A few disguised Scottish malts


March 13, 2025

Mixed bags

Whiskyfun's mixed bags
A few disguised Scottish malts

We'll just enjoy them quickly, without bothering to try to find out where they're from.

Update: As has been suggested to us many times since we published this, observing clues, such as drawings representing distilleries, allowed us to leave no doubt about certain origins. We just didn't have the time...

Secret Speyside 14 yo 2008/2023 (55.6%, Tri Carragh, second fill sherry hogshead, 305 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: lovely, honeyed, with a light earthy and yeasty touch, biscuits, raisin rolls, and fig leaves. With water: little change, just a bit more yeastiness and some notes of infused tea leaves. Mouth (neat): really good, malty, in the style of Glenfarclas, a bit thick and oily. Touches of gunpowder. With water: cherry stalk tisane and a drop of blackcurrant cream. Finish: fairly long, slightly herbal. Blackcurrants, pepper, cherries in eau-de-vie, and a touch of pine needles. Comments: a bit rustic, but I find this really very good—the worst part is that it’s probably better than the official version of a similar age.
SGP:551 - 84 points.

Secret Speyside 13 yo 2008/2022 (52.3%, Roger’s Whisky Co., bourbon cask, cask #41, 283 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: surprising to find gunpowder notes in an ex-bourbon cask; this must be one of those naturally sulphury Speysiders. Beyond that, peach, ripe apple, banana, and croissants. With water: it swims beautifully, becoming more floral. Mouth (neat): this feels very ‘Dufftown’. Peppery, waxy, and fruity (white fruits). With water: excellent, with the arrival of a slightly saline edge. Orgeat syrup. Finish: fairly long and even lovelier. Pear and almond tart with a drizzle of honey, and still that touch of sea breeze, somewhat Highland Park-like. Comments: excellent. Wait, Highland Park isn’t in Speyside, is it? A shame—it might have been interesting for the distillery’s name to appear here. Just saying.
SGP:551 - 86 points.

Secret Speyside 15 yo 2007/2022 (51.8%, The Whisky Agency for Tiffany’s New York Bar and Hong Kong Whisky Festival, hogshead, 120 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: pure cassata and fresh panettone. An abundance of fresh white nougat, dandelion flower confit (a guilty pleasure), and juicy sultanas. Holy Suzy! With water: I’m now thinking of small white pears. Mouth (neat): a touch of smoke, litres of lemon juice, massive Timut pepper, and… a tiny cup of pu-ehr tea. With water: barely any changes, although the quinces start to rise to the surface. Finish: long and very much about quinces and pepper. It’s an unusual combination, but it works brilliantly. Comments: surprise, surprise. I adore this little Hong Kong baby.
SGP:562 - 88 points.

Distilled at a Speyside Distillery 15 yo 2009/2024 (54.9%, Watt Whisky, hogshead, 318 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: the rich and slightly sulphury style previously mentioned returns, with orchard fruits and a very, very subtle earthy note plus a hint of ham rind. No worries, it’s perfect. With water: wow, things get lively! Leather and herbal teas, tomato leaf, bay leaf… Mouth (neat): a rich, fruity, and peppery attack, with loads of green apples. The pepper is massive—you could almost use it as a condiment. For example, on Scottish smoked salmon. With water: yes, perfect, very active, spicy, and peppery, with honey-coated capers. This means business. Finish: long and rich. Fruit peels and paraffin, with marked pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: truly beastly, this middle-aged Speysider.
SGP:462 - 87 points.

A Speyside Distillery 13 yo 2009/2023 (53.2%, Duckhammer’s for Wu Dram Clan, hogshead, cask #200929, 326 bottles)

This one is said to be ‘peated’. Several ex-Seagram distilleries did peat at some time, but Benriach is the most famous of them. We’ve always thought results were ‘average’, but let’s see… Colour: pale gold. Nose: you can indeed detect a smoky layer, reminiscent of charcoal and next-morning fireplace ashes. For now, it feels a bit closed. With water: much better, with a fresh bread note accompanied by smoked ham and salted butter. We’re starting to feel hungry… Mouth (neat): much better than the nose, even if it’s simple and direct. Lemon and ashes. With water: now this is good—proof that we’re edging towards the style of a young Caol Ila. All it needs are crabs and oysters. Still, the ashes keep a firm grip. Finish: rather long, leaning more towards pickled gherkins. Comments: very nice, but 1. we don’t know the distillery, and 2. it doesn’t quite feel like a Speyside, naturally. Perhaps good for marinating salmon? Trout? Caviar?
SGP:465 - 83 points.

Speyside Region 27 yo 1991/2018 (48.5%, Whisky-Fässle, hogshead)

No, this can’t be true—where have the ducks gone from the label? Let’s be clear, we love Whisky-Fässle, its whiskies, and its ducks. Colour: pale gold. Nose: one word springs to mind—elegance. The elegance of ripe apples, the elegance of soft honeys (acacia), and the elegance of baked yellow and white fruits (peaches, apricots, quinces). It’s like a top-tier white from Pessac-Léognan, aged ten or fifteen years, no less. Mouth: the same impression of elegance, but with more citric, rooty, and herbal tension. Ginseng, turmeric, ginger, radish, grapefruit… It tingles a bit, but it’s for your own good. Finish: long, with similar notes but leaning even more towards salty root flavours. Perhaps samphire. Comments: it’s funny how the palate feels so different from the nose. Very good in any case—and I’ve no clue what this could be, I admit.
SGP:561 - 88 points.

Speyside 25 yo 1998/2023 ‘Elderly Elvis Tilting #2’ (55.4%, Dramfool, bourbon barrel, cask #4406979, 246 bottles)

What-iz-dat? Perhaps some fun… Colour: gold. Nose: a classic nose, focused on apples and chalk, with subtle hints of coconut in the background. Water should wake it up… With water: yes, not bad—pistachios emerge, along with almond milk and a pleasant touch of green tea. Mouth (neat): lovely, fairly powerful, but quite cask-driven, with plenty of green pepper. Feels a bit like Glen Spey or Glendullan (and we love them both, love them guys!). With water: yes, it’s nice—simple, classic, malty—a very good ‘filler’. Finish: fairly long, more herbal, with delightful pear notes and some white pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: very pretty, though I didn’t quite get the link to Elvis—then again, Elvis isn’t really my thing anyway.
SGP:441 - 84 points.

Update: silly me, the name was an anagram. But of course. To whom this may concern, thanks!

Secret Highland Distillery 11 yo 2012/2024 (53.3%, Acla Selection, Ski Ladies, refill butt, cask #62491)

Magnificent label, almost Art Deco, and for once it ties in with the bottler and their local surroundings. Colour: white wine. Nose: just drop everything. The purity of the malt shines through, with wax and fresh citrus. With water: apple and quince juice. Mouth (neat): well yes, white cherries, citron, beeswax, mirabelles… With water: it’s fresh, it’s perfect. Beautiful touches of gentian (also quite local). Finish: moderately long but flawless, waxy and fruity (green, white, and yellow fruits). Comments: how good is this young ‘C’! I don’t know if there’s any left, but at around €55, forget Netflix and secure yourself 3 or 6 bottles immediately. Limit 88 points.
SGP:651 - 87 points.

Highlands 12 yo (40%, Canmore, Charles Edge London, bourbon & sherry, +/-2023)

Whoops, it certainly takes some serious co**nes to present a 12-year-old Highland malt at 40% ABV. But let’s see—after all, the highly praised Macallan 1938 ‘red ribbon’ was also bottled at 40% (a completely rubbish argument, S.). Colour: gold. Nose: it whispers, but it whispers rather nicely. Ripe apples, mild ale, liquorice, dried figs… Quite pleasant. But you and I both know that it’s on the palate where the real test lies… Mouth: well, blow me down—it’s good, and not even remotely weak. I’m surprised. Lovely pepper, walnuts, butterscotch, roasted pecans, peanut butter… Well, I’ll be. Finish: even the finish is very decent, well-constructed, with no flabbiness. Walnut cake and a small glass of palo cortado sherry with a touch of saline elegance. Comments: the worst part is that this baby at 40% comes after several cask-strength malts. One must now bow in respect and offer an honourable apology—well played, Charles Edge of London!
SGP:562 - 85 points.

The tenth will be the last one for today... There will still be plenty left to enjoy later...

Secret Highland Malt 21 yo 2000/2022 (54%, Liquid Treasures, peated bourbon hogshead, cask #63, 319 bottles)

From what I gather, it’s the hogshead that was peated, not the distillate, correct? Colour: gold. Nose: pleasant if a bit undefined. Flint, sulphur, porridge, spent matches, an old sea captain’s coat, spent fireworks, and extinguished ashes à la Ardmore… It’s truly austere and most likely not Ardmore. With water: an old Zippo lighter. Mouth (neat): still those spent matches—it’s extremely intense on the ‘sulphur’ front. You have to like that sort of thing, especially as this profile is very rare when not from an ex-wine cask (sherry is wine, in case you hadn’t noticed—ha, sorry). With water: some wax and oranges try to steer it back on the right track, but honestly, it’s a hopeless mission. Finish: long, very sulphury. Comments: I struggle to understand this—it must be me. There are some redeeming qualities, and we know Liquid Treasures has delivered countless gems over the years. Honestly, I’m sure they did this on purpose to tease us a little and test our resilience. Well played—it worked perfectly. Or perhaps it was the Y2K bug that struck. Hugs.
SGP:363 - 70 points.