More blends and more secrets


August 27, 2026

More blends and more secrets

That says it all, doesn’t it?

St Bridget’s Kirk 10 yo 2014/2026 ‘Robert Burns’ (48.5%, Hannah Whisky Merchants, blended malt, 1st fill oloroso quarter cask finish, 194 bottles)

It’s great, they tell you what’s in it, namely Glen Spey ex-ruby Port, Glen Moray ex-bourbon and Caol Ila ex-ruby Port. In short, it’s Caol Ila. We’re joking, but the peated ones generally tend to dominate even in very measured doses… Colour: golden apricot. Nose: peat and blackcurrants doing a rather unlikely yet very pleasant tango, over a basaltic carpet strewn with prunes. In short, that’s more or less it… Mouth: Caol Ila is calling the shots even more now, but we were expecting that, weren’t we. Fruits in brine, salted fruit paste (very good!) and some kind of mixture of manzanilla and… well, ruby Port. Finish: long and pepperier, as is often the case. Peppers, grape stalks, then a slightly medicinal signature. Comments: frankly, I was a little worried, but strangely enough, the combination really works.
SGP:656 - 84 points.

About turn, right!

The Teuchter 10 yo ‘Batch 2’ (47%, Decadent Drinks, Highland secret malt, refill hogshead, 2026)

Colour: pale white wine. Nose: green apple and candle wax, plus sea spray and gusts of offshore wind, could we be somewhere around Brora? Touches of flint and seashells. Mouth: more wax, apple and lemon, then a large bag of jellybeans from you-know-who. Very faint touches of pear drops. Finish: long, fresh, more herbal, while the aftertaste remains typically salty. Comments: has anyone ever thought of vatting Clynelish and Pulteney? Anyway…
SGP:452 - 87 points.

While we’re at it…

The Teuchter 10 yo ‘Batch 4’ (47%, Decadent Drinks, Highland secret malt, refill hogshead, 2026)

Colour: gold. Nose: oh, I thought this was going to be from the same source, but no, and I believe the owners admit that this is Ben Nevis. Typical Ben Nevis, drier than the Clynelish, more bitter on the nose, with more dark chocolate, fresh concrete, mustard sauce, the sea… In short, it’s fatter, almost Campbeltownian. Mouth: it’s fascinating to compare the two, as they’re two of my favourite distilleries and here, they’re on an equal footing in terms of age and cask, and even strength. Let’s say this BN is a little more ‘messy’, dry, peppery, less cheerful, but perhaps a little deeper, and even more complex. Finish: long, peppery, drier than batch 2. Comments: I love both, but it’s the Clynelish I’d take to a desert island. If I were only allowed to take one, of course…
SGP:462 - 87 points.

Now watch this…

The Teuchter 17 yo ‘Batch 1’ (46%, Decadent Drinks, 1st fill PX hogshead, 330 bottles, 2025)

This time it was Tomatin, so a lighter and less textured malt than BN or Cly, at least in theory. Colour: gold. Nose: rather superb, but I’m less fond of this style, with more emphasis on raisins and old cellar. Coffee fudge, basalt, old pebble (no one in particular, ha), gunflint. Mouth: same feelings, it’s very good, but the impact of the PX is truly massive and while it combines rather nicely with Tomatin’s fruitiness (kind of relative in these vintages, mind you), it remains a little thick. Orange peel-flavoured oil. Finish: long, still rather thick, and very honeyed too. Comments: make no mistake, I like this, but the two younger ones that came before it rather dominated it, at least by my own personal criteria.
SGP:651 - 84 points.

Highland Malt 10 yo ‘Hermanos Thompson’ (45.5%, Thompson Bros., 2026)

Was this baby distilled in a clandestine laboratory somewhere near the Mexican border? Well, no, actually, it was finished in a manzanilla cask! Colour: gold, slightly cloudy. Nose: for sure! Green walnuts, mild mustard, seaweed, light brine, oatcakes and a drop of sherry vinegar. Now those maritime touches don’t really let you work out whether they come from the distillate or the manzanilla. Or both. Mouth: excellent! Quite acidic and bitter, in a very lovely way, fresh, sharp, invigorating. Lime, grapefruit, mustard, oysters, touches of whitecurrants. A little yeast. Finish: quite long, a little earthier. Comments: a very lovely little bottle, with the fino from Sanlucar making its presence felt. Would you pass me the langostinos, please?
SGP:462 - 86 points.

Secret Highland Distillery ‘Chinese Yellow Wine Cask Finish’ (53%, HK Whisky, for Whisky Live HK 2024, cask #2a)

There was also an excellent 13 yo Speyside (WF 89). Chinese yellow wine is ‘huangjiu’, made with rice, it’s got nothing to do with vin jaune. This is experimental, you understand. Colour: deep gold. Nose: it is true that rice is a cereal too, and consequently rice wine is closer to malt than, say, cabernet sauvignon or touriga nacional, no? In any case, I like this nose a lot too, it’s rather magnificently earthy, slightly fermentary, and bursting with yellow plums with a little pink pepper added. I find this works perfectly. With water: polenta! Mouth (neat): lots of toasted sesame and buckwheat, with even a faint smoky sensation. Excellent! With water: don’t add too much, it relaxes the whisky a little too much and makes it lose focus somewhat. Finish: very lovely pepper mingling with barley and buckwheat. Comments: we really ought to campaign for the use of these casks to be authorised by the Scotch Whisky Association, even if that means having to ship them to Scotland before filling and maturation. Between us, we’ve already seen stranger things up there…
SGP:662 - 88 points.

Hard to follow that very special baby. So, we’ll carry on later…

Check the index of all blended or secret malts we've tasted