Ten Cane Distillery 13 Years Old
RELEASED JULY 2026
The Duchess 12 Years Old
RELEASED MAY 2025
88/100
The Marine Life series opens with The Duchess’ first Premium Caribbean Rum Blend, bringing together rums from several legendary Caribbean origins. Aged for at least 12 years, it combines unmistakable Jamaican character with a softer, richer side.
The nose is expressive and funky, with acetone, varnish, overripe banana and pear eau-de-vie alongside olives, anchovy and a touch of smoke. Vanilla, almond and pineapple add a sweeter, pastry-like layer. On the palate, it is oily and rich, combining seawater, tar and olives with ripe banana, lemon meringue, pineapple and buttery vanilla. The finish is long and gently briny, leaving traces of liquorice, chocolate and tropical fruit.
A very impressive opening to the Marine Life series. Funky, fruity and richly textured, this first Premium Caribbean Rum Blend strikes a lovely balance between Jamaican intensity and generous Caribbean sweetness.
Ben Nevis Distillery 12 Years Old
RELEASED FEBRUARY 2025
89/100
Ben Nevis is a distillery with many faces. Depending on the era, its spirit can be wonderfully fruity, or deeply funky. This particular cask proudly embraces the latter side, and we absolutely love this dirtier side.
The nose is gloriously old-fashioned, opening with soot, ashes, leather, yeast and engine grease. Pickled walnuts, fresh mushrooms and overripe green apple add to the wonderfully unruly character. With a little water, bright citrus appears, bringing a surprising freshness to all that funk. On the palate, the whisky is rich and slightly fatty, with wax, charcoal, tar and maritime notes sitting alongside nectarines and apricots. There’s a touch of mint too, and as it opens, the fruity sweetness becomes increasingly apparent, adding a juicy counterpoint to the earthy, savoury character. The finish is long and beautifully balanced, returning to ashes and ripe stone fruits while retaining that unmistakable funky Ben Nevis character.
This is certainly not a whisky that tries to please everyone. It is bold, slightly unruly and wonderfully individual. For those who appreciate the dirtier side of Ben Nevis, this one is an absolute joy.
Ailsa Bay 13 Years Old
RELEASED FEBRUARY 2025
89/100
Ailsa Bay is one of those Lowland distilleries you rarely come across in independent bottlings, which makes every release feel that little bit more special. Having enjoyed our previous expression, we were curious to see what a 13-year-old spirit would bring when given a very different home in an Oloroso sherry cask.
The nose starts delicately, with straw, barley and fresh spring meadows, before the sherry gently joins in. Almond, coffee and floral notes add a little extra depth, but the spirit remains firmly in charge. On the palate, this is a drier and more assertive dram. Barley and straw meet pepper, oak and warming wood spice, followed by dried fruits and a subtle nuttiness. There is a rustic quality here that we find particularly charming. The finish softens considerably, bringing dried fruit, steeped grains and a touch of sticky toffee pudding before returning to dried flowers and straw.
What we enjoy most is the balance. The Oloroso cask adds richness without masking the light, floral character of the Ailsa Bay spirit. A wonderfully distinctive Lowland whisky, and a worthy follow-up to our earlier release.
Foursquare 21 Years Old
RELEASED NOVEMBER 2024
89/100
We never complain about having another old Foursquare in the stocks, and this 21-year-old offers a gentle, understated take on the classic Barbadian style.
The nose is soft and delicate, with wax, white chocolate and honeycomb alongside cardamom, nutmeg and wild flowers. Red fruit and a touch of modelling clay add some playful complexity. On the palate, it becomes livelier, bringing grapefruit, apple peel and cider together with marzipan, honey and a subtle hint of bagasse. With water, the familiar Foursquare balance of apple and lemon comes through beautifully. The finish is fresh and dry, with hay, citrus peel, liquorice and a gentle touch of aniseed.
A quietly elegant old Foursquare. Floral, fresh and beautifully balanced, it shows the softer side of Barbados rum without ever losing its underlying character.
Worthy Park 7 Years Old
RELEASED NOVEMBER 2024
90/100
Lluidas Vale’s high-ester style can still be remarkably precise, and this seven-year-old expression shows the distillery’s ability to combine powerful fermentation character with unusual freshness and clarity.
The nose is intensely aromatic, with ripe banana, mango and other yellow fruits alongside green olives, tar and a faint glue-like note. Water brings out carbon paper, wax and a touch of wallpaper paste. On the palate, it is surprisingly gentle at 63.1%, combining ashes, lime and liquorice with mint oil, ripe banana, mango and lychee. A touch of water reveals an intriguing savoury side of olives, anchovies, asparagus and lemon. The finish is long and remarkably clean, with fruity salinity, ripe tropical fruit and a subtle creamy, yoghurt-like note.
A beautifully precise Worthy Park. Powerful yet surprisingly elegant, with the classic high-ester funk balanced by remarkable freshness, salinity and purity.
Mortlach 7 Years Old
RELEASED FEBRUARY 2024
89/100
Mortlach has always had a reputation for a robust, meaty character, and this little seven-year-old is a fine reminder of why. Matured in a PX quarter cask, it packs an impressive amount of character into every drop. A quarter cask gives whisky considerably more wood contact than a traditional cask, allowing the oak and previous sherry maturation to make their influence felt much more quickly. In this case, that means rich dried fruit and sherry notes wrapped around the powerful Mortlach spirit, rather than simply covering it up.
The nose brings dried raisins, fruitcake and honey, mingling with pipe tobacco, leather and a distinctly earthy, meaty character. There’s even a touch of chocolate and bay leaf hiding underneath. On the palate, it is rich and full-bodied, bringing toffee, dark fruit, liquorice and chocolate alongside Mortlach’s savoury, almost meaty character. With a little water, it relaxes beautifully, revealing bitter orange, pepper and a gentle hint of sulphur. The finish is long, warming and sherry-driven, with dried fruit, clove and lingering spice.
A lively little beast that proves young whisky can have serious depth when the right spirit meets the right cask. This one certainly has plenty to say.
Benriach 26 Years Old
RELEASED FEBRUARY 2024
90/100
When drinking a BenRiach, you can never completely know what to expect. The style of this whisky ranges from bright and fruity to richly sherried and gently smoky. This 26-year-old brings several of those characters together, with a late PX influence adding an unexpected final touch.
The nose is wonderfully soft and inviting, opening with fresh strawberry, mountain honey and ripe mirabelles. Garden mint, sultanas and a gentle touch of oak follow, while hints of leather, walnut and tobacco slowly emerge. There is a lovely depth here, but nothing feels heavy. On the palate, it is remarkably gentle for a whisky bottled at full strength. Raspberry ganache, caramel, chocolate and buttery shortbread bring a rich sweetness, balanced by herbal tea, orange and a subtle earthy bitterness from fruit stones and walnut. The sherry influence is present, but beautifully integrated. The finish is long and warming, with leather, tobacco and walnuts joined by wax, dried fruit and a hint of liquorice.
A wonderfully balanced old BenRiach: rich without becoming cloying, mature without losing its fruitiness, and just a little bit unexpected. Sometimes the oddball turns out to be the most interesting one in the room.
Caroni 31 Years Old
RELEASED NOVEMBER 2023
92/100
Caroni is always a special occasion, and a 31-year-old cask from the long-closed Trinidadian distillery is an especially rare glimpse into a disappearing style of rum. Remarkably, this one shows a softer side of Caroni without losing its identity.
The nose is gentle and inviting, with scones, vanilla cake, nougat and polenta alongside hay, lanolin and a touch of spent engine oil. Beneath the softness, overripe banana, mango and hints of rubber begin to emerge. On the palate, lemon syrup and olive oil meet brown sugar, oak, dark chocolate and green cane, with subtle nail varnish and a touch of chilli. Water reveals truffle-like savouriness, tar, rubber and pepper. The finish is long and increasingly classic, bringing green banana, lime, petrol and coal tar alongside floral and stone-fruit notes.
A remarkable old Caroni. Gentle, complex and beautifully balanced, it proves that Caroni does not always need to shout to make an impression.
Caperdonich 25 Years Old
RELEASED MARCH 2023
90/100
A unique bottling coming from the closed distillery Caperdonich. A distillery that has been silent for more than two decades, yet whose spirit continues to remind us just how good old-fashioned Speyside whisky can be. This 25-year-old is a particularly lovely example.
The nose brings stewed apples, ripe pear, peaches and sultanas, wrapped in honeyed butterscotch, vanilla icing and a gentle floral character. There is something wonderfully rustic here too, with old oak, orange pith and a hint of herbal tea. It takes a little time to open, but patience is rewarded. On the palate, it becomes brighter and more vibrant. Juicy peach, nectarine, banana and orange zest meet a waxy texture, white pepper and toasted oak, with just enough molasses-like sweetness to keep everything beautifully balanced. The finish is long and warming, leaving lingering orchard fruits, cinnamon, caramel and those lovely old-fashioned oak notes.
A whisky with real maturity, but without losing its youthful fruitiness. Gentle, complex and unmistakably from another era. This is the kind of Caperdonich that makes you wish the stills were still running.