Braeval 24 yo 1997/2021 (58.4%, The Good Spirits, cask #38066, barrel, 170 bottles)
The Good Spirits being a very cool wee shop and bottler in Hong Kong, not to be confused with The Good Spirits Co, which is a very cool bundle of wee shops and bottler in Glasgow. Colour: pale gold. Nose: honeys, breakfast cereals, sweetened porridge, flower nectars and slightly limey infused green fruit notes. Extremely easy, classical and 'Speysidey' in the best possible sense. With water: lemons, limes and flower blossoms! Also wee hints of pineapple, jelly beans and custard. Mouth: yellow and green fruits, with citrus rinds, soft notes of fruit teas, lightly peppery warming aspects and then some sweeter touches of condensed milk and a return of those nice honey vibes. With water: snapped twigs, lychee, wet brackens and ferns giving a slightly petrichor vibe, and a little more peppery and spicy aspects from the wood, such as ground ginger and cinnamon. Finish: medium but surprisingly exotic and tropical with a lovely fruity flourish in the aftertaste. Comments: an excellent fruity and easy drop that is reminiscent of some Burnside/Balvenies of similar pedigree. Probably the best Braeval I've ever tried, not that that's saying much to be honest.
SGP: 641 - 87 points.

Braes of Glenlivet 17 yo 1979/1997 (59.1%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society #113.1 'Sweet tobacco and pandrops')
Colour: gold. Nose: rounded and sweet with ginger biscuits, sweetened breakfast cereals, brown bread spread with honey and some old school beery notes such as milk stout and shilling ales. There's also something a little leafy and earthy with these wee impressions of potting sheds and cigarette rolling tobacco. With water: some vapour rubs, a little tree bark, hessian, cooking oils and a slightly mentholated edge. Mouth: a tad plain perhaps, breads, dried flowers in vase water, ales, a touch of camphor, some shoe polish and hessian cloth. Feels like the cask has done a fair bit of heavy lifting here, even without being too impactful in terms of 'additive' flavours, if you see what I mean? With water: the same really: beers, breads, dried flowers, some ink, putty and graphite oil. Also a return of these nice ginger biscuit and cupboard spice notes. Finish: medium and a little sweeter, on cocoa, caffe latte and milk chocolate biscuits now. Comments: A perfectly decent and harmless wee curiosity, but not much else really. A good example of how many Scottish distilleries improved their makes over the next couple of decades I'd say.
SGP: 451 - 81 points.

Braes of Glenlivet 18 yo 1979/1998 (58.9%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society #113.3, for USA)
Colour: gold. Nose: the same, broadly speaking, except here a little more honeyed sweetness, something more like condensed milk, rice pudding with cinnamon sugar and a more elegant and intriguing note of flower nectar and golden syrup. Generally a more charming take on this sort of profile I'd say. With water: vase water, chlorophyll and a hint of caramelised oatmeal. Mouth: indeed this is more syrupy, more fruity and yet still with some of these interesting notes of ginger biscuit, vapour rubs and camphor. Some caffe latte and hand cream in the mix too - unusual whiskies these. With water: more of these sweet biscuity notes, more overt honey flavours, putty, camphor and some general cooking oil vibes. Finish: good length this time, rather mechanical, on cooking oils, bruised green apples and some more of those sugary breakfast cereals. Comments: I definitely prefer this one over .1, but this is still a bit of a challenging style I think.
SGP: 551 - 83 points.

Braes of Glenlivet 30 yo 1974/2004 (57.0%, Signatory Vintage for USA, cask #550, 535 bottles)
Presumably from some kind of big, knackered old butt… Colour: white wine. Nose: some kind of petrol doused linens in an airing cupboard! Chalk, wool, plaster, ink and ironing water. Distillate aged oxidatively for 30 years with barely splinter of oak about it - now, not too sure how charismatic that distillate really is in this instance, this cask with Laphroaig for example would probably be already drifting into the low-90s With water: crushed flower stems, vase water, agave, paint, getting a bit tough now. Mouth: firm, peppery and rather neat and sharp with hints of plain medicines, aspirin, mineral oil, shoe leather and sandalwood. A really funny thing with a curious medicinal quality about it. Also still extremely raw and petrolic. With water: still on wood, linens, very plain wet cereals, medicine, something slightly lactic too. Finish: medium, peppery, some green nettles and watercress and more cereals and damp grains. Comments: in theory this is my style of whisky, but when the distillate lacks charisma it can really become a hinderance. Not 'bad', but an extreme and highly austere oddity.
SGP: 341 - 78 points.