Bruichladdich 10 yo 1981/1991 (58.6%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society #23.7)
Colour: white wine - chardonnay. Nose: raw ingredients. Grist, wool, fabrics, pebbles, chalk etc. Although, there is also a rather nice green fruitiness that feels very typically Bruichladdich. A touch grassy with feelings of chlorophyll and crushed nettles. With water: on bracken, cereals, more stashed linens and chalky notes. Some sunflower oil and clay. Mouth: nicely cereal, rounded, with quite a bit of natural malty sweetness, some buttery toast, crushed oatcakes, sandalwood, pollens and light honeys. Impressive and very nice. With water: perhaps a little simpler now, on cooking oils, background waxy notes, mineral oil and tiny sooty notes. Finish: medium, green and peppery with a little sappy note and sandalwood. Comments: lovely distillate and a politely discreet cask.
SGP: 441 - 85 points.

Bruichladdich 18 yo 2004/2023 (61.8%, OB for The Whisky Exchange, cask #1518, 1st fill Sauternes, 234 bottles)
Colour: deep coppery gold. Nose: a distinct sense of stickiness! Lots of figs in syrup, golden sultanas, dates and wee impressions of sweet cocoa, praline and quince. Reminds me that I have a soft spot for Sauternes maturation! Although, there's a definite prickle that calls for water… With water: much more on the distillate side of things, lots of clays, waxes, putty, seashore impressions, squid ink and wee medicinal touches. Mouth: treacle on brown bread, but with this fatty, waxy and slightly medicinal hallmark of modern era Bruichladdich distillate. Quite a combination! Also juniper, strong, slightly tannic fruit teas, kumquat, bitter orange marmalade and some strong herbal cocktail bitters. Going back towards medicinal things after a while. With water: again this tilts more towards the distillate character now, some jasmine flower, sooty notes, smoked teas, camphor and beach pebbles. Also this underlying fatness and slight waxiness. It's also very umami now, with savoury bouillon and soy sauce vibes. Finish: good length, getting saltier, slightly gamey and earthy and still nicely umami and peppery. Comments: not entirely what you might expect. I find it quite fun how the Sauternes influence fades in favour of distillate character as you go along. That said, the net result is a pretty powerful and not totally easy dram.
SGP: 462 - 86 points.

Bruichladdich 30 yo (48.3%, Elixir Distiller's 'Director's Special', hogshead, 218 bottles)
Not too sure why they wouldn't state the vintage on these? Unless this is a combination of years? Colour: white wine. Nose: a fragile and pretty delicate old refill wood profile. Really on things like face cream, sandalwood, dried flowers, dusty pollens, toasted sunflower seeds and delicate notes of mineral oil and shoe polish. Attractive but with a very striking sense of fragility. Mouth: a slightly richer arrival, with peppery warmth, chamomile tea with bitter lemon, wee hints of aniseed, liquorice root, floral and herbal teas, a subtle streak of honey. I believe it gathers a bit of character and power, although there's a nagging sense it's probably a couple of years past its peak. Finish: medium and nicely on lemon cough drops, aniseed once again, white peppery and a drying aftertaste. Comments: very lovely at times, but in all honesty probably a tad light and a tad too old. If you enjoy this drier, slightly floral, old refill wood profile then it's a good sipping dram for you.
SGP: 441 - 85 points.

Bruichladdich 29 yo 1990/2020 (51.6%, Gordon & MacPhail 'Connoisseur's Choice', cask #2991, refill sherry hogshead, 173 bottles)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: a much richer and more emphatic profile, full of low lying waxes, crystallised fruits, honeys, some dried mango and lychee. Also plenty of pollens, dandelion and wild flowers. One of those rather gorgeous, mature profiles that you cannot imagine anyone being against. With water: a tad drier, more on crystallised honeys, some wee notes of yellow plum and mineral oil. Mouth: waxes, honeys and sandalwood. These very soft coastal notes come through which bring a lot of freshness to these lovely more mature qualities. With water: waxes along with crystallised fruits, an impression of aged mead and some camphor. Finish: medium and full of honeys, waxes and pollens again. Comments: Not much else to say except excellent, old Bruichladdich.
SGP: 561 - 89 points.

Port Charlotte 9 yo 2012/2022 'SC:01' (55.2%, OB, bourbon and sherry with Sauternes finish)
Colour: gold. Nose: superbly coastal and fresh, really on sea breezes, lemon juice, medicinal things, rock pools, bandages, wet wool, mercurochrome and beach sand. In fact, parts remind me a little some early 80s Port Ellens with this terrific 'naturally grubby' profile, which this one seems to display more as the peaty side increases with time. With water: oysters, seawater, malt vinegar mixed with brine and also puffer smoke. Mouth: the arrive isn't quite as superb as the nose was, being a little flatter and muddier and more focussed on thick peaty notes, peppery vibes and things like soy sauce, kelp, iodine and camphor. Heavier and with a feeling of fatness and greasiness. All of which I enjoy, but it misses something of the brightness that was on the nose. With water: conversely, I now prefer the palate! Getting much broader, full of impressions of smoked olive oil, charred artichokes, umami seasonings like Maggi, smoked teas and kipper with lemon juice. Finish: very long, hugely tarry, medicinal, getting rather farmy as well with thick peat smoke, tarred rope and anchovy paste. Comments: quite a ride! And one that it worth tacking while armed with a pipette and some water. A very smart composition that never loses this terrific natural coastal power.
SGP: 367 - 87 points.

Port Charlotte 10 yo 2010/2021 (59.4%, Dramfool 'Jim McEwan Signature Collection 2.2', cask #1415, 1st fill bourbon barrel, 257 bottles)
Colour: bright straw. Nose: also a rather coastal one, but the barrel lends the whole thing a creaminess and rich peaty note that quickly evolves to include pure tar extracts, TCP, bonfire smoke and Bonjella (medical mouth gel, in case you weren't a child growing up in the UK). This one looks more to Laphroaig than Port Ellen I would say. But a superb nose! With water: gets drier now, really on seawater, lemon juice, wee farmy notes and dried seaweed. Also some nori and even fish sauce! Mouth: big, uncomplicated, thick, tarry peat. Also seawater, lemon juice, old creel net, kelp and brine. Huge whisky! With water: camphor, pine wood, pure tar extracts, smoked olive oil and kippers once again. Still very peaty too. Finish: long, very tarry, very peaty and really quite salty and briny now. Getting pretty dry and peppery into the aftertaste. Comments: these Port Charlottes are more powerful than any Octomore I could recall. Love this profile but it's not a whisky you can do multiple drams of I would say.
SGP: 467 - 88 points.

Port Charlotte 13 yo 2007/2021 (60.9%, Dramfool 'Jim McEwan Signature Collection 1.2', cask #R08/152-12, 1st fill Pomerol Bordeaux wine cask, 299 bottles)
Ex-Bordeaux + peat is always pretty terrifying. Also, is that a cask number or a droid character from The Mandalorian? Colour: bright reddish mahogany. Nose: if you were to tar a plum, you might achieve something like this. Lots of thick, sweetish smoke that recalls BBQ sauce and charcoal embers, alongside this richer, jammier side with some dark fruits. Also balsamic onions, malt vinegar and tar liqueur. I actually rather like this, but it's a tad discombobulating. With water: far 'straighter' now, on pure kiln smoke, tar, smouldering pine wood and a touch of pickling brine. Mouth: syrupy, very tarry, with plenty fruity liqueurs, sweet and salty black liquorice and then more bitter herbal notes like aged Fernet Branca, cola syrup, bitter menthol notes, shoe leather, menthol tobacco and pine wood resins. Also some rather disjoined tannins too. You might also identify things like rose syrup and Turkish delight. Mad whisky, but fun! With water: again there's a far greater sense of cohesion and directness to the profile now. More singularly dominated by thick, peppery peat smoke, tar extracts, smoked mint, eucalyptus resins, iodine and camphor. Finish: long, tarry, peaty, thick and with this wonderful resinous and umami quality in the aftertaste. Comments: this is really two whiskies in one. When neat it's more of a whacky winesky. With water it's a pretty superb and powerful dram that behaves more like a very good refill sherry maturation profile. Depending on your preferences you may choose to immediately involve or discard water. I have to say, I like this more than I was expecting, so I'll score the diluted version ;)
SGP: 577 - 87 points.

Lochindaal 12 yo 2009/2021 (61.3%, The Single Cask, cask #76, 1st fill bourbon barrel, 229 bottles)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: heavily peated swimming pools! Seriously, almost a sense of seawater dosed with chlorine, but in a very good way. Hugely salty, coastal, full of seawater, brine, gherkins, charred whelks and sharp, pure peat smoke. Goes on with an almost herbal and menthol note, but still with bags of capers, anchovies and dirty martini brine. With water: getting more detailed now with green olives, soy sauce, pickled ginger, kiln smoke and kippers. Mouth: same feeling of pure coastal and peaty characteristics, but also a farmy note now, massively peaty, very briny, on smoked black olives, tar, petrol and anchovies. With water: still this lovely green note that feels like sea greens and wet seaweed! Anchovy paste again, tar, camphor, pickling brine and more cornichons and capers. Really hugely umami and drying in profile now. Finish: long, very salty, tarry and peaty, with gallons of seawater and kiln smoke. Comments: these are such massive whiskies. I suspect they will be great candidates to leave in a cool dark cupboard for 20+ years, during which time they'll probably gather complexity and turn into total gems. That being said, quality is already extremely high, love this balance of purity and power.
SGP: 368 - 90 points.

Lochindaal 13 yo 2009/2023 (62.3%, OB / Private Bottling, cask #99, 1st fill bourbon barrel, 229 bottles)
Special bottling by a group of crazy Croatian whisky pals. Colour: pale gold. Nose: a very pure combination of seawater and crisp, narrow peat smoke. Big impressions of petrol, brine, green olive and mercurochrome. Powerful and extremely pure and coastal. Recalls some earlier Port Charlotte vintages with this fatness of profile and overall very close to the Single Cask bottling. With water: crabsticks, some sootiness appearing and some farmyard characteristics coming through, the similarities to earlier Port Charlotte only become stronger. Palate: really excellent! Gherkins, seawater, pickling brine, anchovy paste and many bandages and medicinal tinctures. Again, extreme, petrol-esque power and hyper purity. With water: charred lemons, aniseed distillate, sheep wool oils and various notes of tar, crushed aspirin, seawater once again and olive tapenade. Has something ever so slightly of Caroni rum about it in some ways with these tar / olive / seawater / medicine combinations. Finish: long with a deeper smokiness now - kippers and kilns - plus more fat farmyard peat and smoked olive oil.  Comments: no holds barred and very close to the previous one really. It evolves excellently with water and really goes full 'early 2000s Port Charlotte' if given enough time. Same score.
SGP: 368 - 90 points.

Lochindaal 15 yo 2007/2023 (60.1%, Lady Of The Glen, cask #3371, 1st fill bourbon barrel, 237 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: another excellent one, but this time there is some more apparent maturity which seems to add complexity and depth to the profile. More mineral, more sooty, a deeper and more detailed peat aroma, salt cured fish, tarred rope, kerosine, smoked mint, iodine and pickling brine. Also green and black olives galore! With water: still very crisp and coastal, perhaps with a few more details like sandalwood and beach sand and rock pools here. Some dried seaweed and fish sauce. Mouth: excellent again! Another one that's on dazzlingly pure seawater, brine, anchovies, gherkins, capers and all shades of olive! Some kind of umami tapenade that might also include preserved lemons and smoked olive oil. I love this profile, it's just quite brutal and dominating after a while. With water: goes more emphatically towards mercurochrome, bandages, medical tinctures and antiseptic here, still very vividly on seawater and brine, and also with that underlying fat peaty profile. Finish: long, tarry, peppery, peaty and briny! Comments: same feelings and same comments as the previous two. These are huge and excellent whiskies that will probably be even better given time in glass. They're also probably a little underrated and overshadowed by Port Charlotte and Octomore, if I may say so.
SGP: 468 - 90 points.

Octomore 10 yo 2010/2021 5th Edition (56.3%, OB, 1st fill bourbon and Ribera del Duero wine, 3500 bottles)
Ribera del Duero, so, red Tempranillo most likely. Colour: deep gold. Nose: sharply on things like mineral salts, pink sea salt, iodine, lemon and grapefruit juice and various coastal things like dried seaweed, squid ink and rock pools. Quite a narrow, clean and pure profile that seems very focused on the seashore so far - which I'm all for! With water: some subtle wood smoke, crushed aspirin, sea urchin, squid ink and frying pancetta. Very umami and saline whisky. Mouth: as is so often the case with Octomore, I find this to be a very focussed and singular profile which is very dry, very salty and with a rather sharp, clean and narrow peatiness. Thankfully I don't detect much red wine influence, this is rather in the umami and salty sector of Bruichladdich's peated offerings. With water: a sort of silky textured smokiness emerges, salt and pepper fried squid, pickled tarragon, iodine, brine and various other pickled things like anchovies, capers, cockles, mussels etc. Finish: long, pure, briny, salty, crisply peaty and dryly smoky. Comments: I find this technically very good, but it doesn't impress in the same way that Port Charlotte and Lochindaal can with their deeper and more profound power. This gives the impression of being far more narrow, singular and something of an exercise in specificity of profile. I'm not against that at all, I suppose it's just a matter of taste. Perhaps these Octomores have a tendency to feel a little too 'technical', whereas the Port Charlottes and Lochindaals have more in the way of naturally evolved personalities (I know what I'm trying to say.) This is very good, nonetheless.
SGP: 367 - 88 points.