I was back in Bombay, taking stock of what remained in my whisky cabinet – considering what next to bring from Germany in April. It has become a semi-annual ritual – take everything out of the cabinet, properly clean – the ongoing battle against mold and dust! Another element is to re-evaluate what goes into the “top shelf” – assorted liquor and open whiskies available for guests… then close it until the next trip!

This time I also wanted to re-confirm the choices for upcoming sessions, check what remained open, and see if I had missed any in my location tracking – I had indeed!

Selected for our January 2025 evening with the gents:

• Lowland Lindores Abbey MCDXCIV (1494) 46% – A good calibration dram!
• Highland Clynelish 12 year (2011/2023) 1st Fill Barrel #880297 56.4% (Whisky Show 2023) – Take your time with this one, let it settle in the glass to reveal its beauty
• Speyside Mannochmore 10 year (2008/2018) Batch 16.0708 No 16 56.1% (Mossburn) – A special treat!
• Islay Bunnahabhain Ma1 (2015) 54.2% (Elements of Islay) – Good to revisit what can be produced from this distillery

For an Asia Pacific theme, I have:

• Australia’s Lark Single Cask (Feb 2010) Cask No LD116 43% purchased many years ago for what seemed a steep price then and now – completely normalized!
• Japan’s Yamazaki Distiller’s Reserve 43% purchased in India
• Japan’s Ichiro’s Malt Double Distilleries 46% from the period where there was more Hanyu than Chichibu in the mix. Maybe I should pick up another bottle now before there are no more drops of Hanyu left and this series becomes merely Chichibu I and Chichibu II!
• Taiwan’s Kavalan Solist Bourbon Cask (2011) B111202001A, Bottle 117/200 57.1% picked up at Singapore’s Changi airport years ago!

I’m also ready with a new North Star set featuring:

• Glen Moray 14 year (Jul 2008 / Mar 2022) 58.8% (North Star Series 018)
• Aberfeldy 7 year (Jun 2022) 57.8% (North Star, Series 019)
• Benrinnes 15 year (2007/Jun 2022) 46.4% (North Star, Series 019)

Thanks to some help from a mostly London-based friend, the Chorlton‘s in India are now enough for 2 sets! And I’ve already decided a quartet will go for the 2026 Bombay Malt & Cigar / Whisky Ladies joint evening… the question will be which goes into the final line-up!

• Miltonduff 16 year (2022) 55.9% (Chorlton)
• Glen Moray 16 year (2024) ex-Bourbon 52.2% (Chorlton)
• Glenburgie 14 year (2024) Hogshead 53.9% (Chorlton)
• Campbeltown 10 year (2024) 58% (Chorlton)
• Manochmore 16 year (2024) 1st fill Oloroso butt 54.7% (Chorlton)
• Speyside (Glenrothes) 13 year Speyside (19 June 2008 / Nov 2021) 64.6% (Chorlton)
• Faemussach (aka BenRiach) 21 year (2022) 56% (Chorlton)

There is also a clear European trio with two That Boutique-y Whisky Co offerings and an experiment from Slyrs

• Finland – Teerenpeli 5 year 1st Batch 47.6% 230 of 448 bottles (TBWC Wine Cask Series MMXXI)
• France – Armorik 5 year 2nd Batch 46.4% 194 of 286 bottles (TBWC Wine Cask Series MMXXI)
• Germany – Slyrs Marsala Finish L1140 46%

Along the way, I somehow managed to acquire a trio from Glentauchers for a single distillery vertical via three different bottlers!

• Glentauchers 14 year (2008/2022) 46% (Gordon & Macphail Distillery Label)
• Glentauchers 14 year (2023) 61.6% (Chorlton)
• Glentauchers 10 year (21 Mar 2013 / 22 Nov 2023) Barrel Cask 800435 58.6% (The Whisky Exchange – The Seasons Spring) –> Added in October 2025!

Plus an assorted group that one could consider a few levels up from standard bar stock:

• Linkwood 15 year 43% (G&MP – Distillery Label) – purchased in Singapore too many years ago!
• Benromach 15 year 43%
• Edradour 10 year (~2021/2022) 40%

What’s up for augmentation? Back in early 2025 I had a pair of Rye‘s in need of a 3rd as the original Stork Rye went into making some marvelous Old Fashions a few years ago! Fast forward to late 2025 when my trio was complete by bringing a Rye stored in Canada to India via Germany!

• AD Laws Secale Rye 2 year 50% 375 ml, purchased in May 2017 via a Colorado connect
• Millstone 100 Rye Whisky 50% from The Netherlands purchased in 2018 at Mumbai duty-free
• Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye 45% from Canada, acquired many moons ago when this expression was recognised as the Worlds Best Whisky, brought to India in August 2025

Whilst I don’t have a 3rd rye in Germany yet, this is easily obtained with many options!

If we decide to switch from Whisky to Rum, I also have two rather special options – from Barbados a 10 year old Criterion, and from Jamaica – Royal Vale’s 150/250 Wedderburn 12 year (2006) 62,5%. As a 3rd, I have only a wee mini of India’s Camika to try.

What else? There are a few miscellaneous alternatives that don’t neatly fit into sets:

• Kininvie 17 year 42.6% – initially prompted by an idea to “de-construct” Monkey Shoulder with its component elements
• Lagg Peated Bourbon Barrel 1st Batch 60.4% – Bottled by hand at the Lagg distillery in 2020
• Nc’Nean Organic 46% –> Given away to a favourite actor friend!

Top this off with a bunch of miniatures, and there you have it – cabinet re-org complete! And what fun we have to look forward to over the coming years!

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