A blended whisky with a soft and gentle profile. The palate offers vanilla notes, hints of toffee and marmalade leading to subtle smoke hints on the finish.

Andalucia is an autonomous region in southern Spain. Its capital is Seville but, more important than this city, is Jerez de al Frontera; the home of sherry (the word being an Anglicism of Jerez). Master Distiller Robert Fleming, carefully chose the best sherry butts from the ancient dunnage warehouses at Glencadam to create Reserva Andalucia. Once married together with bourbon casks, it was finished in Oloroso sherry butts from Andalucia. The fruitiness of the Glencadam spirit is balanced with sultana and sweet spice notes.

Macallan's Triple Cask range was launched in 2018, taking the place of the Fine Oak range. This is the entry level expression from the series, matured for 12 years and drawn from a combination of European sherry seasoned casks, American sherry seasoned casks and American ex-bourbon casks.

Nose: Gingerbread, vanilla essence, wafts of buttered toast and clotted-cream-topped scones.

Palate: Raisins, sultanas and stem ginger. Citrus begins to develop on the palate, with a touch of dark chocolate.

Finish: Subtle cedar and honey linger on the palate.

This core release single malt from the a lesser known distillery in the Highlands is finished for six-to-nine months in Oloroso Sherry casks before being bottled imbuing the whisky with lovely stem ginger and dried orange peel notes.

Double matured in ex-bourbon and Spanish oak casks.  Intense and balanced, with a hint of sea air.

Old Pulteney is based in the thriving metropolis of Wick, popn 6777. It's a stones throw from the sea, and is known for its seasidey, coastal flavours. 

Old Pulteney is based in the thriving metropolis of Wick.  and is a stones throw from the sea, and is known for its seasidey, coastal flavours. The 12 is a great entry point into this outstanding distillery - it shows a little toffee, citrus and spice.

Batch No. 007 of Tamdhu Batch Strength single malt is a fruity, nutty whisky that has been matured exclusively in sherry casks. Aromas of cinnamon, oak, vanilla sponge and praline fill the nose, complemented by notes of baked figs, baking spices, pavlova, raspberries, caramelised apricots, oak and ripe clementines throughout the palate.

Single malt Scotch whisky from the Glen Moray distillery in Speyside, which has been treated to a finishing period in Sherry casks

Nose: Raisin and milk chocolate, with a backbone of butterscotch sweeties.

Palate: Cinnamon starts to develop on the palate, giving it an enjoyable warmth. Still rich in caramel and butterscotch.

Finish: Medium length, with a hint of five-spice.

From the distillery

Smoky whiskies are not traditionally associated with Speyside, but look back through its distilleries? archives and it?s clear that heavily peated single malts were the preferred palate of the region back in the 19th century. Both intensely smoked and exquisitely sweet, the special edition has been two-cask matured in both American virgin oak and bourbon barrels - wood types intentionally selected to amplify the toasted sweet notes in Benriach?s smoky spirit.

"Celebrating the time of year where peated spirit runs through Benriach stills, a tradition revived by the distillery over 50 years ago, Smoke Season is a small batch release which captures one of Benriach?s time-honoured production techniques. Both intensely smoked and exquisitely sweet, the special edition has been two-cask matured in both American virgin oak and bourbon barrels - wood types intentionally selected to amplify the toasted sweet notes in Benriach?s smoky spirit. With a new recipe finely tuned by Master Blender Dr. Rachel Barrie, this expression is the most intensely smoked whisky to be released by the distillery."

Glenfiddich IPA Experiment is the first Single Malt Scotch Whisky to be finished in casks that have contained India Pale Ale craft beer, brewed by a local Speyside brewery.

Malt Master Brian Kinsman has proven that traditional whisky casks can still be seasoned in a pioneering way. Collaborating with a local Speyside craft brewer, Brian created a bold and zesty IPA beer to imbue our rich oak casks with extra hoppy notes. The experiment resulted in the first single malt Scotch whisky ever finished in craft IPA casks.

A terrific single malt from The Balvenie. This Speysider was initially aged in traditional oak casks before it was finished in casks which previously held Caribbean rum, imparting some extra sweetness and warmth to the whisky. In fact, to create it, Balvenie malt master David C. Stewart made his very own blend of West Indian rums, filled it into casks, and then eventually replaced the rum in said casks with Balvenie's whisky! The fabulous result is a well-rounded whisky with notes of toffee, fruit and vanilla.

Nose: The aroma is rich with notes of tropical fruits, namely passion fruit, and creamy toffee.

Palate: Sweet vanilla forms a creamy palate with notes of apples and mangoes with a hint of orange in the background.

Finish: The finish lingers with a vanilla focussed character.

Sauternes is the famous French dessert wine made from botrytised grapes (that's grapes that have essentially gone a bit mouldy in the vineyard and thus shrivelled up and become more concentrated and sweet). In wine it famously adds flavours of marmalade and this really does shine through on the nose and palate of this whisky. This expression is considered one of the best of the wood finish series from Glenmorangie.

Producer's Tasting Notes

AROMA
Tempted by the aromas wafting through the door of a French patisserie, you step inside to discover a tangy tarte au citron with its crisp pastry case and smooth lemony cream topping. Next to it is with its fluffy sponginess and milky vanilla aroma is a Genoise cake decorate with crystallised lime and orange peel. You can smell plump juicy sultanas, dates, warming ginger, coconut and nutmeg. In the background, gingerbread is baking in a wood-burning oven. Slip some water into the whisky to release the frothiness of lemon meringue pie and the rich aroma of baking fruitcake and warm gingerbread drizzled with crème anglaise

TASTE
The smooth, melting creaminess of lemon tart leaves the mouth full of citrus tang that gives way to crème caramel and zesty lime. This is replaced by warming ginger coupled with the mellow nutty flavours of nutmeg and toasted almonds that add warmth and chewiness that melts into oozing lemon meringue and melting honeycomb.

FINISH
Languid and sweet with lemon zest, vanilla cream and delicate hints of ginger and nutmeg

This expression offers an irresistible doubling of flavour due to the double maturation in two casks made of American oak.

Still-maturing whisky from our standard ex-bourbon barrels is transferred to quarter casks and left to rest in our warehouse just a stone?s throw from the Atlantic shore.

This process represents Laphroaig breathing new life into a once-defunct tradition: the use of the smaller cask size, which ensures increased contact with the oak, creating a soft and velvety edge to complement Laphroaig?s distinctive peatiness.

On the nose the sensation is toffee and caramel, caused by the vanillas and tannins of the American oak, plus a dryness from the wood oil.

The finish is long and alternates between this sweetness and smoke.

You can spend years waiting for a new release in Talisker's core range then two come along at once! Hot on the heels of Talisker Storm in early 2013 comes Talisker's Port Ruighe, pronounced 'Port Ree'.

This no age statement release is finished in Port wine casks, imparting a new dimension to this Isle of Skye single malt.

Nose: After a wave of initial sea spray, the nose becomes more complex with Crayola crayons, orange pith and a touch of white chocolate. Demerara and even sticking plaster emerge briefly along with plummy, umeshu notes.

Palate: Initial characteristic Talisker brine once again but much sweeter than usual. Thick and mouth coating like the Storm with chilli and a little chocolate orange. Increasingly smoky - much smokier than the nose suggests.

Finish: Milk chocolate becomes cocoa and oak with mocha notes and the faintest hint of that orange pith once again.

Ledaig single malt Scotch whisky is produced at the Tobermory Distillery, the only distillery on the picturesque Hebridean Isle of Mull. 

Its name comes from the original name for the area, Ledaig (Led-chig), from the Gaelic, meaning ?safe haven?. Ledaig, unlike Tobermory, is distilled from heavily peated malted barley. During the malting process, burning peat is used to dry the barley in a kiln. The reek from the burning peat is absorbed by the barley through the husk of the grain, and the reek remains through the mashing, fermentation and distillation processes, eventually leading to a single malt with a highly distinctive peaty, smoky taste. The result is an intricate Island Malt Scotch Whisky. The 2011 revamp of Ledaig, with new packaging and a solidly peaty whisky. Good work from Tobermory.