Milton-duff-Glenlivet 12 yo (43%, OB, German import, -/+ 1980)
I find these batches a little variable, but many can be pretty good. Colour: pale gold. Nose: definitely an older style, lots of wet grains, cooked vegetables, mashed, slightly overripe fruits and things like dried banana chips in mixed nuts. Perhaps a tad milky as well. Mouth: not the most inspiring. Rather flat, teaish, touches of cardboard, some flabby green fruitiness like pear skin peelings. Touches of glue and damp grain. Some decent power from the ABV carries it over the finish line though. Finish: short, rather rough and sharp with some bready and cooking oil notes. Comments: Not the most inspiring old Miltonduff we’ve had over the years I’m afraid. Living up to its name I would say. 
SGP: 431 - 69 points. 

Miltonduff 8 yo 2009/2018 (62.1%, The Whiskyfind ‘Filmnik - District 9’, cask #701586, bourbon barrel, 240 bottles)
District 9 is a dystopian science fiction film about aliens that crash land on Earth while searching the galaxy for whisky investment opportunities. Or maybe that’s something else. Anyway… Colour: bright straw. Nose: kind of hyper modern in some ways with these rather light and sweet - almost fizzy - notes of bubblegum and glazed fruits. Barley sugar, vanilla foam, sweetened whipped cream and buttermilk. Obviously the cask was pretty active here. Indeed, in time you get some freshly ground green pepper as well. Although, I would say the cask activity shields us quite well from the high abv. With water: still rather spicy but it becomes warmer, gentler and rounder. More earthy too with these notes of bread, pinecones and turmeric. Mouth: Ouch! Very hot and peppery straight away. Lots of pepper of various shades. Nutmeg and powdered ginger, and cinnamon pastries. All very spicy and pungent. With water: much better, although still pretty sugary and spicy and prickly. Some hints of green chilli, cloves and more cinnamon. Finish: medium, lots of cooking oil, chilli, green pepper and some hints of something like spiced porridge? Comments: I am a big fan of the labels and concept behind this wee Filmnik series but the whiskies can often be quite whacky. I will set them a challenge, seeing as they always pick a film released in the year the whisky was distilled, for your next release guys, the film has to be ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ (the remake with Mr Keanu Reeves doesn’t count I’m afraid). God’s speed! 
SGP: 661 - 79 points. 

Glen Elgin NAS (43%, OB ‘White Horse’, for Japanese market, -/+ 1990)
Colour: gold. Nose: rich, syrupy and rather fat with this kind of polished maltiness. Quite straightforward but very clean and balanced with plenty of evidence of the raw materials on display. Some sweeter biscuity notes of gingernuts and digestives, then wee touches of camphor and leather. Very easy and attractive. Mouth: quite fulsome with a lot of shoe polish, bold cereals, malt extract, freshly baked breads, light metallic touches, mineral oil, balsa wood and clay. A kind of vague but alluring waxiness as well; feels impressively textural. Finish: good length, getting drier, earthier and more towards leaf mulch, mushrooms, tobacco and more leathery notes. Comments: Something of a surprise, rather full bodied, rich and extremely satisfying to quaff. It’s not particularly complex but it feels very well composed and is the kind of dram you could very happily nurse in a tumbler while binge watching nonsense on Netflix. It’s also a good reminder that Glen Elgin used to be a rather more full bodied malt. 
SGP: 562 - 85 points. 

Glen Elgin 12 yo 2006 (55.6%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society #85.51 ‘Elbow grease and bath salts’, refill hogshead, 278 bottles)
Colour: pale white wine. Nose: it is indeed a lighter style of distillate, but it’s also rather more expressive with lots of warm greenhouse aromas, trampled ferns, cut grass, green apples, vase water, geraniums and pollen. With a little time it develops a more biscuity backbone and a little more malty sweetness. Sunflower seeds, dried herbs, hay and freshly laundered fabrics. I have to say, I find this humble Glen Elgin rather complex, in an un-showy kind of way. With water: straighter and more fully on plain, crisp cereals. Un-sweetened breakfast cereals, putty, chalk, limestone, gravel and more crushed flowers and greenery - even some aloe vera. Mouth: very in keeping with the nose, lots of greenery and sharp green fruits. Gooseberry, Granny Smith apple, sour cider, yeasty bread dough, malt extract, hibiscus, lime tea and dried lavender. Again this mix lightness and complexity in a rather humble presentation. We’re almost on pure distillate here with all these barley eau de vie vibes. With water: dried flowers, turmeric, pollen, rice wine, dried tarragon, mineral oil, pastis, lemon peel, verbena and wee sooty touches. The texture and other facets remain light and deft. Finish: medium and rather full of plain cooking oils, cereals, tiny citrus notes, yeast and malty qualities. Comments: Humble is the word here. Very impressed by this quietly complex and extremely pure wee Glen Elgin. Very different to the old OB, but pretty much exactly the same quality I think. 
SGP: 351 - 85 points. 

Macduff 10 yo (50.2%, The Boutique-y Whisky Co ‘Batch 8’, 1160 bottles)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: rather rich, biscuity and with a sort of greasy sweetness. Cooking oils, some dried herbs, some fruity muesli with a bit of runny honey through it. There’s also a slightly suggestion of rubber and new leather underneath as well. Rather ‘Macduff’, if you see? With water: greener, more peppery, more earthy, more of these putty notes, playdough, crushed green asparagus and turmeric. A little odd. Mouth: feels a bit disjointed on arrival, these rubbery notes are heavier and more dominating now. Also more of this greasiness and slightly artificial sweetness. Feels as though there may have been some re-racking going on. Graphite, putty, wine gums and some vegetable cuppa soup. With water: cleaner and more classical, also a little easier. Quite a few notes of barley water, various old man beers such as bitter and stout, touches of camphor and more putty and light earthiness. Finish: medium, doughy, oily, greasy again, very faintly medical and with some slightly overripe oranges and suggestions of concentrated orange juice. Comments: Hmmm, the nose showed promise but I find this Macduff a bit hard word to be honest. It’s characterful distillate, but it’s not particularly a character I want to spend a lot of time with. 
SGP: 562 - 75 points. 

Macduff 1982/1994 (60%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #6.17)
Colour: straw. Nose: quite different, a leaner, more directly medical and punchy profile. Lots of chalk, herbal toothpaste, tiger balm, malt extract, shilling beers, camphor, lamp oil and some rather punchy herbal cough medicines. It’s also getting more minty as we go along, spearmint and mint tea. I find this style still rather unusual but undeniably more attractive and interesting. With water: greener, fresher, slightly more mineral and with a lot more cut grass, cactus, crushed fern, nettles and vase water. Almost a crisp young Loire sauvignon. Mouth: wow! Really a lot more mentholated, medicinal and even rather peaty in some ways. Minty chewing gum, waxes, putty, citronella candle, limoncello and hessian. Herbal jellies, mineral oil and pine sap. Quite bewildering and somewhat extreme whisky, but this is undeniably a lot of fun. With water: once again, greener, more crisp, direct and chiselled. Very sharp, almost tart with green acidity, brittle minerals and things like struck flints, chalk, aspirin and dry cereals. Finish: long, green, tart, cereal, lemony, mineral, lightly mentholated with eucalyptus, freshly muddled herbs and various cupboard medicines. Comments: Pretty whacky stuff. But unlike quite a few of these more recent bottling of Macduff - which I think are just plain difficult - this has some real charm behind its weirdness. Worth trying if it ever crosses your path. 
SGP: 353 - 86 points. 

Glenlossie 42 yo 1975/2017 (44.3%, Cadenhead Single Cask ‘175th Anniversary’, hogshead, 138 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: one of these old Speysiders that has morphed into a beehive - wax, pollen, honey and all. Pure acacia honey spread over warm brioche, a little bite of rye spice, ginger biscuits dunked in Earl Grey tea and then things like citrons and some very delicate earthy notes. Quite straightforward in some ways but very beautiful! Mouth: superbly rich, resinous, honeyed and almost like cannabis resin. Lots of eucalyptus, mint julep, beeswax, pollens, furniture wax, heather ale, mint leaf, hints of very old mirabelle eau de vie from glass and tiny notes of dried tarragon and toasted fennel seed. Earthy, lightly peppery and getting more complex and superbly elegant, also quite bit richer and with many more notes of breads and savoury pastries. Not tired at all. You do feel the wood but it’s really morphing into this stunning peppery and herbal liqueur profile you get from very good quality refill after many years. Finish: medium, very honeyed and full of fruit salad juices, peaches in syrup, nectars, pollens, concentrated herbal cough medicines, waxes and various lightly tannic fruit teas. Comments: A rather sublime old glory captured at just the right time I’d say. I’ll never tire of this combination of sweet honey, waxes and drier fruit notes. 
SGP: 651 - 91 points. 

Glenlossie 33 yo 1984/2018 (56.7%, Signatory Vintage 30th Anniversary, cask #2533, refill sherry butt, 530 bottles)
Colour: amber. Nose: a wonderful mix of chestnuts, truffled risotto, dried wild mushrooms, black tea, miso and herbal cocktail bitters. Elegant, wonderfully balanced and complex. A wee paean to good refill sherry wood. Gets a little more earthy and nutty with time, walnuts, almonds and Brazil nuts with a few more dried herbs and some cured game meats. Maybe a splash of café latte too. With water: more savoury, more notes of breads, soft wood spices, bitter dark chocolate, balsamic, black coffee, cinnamon bark and some rather leathery touches of camphor, praline and hessian. Mouth: quite a big arrival but well presented in a very silky texture. Really velvety notes of chocolate, coffee cake, green walnut liqueur, black olive tapenade and herbal cough syrup. Tarragon, dark fruit chutney, lime curd and some very old Calvados. Again the word that springs to mind is: balance! With water: again this evolves the complexity very well and it becomes drier, spicier and a little more bitter. More coffee, dark chocolate, walnuts, black olives, soy sauce and various cocktail bitters and dried herbs. Finish: long, rather leathery, bitter herbal medicines, black pepper, pu erh tea, walnuts, rancio and Irish coffee with cream. Comments: I think top quality refill sherry plus time has really equated to the epitome of balance and complexity in this instance. It’s the depth and evolution of flavour which is most striking here. Same quality as the Cadenhead I think, but they are very different styles I would say. Another total gem in this series. Can’t wait for the Signatory 32nd anniversary series later this year! 
SGP: 561 - 91 points. 

Glenglassaugh 40 yo 1978/2018 (40.9%, Signatory Vintage 30th Anniversary, hogshead, cask #258, 154 bottles)  
Colour: deep gold. Nose: a mix of herbs, honeys and slightly lactic waxy notes. In addition these notes of candied nuts, chocolate lime sweets, sweetened coffee, milk chocolate, digestive biscuits dunked in milky tea and subtle aromas of pollen and candied citrus fruit peels. In time it also becomes more herbal with things like mint tea and touches of cannabis resin. Perhaps also some vase water and pressed flowers. It’s pleasant but feels a tad tired. Mouth: quite a soft arrival, again on candied nuts, sorrel, dried mint and some rather toasty cereal notes too. More of these milky tea and soggy biscuits vibes. Chocolate covered Brazil nuts, lime pith, desiccated coconut, treacle pudding and some sweet coffee cream liqueur. You do start to feel the low abv a bit much here. Finish: medium and on milk chocolate, Earl Grey tea with milk, more mixed nuts, candied peels, breakfast cereals and some orange liqueur. Comments: Some parts are very quaffable in a simple ‘nice old whisky’ kind of way, but I think it has perhaps just sat too long in the cask. This low abv, milky tea vibe is a bit much. Still, every great series needs a weak link in the chain. 
SGP: 451 - 77 points. 

Glenglassaugh 2011/2018 (53.5%, Bramble Whisky Company, 1st fill sherry, 376 bottles)
I don’t know much about cocktails, but I do know that if you find yourself in Edinburgh and in the mood for boozy potions, then it is to Bramble, or one of its sibling bars such as The Last Word or The Lucky Liquor Co, that you should swiftly take yourself! Colour: coppery gold. Nose: you couldn’t really be further from the 1978 if you tried. This is immediately all on gruff, leathery, earthy modern peat smoke. Lots of tar, burnt bracken, hot car tyre, gentian distillate, ground black pepper and hessian sack cloth. Some black olives in brine sloshing about in the darkness. It’s really a collision of powerful peat and pretty active modern style wood, which cannot help but bring to mind the notion of ‘an unstoppable force meets an immovable object’. However, for whatever reason, it works pretty well I think. In time you get these notes of graphite oil, mechanical fluids and singed sawdust. With water: ahh, everything settles very nicely. There’s more smoky cohesion, kippers, tree bark, smoked coffee and pure tar. Mouth: the screech of Aston Martin tyres! This kind of clean hot rubber vibe mixed with pure kerosene, pencil shavings, black pepper, salt and malt vinegar crisps and potatoes baked in wood embers. Rather mad but a lot of fun. I time there’s some young balsamic vinegar glaze, green olives and herbal toothpaste. Some brake fluid in the mix as well. With water: smoked olive oil, smoked tea, hot smoked salmon, smoked chillies - smoked everything really! Tabasco on an oyster, sweetened iodine, herbal cough syrup, wholegrain mustard and long cured meats. Finish: rather long, tarry, this light rubbery note back again, more soot, kippers, meats and coffee. Comments: Where to begin? I think the problem here is that this is not really my cup of malt, but that’s a very personal judgement. It’s very much the kind of dram that lovers of this rather monolithic, modern peated style will guzzle like it would re-open the pubs. One thing is for sure, it is a huge amount of fun, but perhaps the kind of thing you need to be in the mood for. Anyway, please support great bars like Bramble when they are eventually able to re-open. 
SGP: 577 - 82 points.  

Aerolite Lyndsay 10 yo (46%, Atom Brands, 2019)  
A funny bottling from Atom that is an anagram of ’ten year old Islay’ and apparently hails from one Islay distillery after maturation in 70% bourbon barrels, 25% Spanish oak ex-sherry quarter casks and 5% ‘mystery casks’. The label also mentions ‘peat smoke-breathing dragons’. Let’s hope no one tells the SWA as I’m pretty sure that would not be permitted under their current production regulations. It’s possible the good folks at Atom were also smoking something. Colour: white wine. Nose: clean, coastal and fresh. Smoky grist, barley, heather, soot, wet rocks and sheep wool. Modern, clean, peaty Islay whisky in other words. It’s just a little unremarkable perhaps. Some nice lemony notes emerge in time. Mouth: rather autolytic and slightly yeasty. Smoked biscuits or something like that. Again this sheep wool oiliness, some carbolic acidity, heather ale and more smoky/sooty notes. Touches of lemon juice and a light tarriness. Finish: decent length, coal embers, heather smoke, peat and some peppery and briny notes. Comments: Yes, it all sounds a tad silly. But the whisky is perfectly quaffable and pretty typical modern Islay single malt. For the £45ish price tag I think it’s a fair drop. Let’s all buy some so we can keep those good folks from Tunbridge Wells in suitably jazzy narcotics! 
SGP: 465 - 84 points.

Islay #3 13 yo ‘Batch 4’ (48.6%, That Boutique-y Whisky Co, 1479 bottles)
There seem to be some rumours floating in the digital ether that this could be Laphroaig. Colour: white wine. Nose: Indeed, this has that rather meandering bassline smokiness that feels rather ‘Laphroaiggy’. Lots of squid ink, iodine drops, seawater and coal smoke. Dried seaweed, salted white fish, malt vinegar and a very attractive peppery tarriness. Simple, pure and very attractive. Mouth: wonderful arrival, all on soft, greasy peat smoke. Natural tar, petrol, iodine, TCP, lemon juice and seawater. Also kelp, green olives in pickling juices and preserved lemons in brine. Some grizzly kiln smoke accumulating in the background. Finish: long, sooty, deeply earthy, salty and with this rather herbal and rooty peat smoke. Lightly kippery and with some lingering malt vinegar notes. Comments: No nonsense here. This is a terrific wee dram that, quite frankly, reeks of top notch modern Laphroaig from refill wood. Love the purity balanced with the sense of restrained power. 
SGP: 468 - 89 points.  

Glen Flagler ‘All Malt’ NAS (70 proof, OB, 1970s) 
I am indebted to Mark from the excellent Cheaper By The Dram for this and another sample for today’s session. I’m sure you all know that Glen Flagler was a short lived malt produced by a pair of pot stills within the old Moffat grain distillery and owned by Inverhouse. This non age statement version is scarcer than its 5 and 8 year old siblings. Now, having said all that, I couldn’t tell you whether this is a ‘single’ malt, or what would at that time have been called a vatted malt - blended malt in today’s lingo. Colour: pale straw. Nose: straw, wool, ink, fabrics, pollen and an almost grappa-esque fruitiness with background notes of wine must and limoncello - or am I just starting to ‘think’ Italian? No wonder this used to sell well in Italy. I also find rather a lot of ripe peaches in syrup and crushed almonds. A very slight cardboard note too, but that may be OBE. Mouth: rather light, gently creamy and with these unusual lactic tones such as Greek yoghurt and milk bottle sweets. Some crumbled oatcakes, juniper and crushed nettles. Rather ginish in some ways, but that may well be the youthfulness of the spirit. Indeed, it feels very young but the spirit is light, playful and not without charisma. Finish: short, citrusy, some barley sugar sweetness and wee grassy touches. Comments: I’ve had a few of these bottlings over the years and there seems to be not one ounce of consistency between them. Some are dreadful, while others can really be a joyous surprise. How much of that is Glen Flagler itself, how much is time in bottle and how much is whether they’re ‘self’ whiskies or ‘vatted’ will, I suspect, forever remain a mystery. This one was a bit light, but good fun. 
SGP: 531 - 78 points. 

Glen Flagler 23 yo 1972/1996 (51.3%, Signatory Vintage, cask #228442, 255 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: sweetly grassy, honeyed, lots of pollens, honeycomb and some green fruits preserved in syrup. Then comes some shoe polish, new leather and dried beeswax. You do indeed get the impression it was a rather workmanlike and industrial style of spirit. Some camphor, putty and cough syrup. With water: eucalyptus, camphor, putty, strong jasmine tea some rather pushy herbal notes. Mouth: various crystallised fruits and garden fruit preserves. Lots of prickly citrus notes, jams, faint medical embrocations, a rather syrupy mouthfeel and a slow but steady evolution away towards more waxy and polished notes. With water: really evolves quite strikingly towards fresh, bitter herbs, dried dark fruits, toasted seed mix and some rather grassy olive oil. Still wee threads of honey in there too though. Finish: medium and rather pithy, herbal, lemon rind, olive oil, dried tarragon and a little mustard powder. Comments: It’s an impressive and rather ‘separate’ style of malt, one that doesn’t quite fit into any easy category. Texture and concentration are very impressive and the overall style is pleasingly punchy and industrial, yet balanced by some nice fruits. Not just a historical artefact for collections and museum displays. 
SGP: 551 - 88 points. 

Littlemill 27 yo 1992/2020 (52.3%, The Whisky Agency, hogshead, 260 bottles)
Colour: light gold. Nose: grass, olive oil and ripe garden fruits. Pitch perfect and very enchanting. Indeed, it really seems to double down on this extremely elegant and slick olive oil profile. Blind you could also be forgiven for saying an early 90s Bushmills or Cooley. These vintages of Littlemill often speak with an Irish accent I find. Some further hints of nettles, aloe vera and New Zealand sauvignon blanc. Great stuff! With water: now we are really getting towards a pretty punchy and vivid grassiness. Nettles, vine leaves, salad dressing, wine must, putty and white stone fruits. Mouth: superb arrival on punchy white pepper, cut grass, chopped green herbs, lime zest, lemon barley water, vapour rubs, chalk and lemongrass. The fruits are in there but they are restrained, nicely bitter and with a sharpness and clarity that once again would suggest some kind of nicely acidic sauvignon blanc. A scattering of crisp cereals too. With water: wonderfully thick and oily now, big juicy fruits, cereals, cooking oils, bitter herbs, expensive tonic water, juniper, mirabelle eau de vie, tarragon - really becomes quite complex. Finish: good length, getting more herbal, waxed lemon peel, perfectly bitter. Comments: Yet another terrific Littlemill from these latter day vintages. Really has something akin to these Irish malts of the same era. There’s a knife-edge balance between grassiness, bitterness and fruitiness going on here which is wonderfully compelling. 
SGP: 651 - 91 points. 

Imperial 30 yo 1990/2020 (43.5%, Thompson Brothers, refill barrel, 134 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: this rather specific kind of lactic, honeyed and waxy profile which I’m increasingly finding with 90s Imperials. Behind that fabrics, baking parchment, damp grains, plain toast and a single molten white marshmallow. In time it opens and becomes fresher and a little more breezy and playful which is nice. Although it remains on the lighter side. Mouth: excellent arrival, feels bigger than 45.5%. Rather peppery, waxy and nicely oily in texture. Lots of canvass, hessian, camphor, putty and gorse flower. Also some slightly dry limoncello, pumpkin seed oil and a few slightly taut wood spices. Feels like this one was captured just before the cask really bit down. Finish: medium and getting a little weaker, more towards bitter herbal tones, sandalwood and cornflakes. Comments: Perhaps bottled one or two years too late, but it remains a beautiful wee drop that gives the feeling of old school highland whisky. 
SGP: 551 - 87 points. 

Glenugie 30 yo 1977/2007 (46.3%, Signatory Vintage ‘Cask Strength Collection’, cask #5507, hogshead, 243 bottles)
Colour: pale straw. Nose: an immediate waft of raw barley, then all these rather thick and pulpy mashed fruits which are rather indigenous to Glenugie in my experience. Lots of overripe banana, green apple, pear and kiwi. Then lemon posit, runny honey, liquorice allsorts, guava, melon and conference pear. I love this very focused fruitiness on overripe garden and green fruits. The whole thing feels very fleshy, pulpy and nicely textural. Mouth: some rather dry fruit cordials, nicely syrupy and oily in texture. Cornflour, rapeseed oil, turmeric, lemon zest, verbena, barley sugars and things like bouillon stock, mashed vegetables and freshly made porridge with a miser’s teaspoon of honey through it. Cleaves very close to the raw ingredients and feels at times surprisingly austere for a Glenugie. Finish: good length, getting very green, herbal, lightly waxy, bitter lemon and some notes of soda bread and putty. Comments: In some ways, given the general luminosity of most Glenugies from these vintages, you could argue that this is something of a disappointment. However, being realistic, this is still an extremely pleasurable dram with some wonderfully opulent moments. It’s just a notch too austere, and at times oddly plain, to climb too high in my wee book. 
SGP: 561 - 88 points. 

Glen Albyn 10 yo (43.4%, OB, D&C Import Italy, 1960s)
These batches could be pretty variable in my experience. Colour: pale gold. Nose: nicely ‘old highlands’ at first with these big whiffs of waxes, metal polish, old toolboxes, sheep wool and mineral oil. Some putty, dusty malt bins and hessian cloth. Although, there’s also a slight grittiness of concrete and a rather medical, crushed aspirin quality. Very typical of these Inverness malts I would say, the ‘Schneck’ accent is thick here! Mouth: a little more whacky and ‘Schnecky’. Lots of wool, aspirin, medicines, petrol mixed with milk (!?!?), iodine drops, bitter orange peel, camphor, putty, limestone, concrete, clay, smoked tea and some pretty brittle, dry waxiness. Also perhaps some graphite oil and damp grains - salted porridge maybe? Finish: good length and staying on this rather direct and slightly sharp medicinal profile. Quite a big aftertaste of mineral oils, herbs, medical balms and a little sootiness. Comments: It’s a rather brutal and very ‘Inverness’ style in some ways, although I think the bottling strength for this one helps add balance. A style of whisky which hasn’t existed in Scotland for about 50 years I’d say. Austere and slightly thuggish, yet also full of charisma and not a little charm. 
SGP: 363 - 84 points.

Glen Mhor 8 yo (100 proof, Gordon & MacPhail, miniature, 1970s)
This is one of these lovely wee flat minis that G&M were issuing ubiquitously in the 70s. This one should be from around mid-1970s I think. Colour: orangey amber. Nose: a deep, greasy and leathery sherry. Lots of dried figs, damp sods of earth, dark fruit chutneys, mushroom powder, cocoa, leaf mulch and camphor. Powerful, dense and emphatically thick stuff, with a wonderfully lean, sinewy and direct sherry influence. Goes on with things like mutton, venison, stovies, bouillon, Maggi, soot and dark grains. Some kind of thick, almost tarry stout beer from a whisky barrel. Becomes increasingly mentholated and medicinal over time with many eloquent wee herbal touches. With water: all these rather plummy dark fruits emerge now. Prunes in Armagnac, date syrup, pomegranate molasses and a few watermelon bonbons. Mouth: Pow! Superbly concentrated and syrupy sherry. Miso, soy sauce, balsamic glaze, herbal ointments, your Granny’s long forgotten herbal cough syrup, dark chocolate with chilli, fir liqueur, walnut wine, natural tar and vividly salty rancio. With water: herby chicken stuffing, bay leaf, tarragon, punchy green Chartreuse, lime curd, more rancio, bacon jam, black bean curd, smoked chocolate. Madness! Finish: brilliantly long, deeply earthy, animalistic and almost fatty with all these wonderfully thick and sinewy meaty notes. Pork scratchings, antiseptic, more rancio, saline and herby broths and gloopy camphor. Comments: Excuse me, but what the fuck was that? I’ve tried the 100 proof 8yo full size bottles but none have ever been up to that kind of scratch. No offence, but this is extremely un-Glen Mhor. Where is the concrete? Where is the gluey porridge? Where is the deep sense of existential dread? We’ve been conned it would seem! 
SGP: 572 - 93 points. 

Glenury Royal 23 yo 1971/1995 (61.3%, OB ‘Rare Malts’, sherry)
Another of the more famous Rare Malts expressions, and pretty much the only one from active sherry. It’s been a long time since I tried this so I’m very happy to revisit it. Colour: amber. Nose: It’s funny how even with the obviously rich cloak of sherry, this is still extremely ‘Rare Malts’ in style. Which is to say: power, austerity, directness and concentration. Leathery, leafy, mulchy, earthy and showing lots of bitter marmalade, pin resin, tobacco and sweet herbal liqueurs. Orange oils, dark chocolate and an impression of pot pourri. With water: softer, leafier and more towards cocoa, sultanas, fruit loaf and dried mint leaves. Mouth: hot and prickling with paprika, natural tar, hot leather, kirsch and lots of wee mentholated and eucalyptus notes. Slightly gamey and rather peppery. With water: works terrifically with water. Much easier and more open and generous. Minty, blood orange cordial, dark fruits soaked in brandy and more of these nice leathery and gamey touches. Things like Bovril, camphor and prune eau de vie. Finish: long, orangey - more marmalade - mentholated, some nicely tannic black tea, sooty and getting rather more towards herbal infusions and vegetal broths. Comments: Totally excellent, although I think this may be an example of a bottling which we can look upon with a degree of revisionism and say that, while terrific, isn’t perhaps the total masterpiece some proclaimed it to be ‘back in the day’. Whenever that was. I love it, but I think it’s a tad brutal and domineering at times. 
SGP: 662 - 91 points. 

Brora 34 yo 1970/2004 (56.9%, Douglas Laing ‘Platinum Selection’, 157 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: a perfect triumvirate of olive oil, tar and seawater. Beyond that there’s this rather wonderful unfolding waxiness - citronella candles - sandalwood, putty and a sort of mint flavoured cough medicine. Gorse, beach pebbles, driftwood, acrylic paints and an increasingly prominent honeyed quality, like some kind of very old, salty mead. These 1970s are really quite distinct and separate from the 1972s I think. With water: more specifically towards brine and olive oil now, also preserved lemons, canvass, mustard powder and salted almonds. Greater subtlety, complexity and depth with reduction. Also more herbal but dried herbs such as rosemary, thyme and sage. Some impressions of moorland with things like heather flowers, gorse, bog cotton and an ethereal peaty quality. Mouth: remarkably elegant and gentle arrival, the power of the alcohol is there but wonderfully restrained by the age. And everything is stilling in perfect harmony with the wood which is pitch perfect here. Again this sense of honey, wax, smoke, seawater, petrol and lightly tarry notes. A few more farmyard attributes on the palate and also a sharper acidity and a more punchy herbal presence. With water: gains a superbly vivid fattiness. Honey, creosote, natural tar liqueur, smoked olive oil, tapenades, lemon wax, salted pistachio nuts and some rather thick mineral oil. Harmoniously complex and elegant now with many soft, fragrant, rather herbal smoky qualities. Herbal teas, roots, crushed seashells, medical embrocations and plaster. Finish: long, resinous smokiness, mead, tar, matcha, a rather petrolic minerality and a fantastically syrupy, mustardy peatiness. Comments: For me, I think of these 1970 bottlings as being more like a peated version of old Clynelish, whereas I feel the 1972s are more singular and express a more individualistic style which stands truly apart. This one was totally brilliant. Deeply complex and with a compellingly retrained power. I’d also add that it remains stunningly fresh for the age.
SGP: 466 - 93 points. 

Clynelish 12 yo (56.9%, OB for Edward & Edward, rotation 1969)
No prevarication required. Colour: white wine. Nose: the purest expression of this style. Which is to say hyper clean and powerful notes of wet chalk, linens, dry waxes, soot, fabrics, petrol and punchy, taut minerals. Struck flints, white flowers, toolboxes, drops of iodine, other background medical tinctures and crushed aspirin. Feels very ‘white’ if you see what I mean? Quite simply, this is a whisky extra ordinary power, control, depth and character. With water: more coastal, more salty, more pushily medical and even more on pure petrol and dried furniture wax. Mouth: it just oozes charisma straight away! Waxy petroleum, steel wool, herbal cough medicines, dried herbs, some spoonfuls of pure seawater, more chalky and aspirin notes, hessian sack cloth, lamp oil and things like miso and umami broth. One of these whiskies that takes total control and leaves you little choice but to follow. With water: totally stellar! Immensely wide, fatty, profoundly deep and heart-stompingly complex. The thickness of the texture is profound and you find yourself having to chew your way through it. Like a handful of gloop from the inside of the low wines and feints receiver! Some touches of caraway, paraffin, roast root vegetables, raw grist and herbal mouthwash! Finish: endless, more lemony, more medical, slightly sootier and more cereal. Like rinsing your mouth with wax dissolved in kerosene! Some salted butter, freshly chopped herbs now and anthracite embers. Leaves you glowing! Comments: I tried to keep it short and to the point. I promise. Anyway, a masterpiece, as well you know by now (although, contrary to some other pals, I think the 1971 rotation is the equal of this one.) 
SGP: 473 - 95 points.