The Malt Cask

  Distillery: Tormore Bottler: Distillery Age: NAS Distilled: n/a Bottled: 2026 Cask:  Ex-Bourbon casks Abv: 43% Unchillfiltered: Unknown Natural Colour: Yes Nb of bottles: n/a Price: circa £40 Extra:  Entry point in the brand new Tormore range With the introduction of a new core range, Tormore signals the beginning of an exciting new era.  Tormore Timeless arrives with quiet confidence—elegant Speyside character wrapped in a modern presentation that lets the whisky do the talking. My tasting notes: Nose: Sweet, creamy and inviting. Ripe orchard fruits, honeyed malt, vanilla pod, citrus zest and delicate floral notes, all wrapped in gentle oak Palate: Beautifully composed and very creamy, bringing baked apples, poached pears, creamy toffee, shortbread and warming spice, balanced by a silky texture that keeps you reaching for another sip. Finish:  Long and refined, with sweet oak, soft pepper, toasted almonds and lingering vanilla. With water: A few d...

  Distillery:  Tomatin Bottler:  Distillery Age:  NAS Distilled:  n/a Bottled:  2023 Cask:  Colombian Andean Oak casks Abv:  46% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  n/a Price:  £52 Extra:  n/a Cù Bòcan, the experimental branch of the Tomatin distillery, brings us a 5th creation and this time it’s a slightly smoky single malt which was matured in Colombian Andean oak casks, presented naturally at a strength of 46%. My tasting notes: Nose: Sweet and fragrant, orange blossom, jasmin, light smoke, honey, lemon, slight pine/eucalyptus, fresh strawberries, wine gums, tinned peaches, hints of creamy/dusty straw /grist. Palate: Malty, oaky, slight smoke, honey sweetness at fist. Some bitternes, fresh oak, toffee, barley sugar and slight grapefruit appear after a few moments. Tasty stuff! Finish: Warming, oak, slightly earthy, still some bitterness, black pepper, grapefrint pith. With water: The nose is cream...

  Distillery:  Unknown Bottler:  Curious Whiskies Age:  NAS Distilled:  n/a Bottled:  2025 Cask:  ex-Port Casks Abv:  46% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  200 Price:  £80 Extra:  Port and Smoke Christmas Islay Blended Malt Is it Christmas already? Not quite, even if this treat from @curiouswhiskies makes me feel like it! And what is this Cask Na Nollaig? It’s an Islay Blended Malt aged in Port cask, bottled at 46%, without chillfiltration or colour added, and with only 200 bottles available, you’d better be quick! So what is it like? My tasting notes: Nose: Sweet and fruity, peaty, slightly medicinal, toffee, red fruit, strawberry coulis, hints of honey glazed barbecued meat and a pinch of salt. Palate: Quite medicinal, a little acrid, fruity too, red currant, blackcurrant, dry wood smoke, oak spice, ash, samphire and a touch of pepper. Finish: Ashtray vibes, ash, smoke, quite drying, sea breeze...

  More new whisky from a new(ish) distillery: Isle of Raasay Distillery:  Raasay Bottler:  Distillery Age:  4 years old Distilled:  July 2021 Bottled: July 2025 Cask:  ex-Marsala Barriques Abv:  50.7% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  12,300 Price:  £75 Extra:  Lightly peated spirit My tasting notes: Nose: Sweet and fruity, briny with a touch of smoke, red apple, fresh barley, sea breeze, slightly mineral. It’s young, the spirit is definitely there but it smells incredible! Palate: Quite powerful, raw/new make spirit at first, the fruit comes out next, underipe strawberries, flinty notes, some caramel comes to play after a little while, quite chewy mouthfeel, spicy notes too. Again this is young but very tasty! Finish: Long and warming, sweet and smoky, toffee, banana, wood smoke, salted caramel, slight chocolate. Wow! With water: The nose is sweeter with more barley sugar. The palate is spicier with mo...

  There is some fantastic whisky coming out of Skye, and it's not from the Talisker distillery...! Distillery:  Torabhaig Bottler:  Distillery Age:  NAS Distilled:  n/a Bottled:  2025 Cask:  American Oak Abv:  46% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  n/a Price:  £58 Extra:  Chapter 4 of the Legacy Series, made up of lightly smoked concerto and laureate barley My tasting notes: Nose:  Fresh malted barley, vanilla sweetness, warming peat, seaweed and a pinch of salt, hints of yellow fruit, peach, honey. This is quality! Palate: Thick and creamy, sweet and smoky, caramel, honey, vanilla, some green slightly herbaceous notes with coriander and thyme, some oak spice too, black pepper and more seaweed/iodine. This is very good! Finish: Ashy bonfire, more vanilla sweetness, lasting warmth, bitter coffee, drying oak tannin, sea breeze. Wow! With water:  The nose gets some more herbs notes with the...

A bit of value for money today with this Blended Malt Schotch Whisky Distillery:  n/a Bottler:  Mackinlay Age:  n/a Distilled:  n/a Bottled:  n'a Cask:  oak Abv:  40% Unchillfiltered:  No Natural Colour: No Nb of bottles:  n'a Price:  £35 (£18 paid) Extra:  Blended Malt Scotch My tasting notes: Nose:  Sweet and fruity, vanilla, brown sugar, ginger, lemon, oak spice, green apple, a little yeast and hints of minerality too. Palate:  Sweet and gently woody, creamy, vanilla cream, oak spice, barley sugar, almond, bitter grapefruit, black pepper, slightly earthy and with a nice little caramel undertone! Super pleasant for £18! Finish:  Malty, warming & slightly industrial, digestive biscuits, pebbles, bitter grapefruit again, brine, slight cocoa. With water:  Fresher nose with more citrus and less oak / minerality.  The palate loses in flavour, mostly sweet & malty.  The finish becomes a little smoky...

  I think this could be a first German whiskey for me! Distillery:  Stork Club Bottler:  The Heart Cut Age:  5 years old Distilled:  28/06/2019 Bottled: 05/11/2025 Cask:  German Napoleon Oak Abv:  55% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  408 Price:  £55 Extra:  bottled in 50cl My tasting notes: Nose:  The nose is all about Black Forest gâteau, boozy macerated cherries, dark chocolate and a hint of rye.  Palate:  The palate is creamy first before a wave of rye spice comes through. There’s some gingery citrus kicking about and some fresh cereal, more creamy dark chocolate and boozy cherries. Finish:  The finish is a coating of cocoa powder mixed with some vanilla infused macadamia nuts. There’s also a hint of chlorophyll / peppermint tea lingering around at the very end.   Wow, that’s an very unusual but very tasty one from Germany! Slàinte all! Thank you again to The Heart Cut for s...

  First of two 40 year-old blended Scotch bottles released recently. And the first one is from a new bottler called Living Souls. It is one of their first four bottlings, alongside a 19yo Islay (Ardbeg), an 18yo Ledaig/Tobermory and a 15yo Blended Scotch. It is bottled with no added colouring or chillfiltration, and at 41.2%. It also looks like this blend was laid down to marry in a sherry butt in 1998 so over 25 years ago! Distillery:  Blended Scotch Bottler:  Living Souls Age:  40 years old Distilled:  n/a Bottled:  2024 Cask:  n/a Abv:  41.2% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  n/a Price:  £125 Extra:   My tasting notes: Nose:  Fruity, malty with almonds/marzipan notes, dried apricots and figs, roast peach, slight orange blossom, old oak bookcase, vanilla, some crème caramel, some wood spice and hints of smoke. This is fantastic! Palate:  Fruity and creamy, tropical fruit, mango, passion...

  Distillery:  Blended Malt Bottler:  Biggar & Leith Age:  NAS Distilled:  N/A Bottled:  2021 Cask:  N/A Abv:  41% Unchillfiltered:  N/A Natural Colour: N/A Nb of bottles:  N/A Price: around £30 Extra:  Blended Malt Whisky My tasting notes: Nose:  Sweet and fruity, oak spice, vanilla toffee, barley sugar and malted barley and a whiff of smoke. It is a blended malt but there is a faint grain spirit note kicking around. Pleasant! Palate:  Rich, caramel sweetness, oak spice again, some heather notes, cinnamon, citrus hints around and smoke again. Quite a thin mouthfeel but enjoyable enough! Finish:  Warming oak, slight salinity, gentle peat smoke, hints of bitter citrus and vanilla, quite drying and not very long. Pleasantly surprised by this one. The addition of peat is adding to the dram rather than trying to put people off! I don’t know how old it is or which malts have been used but what I can say is that th...

  The last one from Claxton's Spirits and The Dalswinton’s Series second edition is maybe the one I’ve been excited the most: a 30 year-old Bowmore! It was distilled in 1992, aged in an Oloroso Sherry cask and bottled at 43.5%. Distillery:  Bowmore Bottler:  Claxton's Age:  30 years old Distilled:  17/09/1992 Bottled:  2024 Cask:  Oloroso Sherry cask Abv:  43.5% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:   Price:  £ Extra:  Part of the Dalswinton Series - Second Edition My tasting notes: Nose:  The nose is coastal, gently peaty and wrapped in tropical fruit sweetness. There is seaweed and iodine, camphor, slight BBQ meat (smoked bacon), grassy/earthy smoke, lemon, a touch of toasted oak and some vanilla. On the nose, the Oloroso cask is not the most obvious. It smells more like a bourbon cask. I’m a fan! Palate:  The palate is sweeter than the nose let on, with some chewy caramel, more Bowmore trop...

  2 more to go with Claxton's Spirits and next up from The Dalswinton’s Series second edition is this the oldest release, a 35 year-old Highland Park! It was distilled in 1988, aged in an Oloroso sherry cask and bottled at 43.2%. Distillery:  Highland Park Bottler:  Claxton's Age:  35 years old Distilled:  22/06/1988 Bottled:  2024 Cask:  Oloroso Sherry cask Abv:  43.2% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:   Price:  £ Extra:  Part of the Dalswinton Series - Second Edition My tasting notes: Nose:  The nose is fruity and creamy, yellow peaches, melon, vanilla cream, some HP heather notes, tame oak spice stewed apples, some milk/white chocolate and pear, honey, hints of cedar wood ! Palate:  The palate is malty and chocolaty first with lots of juicy sultanas, fresh tangerines, some mixed spice, runny caramel, crème brûlée, milk chocolate, black grape juice, blackberry jelly. Some oak spice appea...

  Still with Claxton's Spirits and next up from The Dalswinton’s Series second edition is this 30 year-old Springbank! It was distilled in 1993, aged in a Hogshead and bottled at 44.5%. Distillery:  Springbank Bottler:  Claxton's Age:  30 years old Distilled:  28/05/1993 Bottled:  2024 Cask:  Hogshead Abv:  44.5% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:   Price:  £ Extra:  Part of the Dalswinton Series - Second Edition My tasting notes: Nose:  The nose is fresh and citrusy, green apples and pears, citrus zest, hints of mint, floral honey, orange marmalade with a sprinkle of cinnamon, salty coastal breeze, some oak spice. Underneath it all there are some industrial oily notes but they’re very well integrated. Wow…! Palate:  The palate is oily and quite sweet with some salted caramel mixed with biscuits and citrus fruit again (orange, tangerine) before dried oak, spices and slight industrial notes ...

  After Clynelish 30, let’s have a look at the Bunnahabhain 33 years old from The Dalswinton’s Series second edition from the folks at Claxton's Spirits. This Bunnahabhain was distilled in 1990, aged in an Oloroso sherry cask and bottled at 48.6%. Distillery:  Bunnahabhain Bottler:  Claxton's Age:  33 years old Distilled:  24/10/1990 Bottled:  2024 Cask:  Oloroso Sherry cask Abv:  48.6% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:   Price:  £ Extra:  Part of the Dalswinton Series - Second Edition My tasting notes: Nose:  The nose is warming and luxurious, leather, chocolate, tobacco leaves, slight wood char, prunes and hazelnuts, brown sugar and a hint of citrus. Palate:  The palate is oily, thick and mouth coating, it’s rich and chewy, with a moreish mix of oak spice, dried fruit (raisins, figs) dark chocolate and more leather. What a dram! Finish:  The finish is long and quite drying with some...

  The Dalswinton’s Series second edition is now out from the folks at Claxton's Spirits and it comprises of 5 stunning well-aged single malts from renowned distilleries: Clynelish, Bunnahabhain, Bowmore, Highland Park and Springbank! So let’s go with the first review and I went for their Clynelish 30 years old from 1993, aged in a bourbon barrel and bottled at 44.4% Distillery:  Clynelish Bottler:  Claxton's Age:  30 years old Distilled:  20/10/1993 Bottled:  2024 Cask:  Bourbon Barrel Abv:  44.4% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:   Price:  £ Extra:  Part of the Dalswinton Series - Second Edition My tasting notes: Nose:  The nose is  gently sweet, fruity and floral with notes of jasmin, orange blossom, lemon zest, crème anglaise and fresh vanilla pods. Palate:  The palate is definitely Clynelish with some fruity, waxy elements, there is some oak notes, white peach and underripe apple,...

One dram left in the bottle and I’ve finally managed to write up notes for this one! Bottled by North Star, this 31 years old blended malt is said to potentially contain quite a bit of Clynelish… It was very affordable (I paid around £80 on offer in 2020) and I am very glad I have a back up bottle! Distillery:  Blended Malt Bottler:  North Star Spirits Age:  31 years old Distilled:  1988 Bottled:  2019 Cask:  First fill Bourbon barrels Abv:  43.1% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  3582 Price:  £110 Extra:  Part of the Cask Series 009 My tasting notes: Nose: Waxy, citrus, lemon, honey, fruity, some oak, wood varnish, hints of orange, vanilla, a little bitterness, some pine notes, barley sugar, fresh barley, crème caramel, sponge cake, tangerine, cardamon. Loving it! Palate: Rich & chewy, honey, chocolate, citrus (grapefruit, bitter orange), oak spice , peach, milk, orange blossom, almond, orgeat sy...

Today brings a sample of Westward American single malt, from @theheartcut a relatively new independent bottler on the whisky scene. The couple behind The Heart Cut are definitely no whisky newbies though (Georgie Belle-Leoni & Fabrizio Leoni) and they have been collaborating with distilleries across the world to release one-off single cask and small-batch bottlings. From Danish single malt to Israeli to English to American, their releases definitely take you on a world tour of amazing liquid! This one is their latest release, a 5 year-old Westward single malt from Portland, distilled 22-03-2018, aged in new American oak and bottled 08-08-2023 at 50%. As far as the cask is concerned, the website gives you an insight in why they chose it: “THIS MADE THE CUT BECAUSE The newly emerged American Single Malt Whiskey category is gaining momentum, and there’s one distillery we’ve had eyes on since the start. Hailing from the American Northwest, an area abundant with barley, Westward Whiskey...

I have had this bottle of  the Glenrothes Whisky Maker’s Cut  for a while now and I can’t believe I have never reviewed it fully, so it’s time to get stuck in before the bottle ends up in the recycling! Distillery:  The Glenrothes Bottler:  Distillery Age:  NAS Distilled:  n'a Bottled:  n/a Cask:  first-fill sherry sesonned casks Abv:  48.8% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  n/a Price: around   £45 Extra:  Part of the Soleo Collection My tasting notes: Nose:  Very Sherry forward, dried fruit, nuts, vanilla, a little orange, caramel, treacle, floral notes too (orange blossom /jasmine), slight oak spice / fresh oak, strawberry jam, a little milk chocolate & hints of leather, sugarcoated almonds. Very inviting! Palate:  Creamy first with spice coming next, walnut, dried oak, milk chocolate with a dusting of bitter cocoa, dark berries, spiced stewed plums, barley sugar, some burnt ca...

This is great to finally be able to pick up a first release from a new distillery, even more so when the said distillery is located on Islay, the release is aged for 5 years, unchillfiltered, natural colour, bottled at 50% and costs £70! That’s what Hunter Laing have managed to achieve with this first Ardnahoe bottle. Let’s just hope it taste good… Distillery:  Ardnahoe Bottler:  Distillery Age:  5 years old Distilled:  2019 Bottled: 24/04/24 Cask:  ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry, mostly first-fill Abv:  50% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  n/a Price: £70 Extra:  Inaugural release My tasting notes: Nose:   Sweet & smoky, vanilla, gentle oak spice, orange blossom, fruity side (slight peach and pears) phenolic peat, lemon curd, ginger, earthy notes, chared oak, iodine, cherry notes too after awhile, hints of jasmine What a start…! Palate:  Sweet & smoky again but the sweetness is more honey, vanilla, c...

  This is a bottle I should have reviewed a while back now but better late than never! Distillery:  Deanston Bottler:  Distillery Age:  12 years old Distilled:  n/a Bottled: n/a Cask:  ex-Bourbon Abv:  46.3% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  n/a Price:  Around £45 Extra:  Bottle has been opened for a couple of years My tasting notes: Nose:  Creamy malted barley, linseed oil, toffee, orange, nutty shortbread, lemon, freshly cut straw and slight honey. I remember being taken aback by the first pour and some turnip notes. Thankfully these have gone now! Palate:  Creamy, nutty and malty again. Vanilla, toffeed apples, creme caramel, red apples, hints of ginger, oak spice, black pepper, almond and some bitterness kicking around. Finish:  Nutty, woody, almonds and vanilla, warming oak spice, quite drying, hints of bitter orange. The finish is not incredibly long though...  With water:...

  Picture courtesy of  www.scotchwhiskyauctions.com Distillery:  Benrinnes Bottler:  Cadenhead's Age:  16 years old Distilled:  2007 Bottled: 2023 Cask:  ex-Bourbon and Fino since September 2020 Abv:  55.4% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  n/a Price: Around £70 Extra:  Bottled for Cadenhead's in the courtyard 2023 My tasting notes: Nose:  Sweet, fruity and gently oaky, yellow fruit, peach and apricots, mirabelle plumb jam, nutmeg, candied ginger in dark chocolate, gentle oak spice and hints of citrus, lemon shortbread, toffee, a little char, some sea salt and waxiness too. Very inviting! Palate:  Drying bitterness, slightly briny, underripe olives, 100% dark chocolate, quite astringent and the 55.4% abv is definitely here. There are some sweeter notes in the background but they struggle to get through the 'bitter briny barrier' which makes your eyes squint whilst drawing all the moisture from...