff of burnt wood and subtle softened butter. Finally, we find thorn-y twigs, hawthorn or brambles. The second nose has a wood stove in a rustic kitchen in the north of Italy in autumn. At some point soon, it will see a cauldron with polenta; for now, it is gaining heat. There is a tumbler of cheap red wine on the table, following the rising temperature in the room. With water, the nose turns more coastal, with sea breeze and a mist of sea spray. Eating orchard fruits on the harbour on a drizzly day. Mouth: clean and sweet on entry, very sweet, in fact, it peddles spent matches and charred hazel sticks with the most-limited chewing. Intentionally moving the liquid around the mouth ignites a fire of char -- charred twigs, a pile of matches (left behind by an arsonist, no doubt), liquid fire starter, burnt pine logs. It still has guaiacol and surgical disinfectant, some might say TCP, yet the acrid smoke and charred bits are loudest, reminiscent of a lunchtime fire on a November day's lumbering in the woods. The second sip has ashy peach slices, juicy, fruity, not fully ripe, and made a bit abrasive by a dusting of ashes. Water tones down the heat and the smoky side to focus on orchard fruits again. Only when chewing does the ashtray of a fire insert emerge, not even full of ashes. Finish: dry peat, then burnt peat. It is almost wood smoke, initially, from what seems to have been an efficient flame. Then it changes and hints at damper, smokier mosses, giving thicker, more-acrid smoke. Throughout, a pleasant sweetness hovers, strawberries or such. Retro-nasal olfaction sees lichens clinging to the sides of a vase, bone-dry, close to ash-like. The second gulp throws peach slices into a bowl of ashes and stirs them with a wooden spoon. It does not really go beyond that, but it also does not need to. It dies out with a pinch of soot, acrid and sticky. Water makes for a robust-if-juicy finish. More orchard fruits (apples, plums) and a pile of dry white-wood logs waiting to be thrown onto the fire. Perhaps it has a spoonful of lemon curd too. Pleasant, if not super challenging. 7/10 (Thanks for the sample, JH)

29/10/2026 Arran

Arran 23yo 1997/2021 6th Release (53.8%, OB White Stag, Sherry Hogshead & Sherry Puncheon, B#6, 995b): nose: dry, dry, dry almonds and hazelnuts in a lacquered case. Underneath are dried cranberries, dried banana slices sprinkled with red wine and hum. Some breathing time makes the fruits fresher, with peach slices, papaya cubes and dark grapes or currants. Suddenly, the circular blade of a ham slicer appears, clean and freshly oiled. Follows a piece of white wood, likely pine from cheap furniture, cut with the ham slicer, and shedding sawdust. The second nose is full-on currants, raisins and dried cranberries soaked in red wine. At a push, one may find a trace of earth, yet that would be wine-stained earth. Mouth: unctuous and fruity, it has peach nectar, apricot juice, plum smoothie and a couple of rehydrated dried cranberries. Chewing triggers a small eruption of fruits, chiefly plums, punctuated with a strong and fruity Patras wine. It has a spoonful of peanut paste, neither overly oily, nor too bitter, which paves the way for something mineral: it could be fruit stones, but then they are mixed up with pebbles. Further chewing puts more emphasis on the wine-y note. The second sip welcomes gingerbread, mulled wine gone cold and Aachener Printen. Chew some more for a cup of mulled wine to accompany those Printen. It has cinnamon and ginger in reasonable amounts; it is the  texture, in particular, that shouts: 'Printen'. Moving the liquid around the mouth injects musk -- a fox's wet hair drying by the campfire. Finish: big and wine-y in the best possible way. It is fruity (grapes, blush oranges), game-y (sauce grand'veneur, lingonberry compote) and a little tannic. It sticks to the gob like pitch and feels like wine-flavoured sweets, albeit of a heady rather than sweet kind, a heavy wine that has seen a lot of sun. The second gulp doubles down on the fruits -- blush oranges, dark grapes, raisins, dried cranberries, dried figs, all soaked in heady wine, somewhere between sangria and mulled wine. It has cinnamon powder and but a pinch of ginger powder, so it is probably the latter. Well made, if not suitable every day, in this taster's opinion. 8/10 (Thanks for the sample, SOB)

27/10/2026 Highland Park

 Another dreich day, another topical dram.

4.406 14yo 2012/2026 Sweetly soothing smoke (64.4%, SMWS Society Cask, ex-Bourbon Hogshead finished in 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 220b): nose: warming goodness. Warm oil, a cauldron of hot pitch, a puff of warm gas coming out of the sewers on a brisk morning... Did I say 'goodness'? Well, it is relative. Deeper nosing renders this cleaner, with ashy white wine and recently-applied sealant around a new bathtub. It progresses towards hazelnut oil, white-wine vinegar and the hard-sugar shell of lozenges. The second nose somehow brings ashes to the table, the white kind that follows an efficient fire, before reintroducing white wine, something between Riesling and Chenin Blanc. Mouth: astonishingly citrus-y, it has lemon drizzle cake and orange sponge cake. Mixed peel extracts itself from the fluffy cake to have a solo career, and it is a success. Chewing adds droplets of wood oil, too light for teak -- probably acacia? It has a faint bitterness, though that does not take away from the lemon-y pleasure and the honey-like wood we encounter too. The second sip is drying, if fruity. It is akin to a dry white wine again, with green grapes and their skins jostling chalk and sherbet. It is remarkably acidic and warming upon chewing. Imagine the juices of a lemon turnover trickling onto the hot baking tray. Finish: big, fruity and acidic, it has more mixed peel, hot lemon drizzle cake, hot marmalade spread on fluffy bread, all served on a board made of white wood -- birch, acacia, hazel. It is a long finish that wakens the taste buds before lulling them into a sense of comfort. The second gulp welcomes lozenges, some minty, some even mentholated, which overshadows the chocolate contained within the sugar shell. It takes imagination to catch an acrid white smoke, but why not? We spot dry-to-the-max passion fruits more easily, though. Alright, this! 8/10

26/10/2026 Caol Ila

53.527 12yo 2013/2026 Seraphic sea symphony (59.7%, SMWS In Celebration of Robin Laing the Whisky Bard, 2nd Fill STR Oloroso-Seasoned Barrique, 276b): nose: an inky-petrolic puddle of sea water. Is this really a Caol Ila? It smells like a Bladnoch -- not! Seashells dusted with caster sugar, wicker baskets of empty oyster and mussel shells, whelk in tarry sands, and profiteroles, believe it or not. It acquires a fruity side, in the long run, fruity and somewhat mineral, which hints at a dry white wine, probably. After thirty minutes of breathing, it turns quieter and more distinguished, with shoe polish and leather pouches, or brown leather shoes. The second nose continues that and makes it more comfortable by adding a fire insert. That leads to an empty-not-cleaned ashtray and church scents -- spent incense, stoup water, oiled pews, and a general archaic dampness. Mouth: salty as fook, it feels like drinking sea water from an oyster shell. It also has a strongly-appealing mix of kerosene, lacquer, ozone and mentholated tobacco, a mix that becomes bolder as one chews. It comes across as both clean and staining, which is remarkable. Briny sea air over an island airfield, while they refuel a plane, maybe. The second sip has mussels in a salty broth, a lick of chalk, old fishing nets and warm vanilla custard blended with warm sea water in a smoky bothy. Finish: sweet at first, like a gulp of chocolate éclair at room temperature, it swiftly drops a bomb of stagnant water, algae and mosses. It sticks to the oesophagus like lichen to an empty vase, drying and abrasive, vegetal and marsh-like. Menthol ends up in the spotlight, as does cigarette smoke in a fishing shed. Quaint. The second gulp follows a similar progression: sweet-stagnant-salty-ashy-vase-like-mentholated. Consistent. Does the trick. 7/10