Hellyer’s Road Roaring Forties (40% abv)

Lawrenny American Oak (43% abv)

Lark Tasmanian Symphony No.1 (40.2% abv)

Overeem Distiller Strength Single Cask Sherry Cask Matured (43% abv)

The Gospel Straight Rye (45% abv) [BUY]

Starward Ginger Beer Cask #7 (48% abv)

Hellyer’s Road Tasmanian Whisky Cream (17% abv)

Waterford Heritage Hunter 1.1 (50% abv) [BUY]

Wireworks Heritage Chevallier (57.3% abv) [BUY]

Ardnamurchan AD/ Heritage Barley Release (59.2% abv) [BUY]

TOAD Heritage Corn Whisky (50.44% abv) [BUY]

Jeptha Creed RWB Heirloom Mash Bill 50% [BUY]

Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2013 (50% abv) [BUY]

The Heart Cut x Barley (46% abv) [BUY]

Circumstance Single Grain Wheat (45.6% abv) [BUY]

Spirit of Birmingham Inaugural Release (48% abv)

Retribution PR003 (53% abv) [BUY]

Ludlow Distillers Cut Batch 1 (42% abv)

West Midlands Rowielia (51.6% abv) [BUY]

Hedonism 2026 (46% abv) [BUY]

Ten Times around the Sun (51.4% abv) [BUY]

Rosemaund First Release (47% abv) [BUY]

Aberargie Inaugural Release (48.2% abv) [BUY]

Laizhou Amontillado Cask (66% abv) [BUY]

Ardbeg 10yo Cask Strength (61.7% abv) [BUY]

Alberta Distillers Rare Batch #2 21yo (50% abv)

Bruichladdich 2010 13yo Friends of Bruichladdich (56.9% abv)

For the Dolls Dailuaine (54.2% abv)

Fable MacArthur Dailuaine (53.2% abv)

SMWS 38.29 Maple-Mustard Pulled Pork (58.2% abv)

Ardbeg Smoketrails #3 (46% abv)

Balmenach 2008 Christmas Edition (46% abv)

Chichibu II (55.5% abv)

Bladnoch 1990 35yo Whiskyland #11 (51.3% abv)

Wireworks Necessary Evil Finish (2025 Edition) (51.3% abv)

Kyrö Sauna Stories No.2 Apricot Brandy Cask (51% abv)

Ben Nevis 6yo Caoineag (55% abv)

Chicken Cock 20yo (50% abv)

Alberta Distillers 23yo Rare Batch No.1 (50% abv)

Canadian Club 18yo Invitation Series (58% abv)

Glen Moray Maple Cask Unpeated (59% abv)

Shelter Point Smoke Point (53% abv)

Two Brewers Peated (43% abv)

Invergordon 1997 27yo (52.2% abv)

Nc’nean Huntress Lemon Meadow (48.5% abv)

Maker’s Mark Cask Strength (55.5% abv)

Bruichladdich 15yo (43% abv)

Mannochmore 15yo Loch Do (50% abv)

Loch Lomond 2007 15yo ‘From the Patisserie’ (54.7% abv)

Benromach 15yo 43% [BUY]

Bowmore 15yo Sherry Cask (43% abv)

Arran 15yo Rare Batch Peated (54.4% abv)

Tio Pepe En Rama 2024 (15% abv)

Glenmorangie Fino Sherry Wood Finish (43% abv)

Fernando de Castilla Antique Palo Cortado (20% abv)

Palo-Cortado-Matured Spirit Sample ?

Oloroso-Matured Spirit Sample ?

Ardnamurchan AD08:18 Oloroso Sherry Cask (59.1% abv)

Ximénez-Spinola Exceptional Harvest 2023 (12.5% abv)

PX-Matured Spirit Sample ?

Ximénez-Spinola Pedro Ximénez Solera 1918 (15% abv)

Waterford Hook Head 1.1 (50% abv)

Waterford Cuvée Koffi (50% abv)

Waterford Biodynamic Cuvée Luna (50% abv)

Waterford Heritage Goldthorpe (50% abv)

Waterford Peated Lacken (50% abv)

Fielden Flagship Rye (48% abv) [BUY]

The Gospel Projects: High Wheat (50% abv)

Lot 40 Dark Oak (48% abv)

Belgrove Rye 03/07/2023 (70.7% abv)

FEW Immortal Rye (46.5% abv)

Fragrant Drops Arcane Rye (57.3% abv)

A love fest of Canadian proportions with spicy surprises, delightful discoveries, smouldering heat, awkward enthusiasm and a lot of grainy goodness.

Dillon’s Rye Whisky (43% abv) [BUY]

Lot 40 Peated Quarter Cask (55.5% abv)

Corn Whiskey #1 (66.5% abv)

Cadenhead Potter 32yo (62.1% abv)

WhistlePig 10yo Straight Rye Whiskey (50% abv) [BUY]

Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye (64% abv)

It’s the new year and it’s time to taste some whisky. Billy dug about in his special Squad stash to find a few drams to welcome in the new year.

Glen Scotia 12 Year Old Seasonal Release 2022 (53.3% abv) [BUY]

Slyrs Rye (41% abv) [BUY]

The Lakes Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.7 (52% abv) [BUY]

Mannochmore 2018 5 Year Old Murray McDavid (54.7% abv)

Kavalan Solist Port Cask (57.8% abv) [BUY]

Torabhaig Allt Glean Batch Strength (61.1% abv) [BUY]

A fab selection of holiday-inspired drams and a selection of homemade cookies? yes please!

Glenmorangie Lasanta (43% abv) [BUY]

Basil Hayden Dark Rye (40% abv) [BUY]

Springbank 15 (46% abv) [BUY]

Raasay Distillery Special Release, Sherry Finished 2021 (52% abv)

A Good Old-Fashioned Christmas Whisky 2023 Edition (52.5% abv) [BUY]

Ardbeg Smoketrails Manzanila Edition (46% abv) [BUY]

Elise is a big fan of Bruichladdich, and dug into her collection of weird and wonderful finds for a rare non-blind tasting.

Bruichladdich 10 (46% abv)

Bruichladdich 8 (55.9% abv)

Bruichladdich Rocks (46% abv)

Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2013 (50% abv) [BUY]

Bruichladdich: The Regeneration Project (50% abv) [BUY]

VIC 27: Auld Reekie (64.3% abv)

Billy raided his cupboards for Squad and turned up with some new, old, weird and a little spooky (non-hobbity) treats.

Tasgall Cauldron of the Gods (40% abv)

InchDairnie Ryelaw (46.3% abv) [BUY]

Blair Athol 10 Bloody Sergeant (51.8% abv) [BUY]

Sirius Blended Malt 31 (43.1% abv) [BUY]

In a desperate attempt to shake off the winter blahs we explored the brighter, sweeter, flowery-er side of whisky with a set of fragrant, floral, bright and shiny drams.

Glenfiddich Orchard Experiment (43% abv) [BUY]

Mackmyra Bjorksav (46.1% abv) [BUY]

Matsui Sakura (48% abv) [BUY]

Deanston Calvados (57.4% abv) [BUY]

Cadenheads Benriach 10 (57.1% abv)

Method and Madness French Limousin Oak (46% abv) [BUY]

We have such wonderful friends! To kick off our online whisk(e)y tastings for 2021, Whisky Squad and the Bristol Whisky Appreciation Society joined forces to taste our way through a selection of tasty ryes, as chosen by the gang at The Dram Team.

An online evening of rum and raising £600 for The Drinks Trust? Well yo-ho-ho me away! Mitch from Black Tot Rum hosted an informative and very tasty session, with an appropriate amount of pirate yarns.

As ever, a great time (albeit a socially distanced one) was had by all as we gathered round our screens together to share some drams and raise a much-needed £1100 for Shelter and Macmillan.  You’re a lovely bunch, Whisky Squad.

Ironic that our first Firsts tasting was also the last one for a while. Seems something unusual happened just afterwards…  Causation, correlation etc etc. Good thing we had lots of whisky to hunker down with.

Another year, another excellent offering for the Bard (and Elise, as it’s her birthday).

Back for another evening of bottle killing and talking rubbish, the Whisky Squad party conquered the King & Queen yet again. £1050 raised for charity and lots of whisky drunk? Success.

Back for 2019 – another evening of spendy drams. A combination of rare whisk(e)y from North America, silly Daftmill sherry-cask whisky and a pair of rare bourbon-cask matured drams.

Canadian Club Chronicles 41yo (45% abv)

Orphan Barrel Entrapment (41% abv)

Hedonism Quindecimus (46% abv)

Daftmill 2006 Berry Bros & Rudd (57.4% abv)

Macallan Fine Oak Whisky Maker’s Selection (42.8% abv)

Ardmore 1987 30yo (47.2% abv)

We love American whiskey, so we thought we’d remind ourselves of a few things that actually make America great (in case you were getting distracted by a certain someone…)

Rittenhouse Rye (50% abv)

Buffalo Trace (40% abv)

Weller CYPB (47.5% abv)

Texas Legation Batch 1 (46% abv)

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (62.1% abv)

WhistlePig 12yo Amburana Exclusive to The Whisky Exchange (43% abv)

A rainy summer? Perfect time for a few drams inspired by the weather.

Glenmorangie 19yo Finest Reserve (43% abv)

Bruichladdich 15yo Duke of Edinburgh Award (54% abv)

Balvenie 14yo Peated Triple Cask (48.3% abv)

SMWS G3.4 – Pride of Bengal (57.5% abv)

Booker’s (63.7% abv)

SMWS 3.243 – Dark,Smouldering Flamenco Gypsy (57.1% abv)

There was a TV program about dragons, or something. There was whisky. We’re not entirely sure what it was all about…

We tried the complete Game of Thrones whisky line-up. Which was quite good.

Johnnie Walker White Walker Game of Thrones Edition (41.7% abv)

Royal Lochnagar 12yo Game of Thrones Edition (40% abv)

Cardhu Gold Reserve Game of Thrones Edition (40% abv)

The Singleton of Glendullan Select Game of Thrones Edition (40% abv)

Dalwhinnie Winter’s Frost Game of Thrones Edition (43% abv)

Clynelish Reserve Game of Thrones Edition (51.2% abv)

Oban Bay Reserve Game of Thrones Edition (43% abv)

Talisker Select Reserve Game of Thrones Edition (45.8% abv)

Lagavulin 9yo Game of Thrones Edition (46% abv)

For this session, we explored a selection of drams that show off a specific part of the whisky-making process, showing quite how influential the differences between whiskies can be.

Proper Twelve (40% abv) [BUY]

Grant’s Elementary Oxygen (40% abv) [BUY]

The Norfolk Batch 2 (45% abv) [BUY]

Koval Millet Whiskey (40% abv) [BUY]

Cotswolds Founders Choice (60.9% abv) [BUY]

Lost Spirits Abomination Crying of the Puma (54% abv) [BUY]

For our Valentine’s Day session, we chose a selection of whiskies backed up by stories of passion – drams that wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for someone really pushing them to be made. These are the drams.

Kingsbarns Dream to Dram (46% abv) [BUY]

Teeling Single Pot Still Batch 1 (46% abv) [BUY]

Glenmorangie Allta Private Edition No. 10 (51.2% abv) [BUY]

Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2009 (50% abv)

Dingle Triple Distilled Batch 3 (46.5% abv) [BUY]

The London Distillery Company 109 Casks #109 (63.3% abv)

An evening of whisky, cookies and talking rubbish – an almost perfect Whisky Squad. Add in loads more whisky than usual, no formal tasting and £1000 raised for charity, and we got a successful end to 2019. Top work all involved.

Another instalment of our semi-annual high-end session, with big-ticket whiskies all tasted blind. This time saw something rather special – the earliest vintage whisky tasted at Whisky Squad. Well, the earliest stated vintage anyway: 1962.

North British 1962 The Last Fetish (46% abv)

Balblair 1991 Third Release (46% abv)

Jameson 18yo Bow Street Edition (55.4% abv)

Bowmore 1998 Exclusive to The Whisky Exchange (48.8% abv)

Cladach (57.1% abv)

Mortlach 1976 Gordon & MacPhail (43% abv)

With summer madness in full swing at both Elise and Billy’s offices, it was time for a less elaborate session – a selection of tasty new releases.

Bladnoch 10yo (46.7% abv)

Daftmill 2006 Summer Batch Release (46% abv)

Give ‘n’ Tell 25yo (51.4% abv) [BUY]

GlenAllachie 18yo (46% abv) [BUY]

Method and Madness Single Pot Still finished in virgin Hungarian oak (46% abv) [BUY]

Port Charlotte 10yo (50% abv) [BUY]

Billy visits distilleries quite often and, good boy that he is, he usually picks up something for the Squad. In this session, we drank a load of them. They were nice.

Slane Distillery Blend (45% abv)

Strathisla 15yo Batch 2 Distillery Only (55.9% abv)

Benromach 2010 Cask #280 Distillery Exclusive (61% abv)

Glen Scotia 2005 Cask No.818 (Distillery only) (58.2% abv)

Glen Moray 2011 Peated Port Distillery Selection (55.6% abv)

Springbank 2006 11yo Refill Butt (Cage bottling) (58.1% abv)

Laphroaig Cairdeas Fino Cask Finish (51.8% abv)

This was meant to be our January session, but nevertheless we celebrated the turning of another year with a selection of new(ish) drams from new(ish) distilleries.

Strathearn Triple Distilled New-Make (53.5% abv)

Macaloney Mac Na Braiche (50% abv)

Milk & Honey Young Single Malt Cask #036 & #037 (46% abv)

Spirit of Yorkshire 001 (46% abv) [BUY]

Cotswolds Inaugural (46% abv)

Kilkerran 12yo (46% abv) [BUY]

Wolfburn Northland (46% abv) [BUY]

Continuing last month’s theme, this time it was Billy’s turn to choose some drams.

Longrow 2001 Chardonnay Finish (2008) (aka Longrow White) (56% abv)

Laphroaig 10yo (bottled 1990s) (43% abv)

Tomatin 1978 25yo (40% abv)

Balcones Texas Single Malt (53% abv) [BUY]

Starward Anniversary (52% abv) [BUY]

Bowmore Black Rock (40% abv) [BUY]

We love whisky at Whisky Squad (obvs), so decided just to do some sessions with whiskies that we love. First up: Elise.

Compass Box No Name (48.9% abv) [BUY]

Teeling/DOT Brew Collaboration (60.7% abv)

OOLA Waitsburg Bourbon (47% abv) [BUY]

Highland Park Full Volume (47.2% abv) [BUY]

Bushmills Distillery Reserve (40% abv)

Peat Monster 10th Anniversary Cask Strength (Park Ave Liquors) (54.7% abv)

An evening of almost empty bottles, Christmas treats and talking rubbish – we raised more than £600 for Shelter and Macmillan!

Back by popular demand for a third time, a session of high-end drams that we wouldn’t normally be able to afford.

Aberfeldy 28yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Littlemill 1985 (Gordon & MacPhail Rare Old) (46% abv) [BUY]

Midleton Dair Gaelach Tree 9 (58.2% abv) [BUY]

Collectivum XVIII (57.3% abv) [BUY]

Talisker 25yo (bottled 2013) (45.8% abv) [BUY]

Inchmoan 1992 (48.6% abv) [BUY]

Billy and Elise both judge whisky competitions and decided that the Squad should too – six drams that one medals in recent competitions, presented blind for us to decide which should have won.

Aultmore 18 Year Old (46% abv) [BUY]

Glenfiddich Reserve Cask (40% abv) [BUY]

The Golden Age Blend (44.3% abv) [BUY]

Reference Series III.2 (47.5% abv)

Scapa Skiren (40% abv) [BUY]

Bunnahabhain Toiteach A Dha (46.3% abv) [BUY]

People seem to like sherry-cask-matured whisky, so we dug into the Squad stash and sourced a bunch of heavily sherried silliness.

Macallan Edition No.2 (48.2% abv) [BUY]

Tamdhu 10 Limited Edition (46% abv) [BUY]

Springbank 12 Cask Strength January 2017 (54.2% abv)

Glentauchers 1997 (50% abv)

Balblair 1999 (exclusive to The Whisky Exchange) (51.9% abv) [BUY]

Glenlivet 2007 (exclusive to The Whisky Exchange) (67.1% abv) [BUY]

Six bottles selected by Elise, picked up on her recent travels around North American – everything from farm-produced bourbon to celebrity-made rye.

Aged Rye Whiskey (48.2% abv)

Wayne Gretzky No. 99 Red Cask No 99 Red Cask

Legs Diamond Rye Whiskey (40% abv)

American Single Malt (46% abv)

Flaming Lips (40% abv)

FEW Single Barrel Bourbon (50.5% abv)

Billy went to Islay, and all he got us was six bottles of whisky released specially for the 2017 Islay festival of Music and Malt.

Finlaggan Feis Ile 2017 Port Wood Finish Cask Strength (55% abv)

Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2017 Moine Port Pipe Finish (55.6% abv)

Caol Ila Feis Ile 2017 12yo (55.8% abv)

Lagavulin Feis Ile 2017 16yo (56.1% abv)

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2017 Cask Strength Quarter Cask (57.2% abv)

Kilchoman Feis Ile 2017 100% Islay (58% abv)

Whisky. On a train. It took a couple of years of discussions, but finally it all came together.

We had six whiskies while nipping back and forth between North Weald and Ongar stations on the Epping and Ongar Heritage railway. With help from Squad veteran and E&OR booze master Alan Perryman, and train and whisky geek Rocky Lancer, we tried six train-themed whiskies while munching on a spread of Scottish-inspired snacks (thanks Alex!).

Togouchi 12yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Glen Keith 1996 Distiller’s Art (48% abv) [BUY]

Cragganmore 2004 Distillers Edition (40% abv) [BUY]

Craigellachie 1995 The First Editions (54.4% abv) [BUY]

AnCnoc 2001 (43% abv) [BUY]

Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength Batch 009 (58.1% abv)

An evening of drams from travel retail, acquired by international jet-setter, Whisky Squad organiser and winner of the unofficial ‘best presenter at Whisky Squad’ award, Elise Craft.

Aultmore 21yo (46% abv)

Hazelwood 25yo (40% abv)

Craigellachie 19yo (46% abv)

Bruichladdich 8yo (50% abv)

Ardmore Tradition (46% abv)

Highland Park Leif Eriksson (40% abv)

Dave Worthington, That Boutique-y Whisky Company brand ambassador and owner of the second best beard in whisky, joined us for an evening of small batch boutique drams. The theme: these were all drams that normally appear as part of the world’s biggest blends.

Cambus Batch #2 24yo (49.7% abv)

Tullibardine Batch #3 26yo (49.2% abv)

Caledonian Batch #2 29yo (47.7% abv)

Glen Elgin Batch #1 25yo (48.1% abv)

Port Dundas Batch #1 25yo (48.2% abv)

Glenrothes Batch #3 25yo (49.7% abv)

Seven years old. That’s quite scary. We pulled together a team of squad regulars to choose and present a dram inspired by Whisky Squad.

SMWS G1.5 – Could Pacify a Mob (63.9% abv)

Arran 1996 19yo TWE Exclusive (45.9% abv) [BUY]

Glen Scotia Victoriana (51.5% abv) [BUY]

FEW Miscreant (46.5% abv)

Authentic Whisky Alsace Fut de Riesling (43% abv)

The second part of our high-end tasting – the same six drams but a whole room full of new people to try them.

Compass Box Three Year Old Deluxe (49.2% abv) [BUY]

Highland Park Ice (53.9% abv) [BUY]

Linkwood 25yo Gordon & MacPhail (43% abv) [BUY]

Emerald Isle 1991 Cask #8507 (52.6% abv) [BUY]

Bunnahabhain 1989 Cask #5750 Carn Mor (43.9% abv) [BUY]

Caol Ila 1983 Cask #5294 Signatory TWE Exclusive (48.1% abv) [BUY]

After the success of our last high-end tasting, we had to do another – six drams costing a bit more than we can normally afford. We even split it across a couple of sessions to maximise both the number of people who could try them and how much money we could spend. A great night.

Compass Box Three Year Old Deluxe (49.2% abv) [BUY]

Highland Park Ice (53.9% abv) [BUY]

Linkwood 25yo Gordon & MacPhail (43% abv) [BUY]

Emerald Isle 1991 Cask #8507 (52.6% abv) [BUY]

Bunnahabhain 1989 Cask #5750 Carn Mor (43.9% abv) [BUY]

Caol Ila 1983 Cask #5294 Signatory TWE Exclusive (48.1% abv) [BUY]

Two very different countries and two very different distilleries – Stef Holt brought along three pairs of drams to examine how Taiwan and India produce their whiskies.

Elise had her hat with a dead bird on and Billy was wearing a stealth kilt – it was Burns Night. We hid at the top of The Ship and enjoyed some splendid drams, along with haggis, neeps and tatties, cock-a-leekie soup, cranachan and a decadent pine nut tart that Elise is still promising to reveal the recipe of soon. And there were haggis pork scratchings, but we don’t want to talk about them…

Old Pulteney 17yo (46% abv) [BUY]

Talisker 2003 Distillers Edition (Bottled 2014) (45.8% abv) [BUY]

Glenfarclas 21yo (43% abv) [BUY]

Macallan 10yo Fine Oak (40% abv) [BUY]

Port Askaig 19yo (50.4% abv) [BUY]

Our traditional year ending Christmas session. Everyone brought a bottle, there was raffling and all the proceeds went to charity – £250 for Shelter.

Aberlour 10yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Penderyn Madeira Finish (46% abv)

SMWS 128.6 – Rumbling, reverberating, resonances (59.9% abv)

Old Pulteney Lighthouse Collection – Duncansby Head (46% abv) [BUY]

Balvenie Doublewood 12yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Strathclyde 2005 (Old Particular) (50.9% abv) [BUY]

English Whisky Single Grain ?

Redbreast Mano a Lamh (46% abv) [BUY]

Potter 26yo (Cadenhead) (58.3% abv)

Clynelish 1997 Cask #6467 (Boisdale) (46% abv)

Royal Lochnagar 10yo Manager’s Dram (57.2% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 73.76 – Spice Apple Tea (60.4% abv)

SMWS 53.235 – Smoke and Mirrors (51.3% abv)

Bowmore Feis Ile 2014 (56.1% abv)

Ardbeg Uigeadail (54.2% abv) [BUY]

Caol Ila 2004 (Gordon & MacPhail for Soho Whisky Club) (58.9% abv)

Laphroaig PX (48% abv) [BUY]

An evening of whisky and food pairing with Mariella Romano from Speciality Drinks! We matched up a bunch of great drams from the Elements of Islay range with doughnuts from Crosstown.

Br6 (Elements of Islay) (50.4% abv) [BUY]

Ma1 (Elements of Islay) (54.2% abv) [BUY]

Bw6 (Elements of Islay) (55.2% abv) [BUY]

Oc3 (Elements of Islay) (60.3% abv) [BUY]

Pl4 (Elements of Islay) (61.2% abv)

Lp4 (Elements of Islay) (54.8% abv) [BUY]

No whisky list this month, as we brought along loads of bottle ends and other bits and pieces – everyone chipped in £20, drank loads of whisky and the proceeds all went to charity. We raised £600!

Full details here.

We upped the ticket price, went on a whisky hunt and came back with £1000 of whisky to taste. Not a bad evening’s drinking…

Glenmorangie Milsean (46% abv) [BUY]

Mannochmore 25yo Special Releases 2016 (53.4% abv) [BUY]

Cutty Sark Tam O’Shanter (46.5% abv) [BUY]

Lock, Stock and Barrel 13yo (50.65% abv)

Talisker Neist Point (45.8% abv)

Laphroaig 1996 Masterpieces (50.6% abv)

Another three drams from the past and their most up to date equivalents. How have things changed over the years – for the better or worse..?

Spoiler alert: a bit of both.

Teacher’s (40% abv)

Teacher’s (1970s) (40% abv)

Dalmore 12yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Dalmore 12yo (1990s) (43% abv)

Peat Monster (46% abv) [BUY]

Peat Monster (1st Edition) (46% abv)

Picnic recipes and pairings are all here for you to make at home.

Bulleit ’95’ Rye (45% abv) [BUY]

Longrow Peated (46% abv) [BUY]

Dalmore 15yo (40% abv)

Aberlour 16yo Double Cask (43% abv) [BUY]

Wild Turkey Russell’s Reserve 10yo 45% [BUY]

Smooth Ambler Old Scout Rye 7yo 49.5% [BUY]

A session that disappeared…

We were joined by Chris Hoban of Raasay and Borders Distillers, to hear tales of distilleries to come and try a few independently bottled drams. Full details of the evening are here.

R&B Raasay While We Wait First Release (46% abv)

R&B Borders Single Grain First Release 51.7%

The Tweeddale Blend Batch 5 (46% abv) [BUY]

Montechiari Cabernet (13.5% abv) [BUY]

R&B Borders Coffey Malt Sample ?%

R&B Borders Coffey Wheat Sample ?%

Back by popular demand, we went around the world to find weird and wonderful whiskies that are not available to purchase in the UK. From a Scottish blend matured in Japanese oak casks to whisky from the newest distiller in Taiwan, not yet available outside of the country, it was a whistlestop tour of some of the most exciting spirits available today.

Thanks to squad regulars Ed and Rob, who brought along some extra bottles to try – New Zealand’s Oamaruvian and a special edition Armorik.

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Chivas Regal Mizunara (40% abv)

Three Ships Bourbon Cask Finish (43% abv)

Lot 40 (43% abv)

Swiss Highland Ice Label 2009 Edition (59.1% abv)

Nantou Omar Bourbon Type (46% abv)

Nantou Omar Sherry Type (46% abv)

Across the sea to Mexico and not a whisky in sight. This was an evening of exploration, looking at the wonderful world of agave spirits – there’s much more to them than bottles of dodgy Tequila. We tried Tequila, mezcal and the little known raicilla, led through them by Tom Bartram from Speciality Brands.

You can read all about it in the news section.

Tapatio Blanco (40% abv) [BUY]

Ilegal Joven (40% abv) [BUY]

Real Minero Barril (49.9% abv)

Derrumbes San Luis Potosi (43.5% abv) [BUY]

Derrumbes Michoacan (46% abv) [BUY]

La Venenosa Sur (47% abv) [BUY]

Another turning of the tables – the attendees emailed in suggestions, we picked six and then challenged everyone to guess if their whisky had been chosen. An excellent evening with some great drams and fabulous prizes!

Chivas Regal 18yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Kavalan Classic (40% abv) [BUY]

Mortlach Rare Old (43.4% abv) [BUY]

Ailsa Bay (2016) (48.9% abv) [BUY]

Lagavulin 8yo (48% abv) [BUY]

Lagavulin 16yo (43% abv) [BUY]

An evening of nice whiskies. No frills, no fuss, just tasty drams.

Johnnie Walker Green Label (43% abv) [BUY]

Cardhu 12yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Ardmore 12yo Port Wood Finish (46% abv) [BUY]

Glen Garioch 1999 (56.3% abv) [BUY]

Ardbeg Corryvreckan (57.1% abv) [BUY]

Lagavulin Distillers Edition 1998 (43% abv) [BUY]

Now we are 6!! To celebrate, our three intrepid hosts go head-to-head-to-head to compete for the Whisky Squad cup. This year in a first, Billy took the crown, with Elise and Joel coming along in a close heat!

Nikka Taketsuru 43% [BUY]

SMWS G7.8 Sweet Seduction in a Car Wash 59.5% [BUY]

Benromach 15yo 43% [BUY]

Starward 43% [BUY]

Clynelish 1995 17yo Sherry Cask 56.2% [BUY]

Edradour Ballechin 10 yo 46% [BUY]

St Patrick’s Day was an excellent excuse to share some of the fantastic spirits distilled on the Emerald Isle, and they certainly didn’t disappoint.  A very special Whisk(e)y Squad with a few recent releases and some old favourites!

Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition 40% [BUY]

Glendalough Poitin Sherry Cask 40% [BUY]

Jack Ryan Beggars Bush 46% [BUY]

Tullamore Dew 15 yo 40% [BUY]

Green Spot Chateau Léoville Barton 46% [BUY]

Teeling Revival 46% [BUY]

It was that time of the year again, where we celebrate our smashing Whisky Squad colleague Billy by drinking his whisky.

Glenlivet 18yo Cask Strength (1978) 60.2%

Canadian Club Small Batch Sherry Cask 41.3% [BUY]

Inchmurrin 12 yo 46% [BUY]

Springbank Local Barley 16yo 54.3% [BUY]

Laphroaig 18yo 48% [BUY]

Ledaig 7yo Sherry Cask 59.4% [BUY]

In his second appearance, Whisky Don Enrico Gaddoni looked back to his homeland for inspiration, and brought with him a range of whiskies bottled specially for the Italian market. Six great whiskies from six different independent bottlers whose releases rarely make it back to the UK.

In his now traditional January visit, Berry Bros’s Rob Whitehead yet again brought us along a bundle of brilliant bottles, some of which had arrived only hours before at the company’s venerable London store.

Littlemill 1992 (Berry’s Own Selection) Cask 10 54.9% [BUY]

Strathmill 1991 (Berry’s Own Selection) Cask 2447 46% [BUY]

Strathcylde 1988 (Berry’s Own Selection) Cask 62188 53% [BUY]

Speyburn 1988 (Berry’s Own Selection) Cask 2114 52.3% [BUY]

Glen Garioch 1993 (Berry’s Own Selection) Cask 781 57% [BUY]

J. Nismes-Delclou 1937 Armagnac 40% [BUY]

Celebrating her birthday a few weeks early, Squadlateer Elise brought along a few Scottish whiskies as well as a selection from her native Canada – including Jim Murray’s whisky of the year, Crown Royal Northern Harvest rye – and some food pairings.

Arran Robert Burns (43% abv) [BUY]

Alberta Premium Dark Horse (45% abv)

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye (40% abv)

Crown Royal Black (45% abv)

Ridgemont Reserve 1792 (46.85% abv) [BUY]

Springbank 1997 Sherry Wood (52.3% abv) [BUY]

Chichibu 2009 The Floor Malted (50.5% abv) [BUY]

Our annual charity ‘bring a bottle’ session raised over £200 for Shelter! Along with the money collected for tickets, we also (donated by Nigel of Sassenach’s Dram) had a raffle for a bottle of whisky. Good work, team.

Celebrating moustache growing and fund-raising for men’s health, we had an evening drams and matched moustaches. The links may have been tenuous, but the whisky was definitely connected to quality.

Glen Garioch 8yo Bottled 1980s (43% abv)

Great Odin’s Raven – Ron Burgundy Blended Whisky (40% abv)

Dimple Bottled 1960s (40% abv)

Evan Williams Single Barrel 2004 (43.3% abv) [BUY]

Lg5 (Elements of Islay) 54.8% [BUY]

On Bonfire Night, 2015, it was only right to explore the smokey, the firey and the rebellious. We tasted six whiskies that all showed some peat influence.

Longrow Peated (46% abv) [BUY]

Penderyn Peated (46% abv) [BUY]

Blue Hanger (6th Release) (45.6% abv) [BUY]

Kings County Peated Bourbon (45% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 66.73 – “Midnight feast at pony club camp” (61% abv) [BUY]

Kilchoman 2011 Madeira Cask (50% abv) [BUY]

Whisky’s getting expensive, but there are still great bargains out there – they’re not all cheap, but they are great value. We scoured the shelves and found six drams that fit the bill.

Benromach 5yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Evan Williams Single Barrel 2004 (43.3% abv) [BUY]

Yamazaki Distiller’s Reserve (43% abv) [BUY]

Singleton of Dufftown Tailfire (40% abv) [BUY]

Springbank 1992 7yo Da Mhile (58% abv)

Finlaggan Cask Strength (58% abv) [BUY]

Fortunately, we’ve been planning ahead at Whisky Squad and despite the rising cost of sherry-cask-matured whisky, we’ve had a few bottles squirreled away for a rainy day. Billy and Elise dusted off a few gems from the archives, as well as some more recent releases, for a night of sherried whisky madeness.

Billy yet again dug into his cupboard and brought out some old bottles and their nearest, recently-released equivalents. This time, it was really hard to guess which was which…

Bruichladdich “The Laddie 10” (46% abv) [BUY]

Bruichladdich 10yo (Bottled 1990s. White and blue label) (40% abv)

Chivas Regal 12yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Chivas Regal 12yo (Bot.1980s) (43% abv)

Talisker 1993 Distillers Edition (Bottled 2007) (45.8% abv)

Talisker 2003 Distillers Edition (Bottled 2014) (45.8% abv) [BUY]

A session with several names, as the British weather’s penchant for change meant that from moment to moment we didn’t know what things were going to be like. In the end, we had a muggy night and an indoor feast of whisky, cocktails and food. From Scottish sushi to ribs and slaw, with a Manhattan that turned into a Boulevardier as its Campari ice cube melted, it was an excellent evening of drinks and more.

Singleton of Glendullan 12yo (40% abv)

Great King Street – The Artist’s Blend (Compass Box) (43% abv) [BUY]

Basil Hayden’s Bourbon (40% abv) [BUY]

Old Scout 10yo Bourbon 49.5% [BUY]

Templeton Rye 40% [BUY]

Booker’s Bourbon (65.3% abv) [BUY]

Long ago, in days of yore, it all began with a town call Campbeltown. Packed with distilleries and firing out whisky in all directions, it was the centre of spirit production in Scotland. However, a series of unfortunate events, from Prohibition to the quality of the whisky dropping to the point on undrinkablility, led to the folding of almost every distillery and the rise of the rest of the country.

However, there are still a handful of distilleries operating and they are still a region all of their own. In this session, Joel dug into the drams that are still flowing from Campbeltown.

Glen Scotia 12yo (46% abv) [BUY]

Kilkerran Work in Progress 7 Bourbon Cask (54.1% abv) [BUY]

Hazelburn 10yo 2003 Rundlets and Kilderkins (50.1% abv)

Springbank 18yo 1996 (Cask Sample) (54.8% abv)

Campbeltown Blended Malt (Cadenheads London Fill Your Own Cask) (59% abv) [BUY]

Longrow 11yo 2003 (Cask Sample) ?

Rather than us choosing the whiskies, this time you did! All the attendees sent us some ideas, Joel picked a few and then we drank them. As usual, we tasted everything blind, so challenged everyone to pick out their dram – a surprisingly hard task.

Hibiki Japanese Harmony (43% abv) [BUY]

Glenburgie 20yo 1994 Chivas Brothers Cask Strength Edition (50% abv) [BUY]

Dry Fly Straight Triticale Whiskey (44% abv) [BUY]

Great King Street: Glasgow Blend (43% abv) [BUY]

Port Charlotte Scottish Barley Heavily Peated (50% abv) [BUY]

Benriach 17yo Septendecim (46% abv) [BUY]

An evening at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society with ambassador and Squad regular John McCheyne, looking at what different types of casks do to whiskies.

2015 was a big year for a number of distilleries on Islay – Laphroaig and Ardbeg’s 200th birthdays, Kilchoman’s 10th and what seems to be the actual retirement of Jim McEwan, recently Bruichladdich’s whisky genius, who started as a cooper at Bowmore over 40 years ago. Billy went to the island, grabbed some bottles and found a few more back home to help celebrate.

Bruichladdich Valinch 11: Raymond Tibbs (Cask #2 R10/177 1992 ACEd in Calvados Cask) 49.9%

Ardbeg Perpetuum 47.4% [BUY]

Laphroaig Cairdeas 200th Anniversary Edition 51.5%

Kilchoman 100% Islay 5th Edition 50% [BUY]

Port Charlotte Islay Barley 50% [BUY]

What is an island anyway? We decided to look at the influence of island climates on some of the whiskies of the world.

The Six Isles (43% abv) [BUY]

Scapa 16yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Bunnahabhain 20yo Pure Malt (40% abv) [BUY]

Tiger Snake Batch 3 (43% abv) [BUY]

Togouchi 12yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Yellow Spot 12yo (46% abv) [BUY]

Awards a fixture of the spirits world and whisky is no different. However, what happens behind the scenes when deciding which whisky wins is often shrouded in mystery and the results often surprise. Fortunately, the Whisky Squad crew have judged awards and threw open the curtain and explained the strange machinations that lead to whiskies getting prizes, and we had a selection of weird and wonderful drams to try.

Mellow Corn (50% abv) [BUY]

Highland Harvest Organic Sauternes Cask Finished (46% abv)

Aberfeldy 21yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Old Pulteney 21yo (46% abv) [BUY]

Benriach 12yo Sherry Wood (46% abv) [BUY]

Ledaig 8yo (Dramboree 2014) (58.8% abv)

It seemed only fair that if the Squad management team went to Scotland, picking up some tasty treats while there, that they share the spoils with the gang. So that’s what Billy and Joel did. Six drams, picked up while roaming from Dornoch to Edinburgh, all a bit special.

Singleton of Glen Ord 15yo (40% abv)

Tomatin 2003 Bourbon Cask #1903 (Distillery Only) (56% abv)

Tomatin 2002 Sherry Cask #2036 (Distillery Only) (57.1% abv)

Wemyss “Waves of Pepper” (Clynelish 1997) (Kingsbarns Exclusive) (46% abv)

Benriach 1999 PX Finish Cask #10285 (Distillery Exclusive) (54.1% abv)

Caol Ila 2004 Cask #306480 (Gordon & MacPhail for Whisky Shop Dufftown) (60.3% abv)

Celebrating 5 years of Whisky Squad we elected to have a party rather than a regular tasting, but it wouldn’t be Whisky Squad without whisky – so we had some.

Huge thanks again must go to Jeff and the crew at The Finborough Arms for hosting us both on this night, and over the last 5 years.

Glen Ord 20yo (Bladnoch Forum) (54.4% abv)

Arran 18yo (46% abv) [BUY]

The Lost Distilleries Blend Batch 6 (49.3% abv) [BUY]

Over the five years of Whisky Squad’s existence, we’ve almost always tried whiskies blind, to ensure that no preconceptions cloud the tasters judgement. This has had a strange side-effect: Squadlateers are pretty good at guessing a whisky from its nose and palate. This time, we decided to go for drams that noone would guess, and we did pretty well.

Glen Grant 1978 (40% abv)

Invergordon 2006 7yo (Whisky Broker) 50%

Redbreast Mano a Lamh (46% abv) [BUY]

Bunnahabhain 2005 (MacPhail’s Collection) (43% abv) [BUY]

Yoichi 10yo (45% abv) [BUY]

Millstone 2004 Cask #667 (Whisky Exchange Exclusive) (58.6% abv) [BUY]

Macallan 15yo Fine Oak (43% abv) [BUY]

Caol Ila 2004 Sherry Cask #306655 (Gordon & MacPhail for The Whisky Exchange) 58.5% [BUY]

Kilkerran Work in Progress 6 Bourbon Cask 46%

Old Scout 10yo Bourbon 49.5% [BUY]

FEW Rye 46.5% [BUY]

Templeton Rye 40% [BUY]

Squad inmate Billy Abbott presented a number of whiskies that show off his goto flavours when writing tasting notes: the sweets of his childhood.

Cardhu Gold Reserve 40%

Balblair 2003 40%

Teeling Single Malt 46%

Sullivan’s Cove Double Cask (American and French Oak) (40% abv) [BUY]

Talisker Port Ruighe 45.8%

Edradour 2006 Oloroso Sherry Cask #240 59.2%

Rob Whitehead – Senior Spirits Salesman of world-renowned wine and spirit merchants Berry Brothers & Rudd – led us through a mystery selection of malts under the banner “Class of ’97”.  They turned out to be quite closely related, but gave a magnificent insight into the variance of single-cask whisky.  Every dram a contentious but tasty one!

Clynelish 1997 Cask #4706 (Berry’s Own Selection) (56.8% abv)

Clynelish 1997 Cask #4704 (Boisdale) (46% abv)

Clynelish 1997 Cask #6470 (Berry’s Own Selection) (46% abv)

Clynelish 1997 Cask #6868 (Berry’s Own Selection) (46% abv)

Clynelish 1996 (Berry’s Own Selection) Cask 6424 (46% abv) [BUY]

Bunnahabhain 1997 (Berry’s Own Selection) (56.1% abv)

Jura 1976 (Berry’s Own Selection) (53.5% abv)

For the 5th time now we gathered in the pre-Christmas darkness for the festival of taste explosion that is Whisky Surprise.

Using “festival pours” (i.e. 10mL measures) in order to ensure that the experience remained a tasting one rather than anything more overtly festive, we tasted the whiskies which each of the 19 attendees contributed.

Of particular note was the fact that this also marked the 100th tasting of the Whisky Squad!

(I hope you appreciate how long this took to enter into the system)

Hellyer’s Road “Original” (46.2% abv) [BUY]

Haig Club (40% abv) [BUY]

WhistlePig 10yo Straight Rye Whiskey (50% abv) [BUY]

Mortlach 10yo 2004 (Provenance) (46% abv) [BUY]

Bowmore Black Rock (40% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 10.80 – “Unmistakably Sea-shoreish” (61.2% abv) [BUY]

Orbis Aged World Whiskey (40% abv) [BUY]

Longrow “Tasting Room” (Cadenheads) (48% abv)

Yoichi 10yo (45% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 132.1 – “Secret Moonlit Garden Dram” (59.9% abv) [BUY]

Caol Ila 2013 Feis Ile (56.5% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 127.39 – “Intensely Tasty” (66.7% abv)

Aberlour 10yo Private Bottling for KT (40% abv)

SMWS 93.62 – “Ciao Bella and the Blacksmith” (61.2% abv) [BUY]

Caol Ila 1996 Distillers Edition (43% abv)

Clynelish 15yo (Drambusters) (56.6% abv)

Glenfarclas 18yo (43% abv)

Glen Keith 10yo (43% abv) [BUY]

Springbank 9yo Gaia Barolo Finish (54.7% abv) [BUY]

Our special guests Tim of the Coffeesmith’s Collective and Phil from Tate Coffee taught us a few interesting things about coffee production, tasting, and flavour – and then we were treated to some whisky, food and coffee flavour combinations assembled by Tim and Billy.

Yamazaki 12yo (43% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 9.83 – Tiger Balm, Limoncello and scented candles (56.5% abv) [BUY]

Ardbeg Uigeadail (54.2% abv) [BUY]

Laphroaig Quarter Cask (48% abv) [BUY]

London is home to some absolutely great specialty whisky shops – and the one which really started them all off back in the 1960s is Milroys of Soho.  We were delighted to visit this wonderful gem of the whisky scene and taste a selection of quality drams, included some of their own independent bottlings.

We know that blenders blend whiskies together to create a complex mix of flavours – but how can we find out what the practical effect of tweaking the levers is?

The creative geniuses over at Maverick Drinks have come up with a way of illustrating it in a lovely, tasteable package with The Reference Series.  A collection of 3 blended malt whiskies (cunningly titled I, II, and III) both made with the same ingredients (A young & vibrant blended malt, an older and more complex & spicy blended malt, an old single malt, and a very old single malt indeed) in different proportions.

They then took the base blend and “altered” them variously, such as adding 10% peaty Islay whisky to the mix, or ageing the mixture in a sherry cask for a while, and there are other tweaks as allowed under Scotch whisky rules so that the keen taster can see what the effect on the overall flavour might be for a certain character of spirit.  Fascinating stuff!

Reference Series I (47.5% abv) [BUY]

Reference Series II (47.5% abv) [BUY]

Reference Series III (47.5% abv) [BUY]

Reference Series II.1 (47.5% abv) [BUY]

Reference Series II.2 (47.4% abv) [BUY]

Reference Series II.3 (47.2% abv) [BUY]

As a whisky tasting group we generally seem interested/preoccupied with the idea of purity and unadjusted flavour.  Ignoring momentarily when we add water…

The modern cocktail scene makes great use of nuanced addition of different flavour ingredients for light & shade, and creating complex and complementary drinks.

In this session we explore the idea of mixing whisk(e)y with a few of the world’s more popular mixers, and the wondrous flavour combinations than can be achieved.  For further information on this, the excellent book Whisky: The Manual by Dave Broom.

The combinations we tried were:

• Canadian Club mixed first with Fever Tree Ginger Ale, and then with Mr Kon Green Tea (both 1:2)
• Johnnie Walker Black Label with Fever Tree Ginger Ale, and then with Coconut Water (both 1:2)
• Kilchoman Machir Bay with Soda Water, and then with Coconut Water (both 1:2)
• Lagavulin 16 with Coca Cola (1:1)

Canadian Club (40% abv) [BUY]

Johnnie Walker Black Label (40% abv) [BUY]

Kilchoman Machir Bay (46% abv) [BUY]

Lagavulin 16yo (43% abv) [BUY]

Rob from Berry Brothers & Rudd showed us some of the delights to be had from 2nd fill bourbon casks, with his stellar selection of single cask Berry’s Own Selection bottlings – all selected by BB&R’s spirits master, Doug McIvor.

Blair Athol 1991 (Berry’s Own Selection) Cask 7279 (46% abv) [BUY]

Tomatin 1994 (Berry’s Own Selection) Cask 6393 (51% abv) [BUY]

Clynelish 1996 (Berry’s Own Selection) Cask 6424 (46% abv) [BUY]

Auchentoshan 1984 (Berry’s Own Selection) Cask 4475 (46% abv) [BUY]

Bunnahabhain 1989 (Berry’s Own Selection) Cask 5716 (42.9% abv) [BUY]

Bunnahabhain 2007 (Berry’s Own Selection) Cask 800089 (peated) (57.7% abv) [BUY]

Amrut Peated Port Pipe Cask 2713 (59% abv) [BUY]

Strathclyde 1989 46%

Scapa 16yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Lochside 1981 Bot.2011 46%

Aberfeldy 18yo 40%

Royal Lochnagar Triple Matured FOCM 48%

Kininvie 1996 17yo Batch #1 42.6%

An evening with Teeling brand ambassador Sam Macdonald, investigating the delights of the family’s new venture.

Teeling Poitin (61.5% abv) [BUY]

Celtic Cask Trí Irish 10yo 2001 (46% abv)

Teeling Irish Single Grain Whiskey (46% abv) [BUY]

Powers Signature Release (46% abv) [BUY]

Teeling Small Batch (46% abv) [BUY]

Teeling Vintage Reserve 21yo 1991 (46% abv) [BUY]

Elise and Joel prepared a brace of interesting and diverse whiskies geared up especially with summer in mind.  It was therefore a shame when Autumn decided to arrive more or less the morning of the tasting, but it was a great selection and a departure from the stereotypical “summer whisky = light and floral” mentality.

Glenlivet 18yo (43% abv) [BUY]

Mackmyra Special 06 (“Summer Meadow” – Summer 2011) (46.8% abv) [BUY]

Cragganmore 12yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Balblair 1999 (2nd Release) (46% abv) [BUY]

SMWS G7.6 – “Like summer” (57.7% abv) [BUY]

High West Whiskey – Campfire (Batch X0-2) (46% abv) [BUY]

Billy Abbott and Jason B. Standing showed off some whiskies from the extensive range from the not-very-peaty Islay favourite, Bruichladdich.  Drawing from the Whyte & Mackay days, the Progressive Hebridean Distillers phase of 2000-2012, and featuring a couple of whiskies from the present day lineup, we see just how versatile, innovative and above all tasty whisky can be from this little Victorian-age distillery.

Bruichladdich “The Laddie 10” (46% abv) [BUY]

Bruichladdich 10yo (1980s – white label) (40% abv)

Bruichladdich 21yo 1991 (Berry’s Own Selection) Cask 2998 (51.6% abv) [BUY]

Bruichladdich 18yo 2nd Edition (46% abv) [BUY]

Bruichladdich X4+3 (Quadruple distilled) (63.5% abv) [BUY]

Octomore 2yo Spirit (66% abv)

Port Charlotte Scottish Barley Heavily Peated (50% abv) [BUY]

Scotch Malt Whisky Society ambassador John McCheyne took us through 3 pairs of single casks, with each pair coming from the same distillery (2 pairs having been distilled on the same day as each other) – highlighting what flavour differences the cask can impart, and yet how much underlying character comes directly from the distiller’s spirit character.

And then they threw a random fruity Miltonduff in at the end, because they’re just wonderful people.

SMWS 26.96 – Le Trou Normand? (61.4% abv)

SMWS 26.98 – Lively as an electric acrobat (60.5% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 9.82 – Breathe in long! (52.1% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 9.83 – Tiger Balm, Limoncello and scented candles (56.5% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 53.178 – A pebble beach with iodine (55.8% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 53.184 – Fairground on the beach (60.4% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 72.30 – Fruit, fruit, fruit! (49.9% abv) [BUY]

Joel dials up another brace of drams for the peatfreaks and smoke enthusiasts, in this session addressing a side of the whisky landscape that we sometimes don’t end up tasting as much from as we should.  And it’s an important point that Islay’s not the only region with peat about…

Laphroaig Select (40% abv) [BUY]

Tomatin Cu Bocan (46% abv) [BUY]

Glen Grant 22yo 1992 (Single Malts of Scotland) Cask #35936 (57.8% abv) [BUY]

Port Charlotte Scottish Barley Heavily Peated (50% abv) [BUY]

Kilchoman Loch Gorm (2014 Edition) (46% abv) [BUY]

Canadian whiskey being a topic we collectively knew very little at all about, it seemed apposite to enlist the expertise of our very own Canadian whisky enthusiast Elise to take us through a selection of whiskies to show off just what’s going on up there, and that it’s a scene with multiple facets – all worth exploring.

Canadian Club Classic 12yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Forty Creek Barrel Select (40% abv)

Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve (40% abv)

WhistlePig 10yo Straight Rye Whiskey (50% abv) [BUY]

Masterson’s 10yo Straight Rye Whiskey (45% abv)

Collingwood 21yo Rye Canadian Whisky (40% abv)

Glen Breton Rare (43% abv)

Elise and Kirsty set to with a wondrous bunch of whisky and food pairings, truly showing that the result of a successful pairing is greater than the sum of its parts.

The pairings were:

• Yamazaki 12yo with miso soup
• Balvenie 12yo Doublewood with Camembert, onion and mushroom tartlets
• Jura 16yo with Creamed parsnip and sauteed scallop
• Blanton’s Gold Edition with pulled pork from Pitt Cue Co.
• Glenrothes 1995 with Lincolnshire Poachers cheese from Neal’s Yard Dairy
• Macallan 15yo Fine Oak with Rococo Chocolates’ salted chocolate toffee hazelnut praline

Yamazaki 12yo (43% abv) [BUY]

Balvenie Doublewood 12yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Jura 16 – The Diurach’s Own (40% abv) [BUY]

Blanton’s Gold Edition (51.5% abv) [BUY]

Glenrothes 1995 (43% abv) [BUY]

Macallan 15yo Fine Oak (43% abv) [BUY]

From a replica of a blend recipe from 1912 to a 12yo whisky bottled in the 1930s (so possibly distilled in the late 1910s!), Jason B. Standing tasted us through a selection of blended whiskies, talking about the history of blending and investigating some little-seen corners of the topic.

Jason B. Standing’s House Blend (100% abv)

Grant’s Stand Fast 2012 Replica (40% abv) [BUY]

Johnnie Walker Blue Label (40% abv) [BUY]

Matisse 12yo Blended Malt (40% abv) [BUY]

Johnnie Walker Premier (43% abv) [BUY]

Bellow’s “Partners’ Choice Liqueur” 12yo Blend (bottled 1930s) (43% abv) [BUY]

There are so many Independently Bottled whiskies on the market: we thought we’d taste a few from bottlers which hadn’t really been represented at the Squad before, as well as talking about how these whiskies differ from official distillery bottlings, and what an Indie bottler might be looking for when they choose a whisky.

Battlehill Imperial 9yo (Duncan Taylor) (43% abv)

Frisky Whisky Craigellachie 8yo (60.3% abv) [BUY]

Invergordon 26yo (The Whisky Broker) (51.4% abv) [BUY]

Tomintoul 2001 (Malts of Scotland) (53.9% abv)

Bunnahabhain 4yo (Creative Whisky Company) (45.3% abv)

Caol Ila 17yo 1991 Quart-de-Chaume finish (Murray McDavid) (46% abv) [BUY]

Many whisky enthusiasts recently have been talking about the increase in NAS (No Age Statement) releases from whisky companies.  We thought it might be fun to try some new ones, a couple of older ones, and discuss why a company might not want to put an age statement on the bottle – as with any facet of whisky, there’s a lot more to it than you might think!

Guestblogged by London Bar Scene!

Prime Blue (40% abv)

Hakushu Distiller’s Reserve (43% abv) [BUY]

Old Pulteney Lighthouse Collection – Duncansby Head (46% abv) [BUY]

Talisker 57 North (57% abv) [BUY]

AnCnoc Flaughter (46% abv) [BUY]

Glenmorangie Companta (46% abv) [BUY]

Following our now established format, 3 Whisky Squad presenters (in this case, Jason B. Standing, Billy “The Fishfrightener” Abbott, and Squad stalwart Davey Haste) each select 2 whiskies and present them to the group, and a vote at the end decides whose taste is best.  Which Jason won.  Again.

Crown Royal Canadian Whiskey (40% abv) [BUY]

Glenlivet 17yo Cask Strength (1996) (55.7% abv) [BUY]

Courage (Discovery Road) (46% abv) [BUY]

Amrut Fusion (50% abv) [BUY]

Glentauchers 1997 TWE Exclusive (Sherry Cask #5580) (54.3% abv) [BUY]

Bowmore Devil’s Casks 10yo (56.9% abv) [BUY]

Serial dustminer Enrico shared with us a selection of whisky bargains he’d found in obscure off-licences around the place, proving that there are still plenty of excellent bottles from years gone by to be found that don’t have to cost the earth.

Royal Salute 21yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Angus McKay Finest Selected Whisky (40% abv)

Glenlivet 12yo (75cl) (40% abv)

Highland Park 12yo (40% abv)

Ardbeg 10yo (46% abv) [BUY]

The Big Smoke 60 (Duncan Taylor) (60% abv) [BUY]

As a special birthday treat we let Billy run a tasting for us made up of whiskies that he’d want to have in a tasting that he would do for his birthday.

Ptarmigan 15yo (40% abv)

Knockando 1978 (46% abv)

Mortlach 15yo (G&M) (43% abv) [BUY]

Campbeltown Loch 25yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Kh1 (Elements of Islay) (59.7% abv) [BUY]

Morpheus (Compass Box) (46% abv) [BUY]

Ledaig 1997 Sherry Cask (TWE Exclusive by G&M) (56.8% abv) [BUY]

In Scotland it’s commonplace for whisky drinkers to enjoy a half a pint of beer alongside their dram, and as both are products of the barley plant we enlisted the help of the wonderful whisky, beer & flavour lovin’ Zoe to guide us through what works & what might not work when it comes to matching up the flavours of some different beers, whiskies, and nibbles.

Poit Dhubh 8yo (43% abv) [BUY]

Grant’s Ale Cask Reserve (40% abv) [BUY]

Knob Creek 9yo (50% abv) [BUY]

Ardbeg Uigeadail (54.2% abv) [BUY]

Top Out – Staple – Pale Ale (4% abv) [BUY]

Fullers ESB Champion Ale (5.5% abv)

Pressure Drop – Stokey Brown (5.1% abv) [BUY]

Pressure Drop – Freimann’s Dunkelweiss (4.8% abv) [BUY]

Grain whisky, whilst accounting for a humungous percentage of the volume of whisky consumed around the world as part of blends, is something that not many people experience in its own right – and who better to talk us through some of the very attractive aspects of grain than ravenous and noted grain whisky enthusiast, Phil?

Teeling Irish Single Grain Whiskey (46% abv) [BUY]

Port Dundas 20yo (2011 Special Releases) (57.4% abv) [BUY]

Nikka Coffey Grain (45% abv) [BUY]

Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky (43% abv) [BUY]

Girvan Patent Still 25yo (42% abv) [BUY]

SMWS G7.2 – Fascinating and Inspiring (60.3% abv) [BUY]

Whisky on the shelf now looks a lot different to how it looked 15 or 20 years ago. But does it taste any different?  Billy took us through a selection of old and new presentations of some commonly available whiskies, so we could see whether everything was better back in the old days. (Some were, some weren’t!)

Black Bottle (“old” recipe) (40% abv) [BUY]

Black Bottle (“new” recipe) (40% abv) [BUY]

Aberlour 12yo (43% abv) [BUY]

Aberlour 12yo (1980s bottle) (43% abv)

Bowmore Darkest (old presentation) (43% abv) [BUY]

Bowmore Darkest 15yo (43% abv) [BUY]

One of our favourite guest presenters – Mr Rob Whitehead of Berry Brothers and Rudd – underlined just how much your surroundings and environment play a huge part in the whisky tasting experience, as we tried 6 whiskies blind in 4 different rooms at the company’s august premises – and then revealed that we’d only tried 3 different whiskies.  Very, very interesting results.

Linkwood 1987 Cask #1043 (Berry’s Own Selection) (46% abv) [BUY]

North of Scotland 1973 Cask #14570 (Berry’s Own Selection) (46% abv) [BUY]

Bunnahabhain 1987 Cask #2448 (Berry’s Own Selection) (46% abv) [BUY]

Port Ellen 1982 Cask #2851 (Berry’s Own Selection) (55.6% abv) [BUY]

Bruichladdich Redder Still (50.4% abv)

Balblair 1995 Exclusive for The Whisky Shop At Dufftown (59.8% abv)

Glenrothes 18yo 1990 (Single Malts of Scotland) (46% abv)

Edradour 2003 Bourbon Cask (Signatory) (57.4% abv)

SMWS 29.37 – Seaside Funfair (57.6% abv) [BUY]

Longmorn 18yo Cask Strength (53.1% abv) [BUY]

Blue Hanger (6th Release) (45.6% abv) [BUY]

Longmorn 14yo 1997 (Berry’s Own Selection) (55.4% abv) [BUY]

Cutty Sark Blended Malt (40% abv) [BUY]

St Magdalene 26yo (Berry’s Own Selection) (47% abv)

House Of Lords Single Malt Scotch Whisky (40% abv)

Balblair Elements (40% abv)

Bruichladdich “The Laddie 10” (46% abv) [BUY]

Isle of Jura – Superstition (43% abv) [BUY]

Bunnahabhain 1997 – “John’s Peaty Dram” (51.5% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 129.3 – Unwind and set your watch to Islay time (60.2% abv) [BUY]

Penderyn Madeira Finish (46% abv)

Jason takes us through a selection of whiskies which we’d acquired over the last few years in the interests of putting them in a tasting, but hadn’t gotten around to actually putting into any tastings yet.

Allt-a-Bhainne (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) (49.2% abv) [BUY]

3D (Cask Strength and Carry On) (56.4% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 85.27 – Refreshing Elderflower Fizz (48.6% abv) [BUY]

Longrow Red (Shiraz finish) (53.7% abv) [BUY]

Great King Street: New York Blend (46% abv)

Ardbeg Galileo (49% abv)

Allt-a-Bhainne 21yo (Single Malts of Scotland) (50.2% abv) [BUY]

Balmenach 1998 (Signatory) (55.6% abv) [BUY]

Linkwood 16 (The Whisky Exchange) (48% abv) [BUY]

Clynelish 17yo (Signatory) (56.2% abv) [BUY]

Lp4 (Elements of Islay) (54.8% abv) [BUY]

Laphroaig 15yo (Signatory) (60.8% abv) [BUY]

Auchentoshan Virgin Oak (46% abv) [BUY]

Auchentoshan Valinch (2012 Release) (57.2% abv) [BUY]

Glen Garioch Virgin Oak (48% abv) [BUY]

Glen Garioch 1995 (55.3% abv) [BUY]

Bowmore 18yo (43% abv) [BUY]

Bowmore Tempest 10yo Batch 4 (55.1% abv) [BUY]

Bowmore 23yo 1989 Port Cask Matured 50/8 [BUY]

Bell’s Original (40% abv) [BUY]

Cassidy’s Irish Whiskey (40% abv)

Lochlan 8yo (40% abv)

Marks & Spencer 12yo Highland Single Malt (40% abv) [BUY]

Laphroaig 25yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Bowmore Small Batch Reserve – Bourbon Cask Matured (40% abv)

Chichibu Port Pipe 2009 (54.5% abv) [BUY]

Chichibu Chibidaru 2009 (53.5% abv) [BUY]

Chichibu 2009 The Floor Malted (50.5% abv) [BUY]

Karuizawa Spirit of Asama 48% (48% abv) [BUY]

Karuizawa Spirit of Asama 1999/2000 (60.5% abv)

Karuizawa 31yo Sherry Cask #3555 (60.6% abv) [BUY]

Karuizawa 29yo 1984 Sherry Cask #3663 (56.8% abv) [BUY]

Karuizawa 1981 Sherry Cask #6056 (60.3% abv) [BUY]

Singleton of Auchroisk 10yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Singleton of Dufftown 12yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Dufftown-Glenlivet 8yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Singleton of Glendullan 12yo (40% abv)

Singleton of Glen Ord 12yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Balvenie Triple Cask 16yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Jade Esprit Edouard Absinthe Verte (72% abv) [BUY]

Jade VS 1898 Absinthe Verte (65% abv) [BUY]

Jade Nouvelle Orleans Absinthe Verte (68% abv) [BUY]

Jade 1901 Absinthe (68% abv) [BUY]

Jade Perique Liqueur de Tabac (31% abv) [BUY]

La Maison Fontaine Absinthe Verte (55% abv) [BUY]

La Maison Fontaine Blanche (56% abv) [BUY]

La Maison Fontaine Chocolate Absinthe Liqueur (25% abv) [BUY]

Butterfly Boston Absinthe (65% abv) [BUY]

La Fee (68% abv)

English Whisky Company Chapter 7 Rum Cask Finish (46% abv) [BUY]

Penderyn Peated (46% abv) [BUY]

Bushmills 10yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Black Cow Milk Vodka (40% abv) [BUY]

Green Spot Single Pot Still (40% abv) [BUY]

El Vino 16yo Connoisseur’s Blend (40% abv) [BUY]

ArKay Alcohol Free Whisky Drink (0.0% abv)

Aultmore 1997 (Connoisseurs Choice) (43% abv) [BUY]

Bruichladdich “The Laddie Sixteen” Classic 16yo (46% abv) [BUY]

Arran 14yo (46% abv) [BUY]

Bunnahabhain 10yo 2001 Sherry Butt #1766 (Signatory) (57% abv) [BUY]

Glengoyne “The Teapot Dram” (58.5% abv) [BUY]

Lees Harvest Ale (11.5% abv)

Rodenbach Grand Cru (6% abv)

Oud Beersel Oude Geuze (6% abv)

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen (5.4% abv)

Alaskan Smoked Porter (6.5% abv)

Harviestoun Ola Dubh 12 (8% abv) [BUY]

Brewdog Paradox Arran Cask (15% abv) [BUY]

Adnams Spirit of Broadside (43% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 9.71 – Menthol tobacco and sugared almonds (60.4% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 64.44 – Complex and fun to discover (51.2% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 39.82 – Suede shoes walking through clover (60% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 1.171 – Orchids in an old wardrobe (55.1% abv) [BUY]

SMWS 127.24 – Light blue touchpaper and retire (66% abv) [BUY]

Nikka Coffey Grain (45% abv) [BUY]

Miyagikyo 10yo (Nikka) (45% abv) [BUY]

Inchmurrin 15yo (46% abv) [BUY]

Inchmoan 1994 (The Whisky Fair) (55.4% abv) [BUY]

Tobermory 10yo (46.3% abv) [BUY]

Ledaig 6yo 2005 Sherry Butt (Single Malts of Scotland) (56% abv) [BUY]

Glencadam 10yo (46% abv) [BUY]

Glencadam 1991 Cask 4753 (Berry’s Own Selection) (53.9% abv) [BUY]

Bunnahabhain 18yo (43% abv) [BUY]

Bunnahabhain 1990 Cask 19 (Berry’s Own Selection) (46% abv)

Glenlivet Nadurra (55.5% abv) [BUY]

Glenlivet 1973 Cask 10658 (Berry’s Own Selection) (48.6% abv)

Tamdhu 10yo (40% abv) [BUY]

Penderyn Madeira Finish (46% abv)