Category Archives: Speyside

2025 Whisky Show – Duncan Taylor Octave Whiskies

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Sometimes you save the best for last! That was certainly our experience when we caught up with Andrew Sinat from Duncan Taylor to explore their Octave range at the 2025 London Whisky Show.

Here’s what we had the privilege to try from Duncan Taylor…

  • Strathclyde Grain 38 year (18 June 1990 / 25 Aug 2025) Oloroso Cask 6444049 46.3%  (Duncan Taylor – Octave) Bottle 003 ~ GBP 275
  • Craiggellachie 17 year (9 June 2008 / 25 Aug 2025) Madeira Wine Cask 7547103 54% (Duncan Taylor – Octave) Bottle 62 of 63
  • Ben Nevis 13 year (17 Feb 2012 / 25 Aug 2025) Moscatel Cask 3645837 52.5% (Duncan Taylor – Octave) Bottle 79 of 80 ~ GBP 82
  • Highland Park 21 year (21 June 2004 / 25 Aug 2025) Oloroso Cask 5044289 55.3% (Duncan Taylor – Octave) Bottle 001
  • Macallan 32 year (15 June 1993 / 25 Aug 2025) Oloroso Cask 7237679 49.7% (Duncan Taylor – Octave) Bottle 001
  • Invergordon Grain 37 year (Feb 1988 / Sep 2025) Cask No 528|35 48.4% (Duncan Taylor) Bottle 001

Strathclyde Grain 38 year (18 June 1990 / 25 Aug 2025) Oloroso Cask 6444049 46.3%  (Duncan Taylor – Octave) Bottle 003

  • Nose – Sweet peas, white fruits, sherry influence clear, curiously heavy
  • Palate – Spice and fruit, full-flavoured, warm
  • Finish – Lasts

What fun to quickly sample a mature grain like this! The Oloroso Octave cask certainly added a nice element.

Craiggellachie 17 year (9 June 2008 / 25 Aug 2025) Madeira Wine Cask 7547103 54% (Duncan Taylor – Octave) Bottle 62 of 63

  • Nose – Sour fruits mash, something a bit earthy, yet also sweet, spiced orange tea, Christmas pudding
  • Palate – Round, full, and bold – think malt, mocha, and chewy fruits
  • Finish – Red berries

The Madeira Wine cask added an intense berry twist – fun and full flavoured.

Ben Nevis 13 year (17 Feb 2012 / 25 Aug 2025) Moscatel Cask 3645837 52.5% (Duncan Taylor – Octave) Bottle 79 of 80

  • Nose – Prunes, toffee, sweet
  • Palate – Softer and sweeter than we anticipated
  • Finish – Medium

This was a curiously “un-Ben Nevis” kinda Ben Nevis. I tend to find Ben Nevis a bit “funky” with a dense mineral, umami quality, and saline. Here? None of that!

Highland Park 21 year (21 June 2004 / 25 Aug 2025) Oloroso Cask 5044289 55.3% (Duncan Taylor – Octave) Bottle 001

  • Nose – Loads going on here – rich, dark fruits, nutty, yet also with a lighter heather and leather twist
  • Palate – Complex, the Oloroso element wraps you in a warm embrace, rewarding, with peat at the end
  • Finish – Long and strong

There was a sense of being both young and old simultaneously.

Macallan 32 year (15 June 1993 / 25 Aug 2025) Oloroso Cask 7237679 49.7% (Duncan Taylor – Octave) Bottle 001

  • Nose – Prunes
  • Palate – Full-blown sherry
  • Finish – Long and strong

One doesn’t often get a chance to try an older Macallan. To then have it made even more intense with the smaller Octave cask, quite something.

Invergordon Grain 37 year (Feb 1988 / Sep 2025) Cask No 528|35 48.4% (Duncan Taylor) Bottle 001

  • Nose – Wow! Slow down and pay attention
  • Palate – Smooth, sweet, velvety, gorgeous
  • Finish – Lingers

An aged grain can be an unexpected surprise. Normally relegated to augmenting single malts to produce a balanced blend, some grains can hold their own.

We did indeed leave the best for last and were super lucky to try such a brilliant range – courtesy of Duncan Taylor! A fitting way to close our 2025 Whisky Show experience in London.

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Whisky Ladies’s Organic+ with Benromach Organic 46%, Nc’Nean 46%, GlenDronach Peated 48%

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I totally admit it, I was exhausted. An extra-long set of three flights back from Canada – the last of which was nearly 14 hours on the plane! Yup! That’s what happens when flying during monsoon, needing to refuel in another city before finally touching down in Mumbai. And yet it was worth it to join the Whisky Ladies latest evening!

We began with a calibration dram – something already open to get us in the mood for the malts to come! And this was no mild, neutral dram… no siree! The name “Vengeance” alone was a pretty clear indication it would be a ‘wake-up’ call rather than gently ‘easing into’ our evening of tasting.

It was a new expression to me. Vengeance X is from the Wakatsuru Saburomaru Distillery in Japan, and is a collaboration of Saburomaru x Shin Megami Tensei V and is a blend with another undisclosed distillery, combining sherry and red wine casks with peat. In our mini pour, here is what we found…

Vengeance X Blended Whisky 46%

  • Nose – Heady! Heavy sherry, rum, and brandy… then shifted from a mix of alcohols to sweet Nescafe, dark molasses, super sweet, cherry candies
  • Palate    – Surprisingly prickly. Dark sherry, heavy wood, peat
  • Finish    – Lingers, rich and resinous

It was much more powerful than a mere 46% indicated. With a start like this, we were indeed awake for the coming attractions!

We then moved on to our featured trio. There was an organic element in the equation, with each bottle carefully chosen from recent trips.

  • Benromach 9 year (2014 – 2023) Contrasts Organic 46%
  • Nc’Nean Organic (lot BH08) 46%
  • GlenDronach Traditionally Peated 48%

We began with the Benromach… a twist on the traditional with their “Contrasts Organic” expression, which is matured in virgin American oak barrels with organic barley.

Benromach 9 year (2014 – 2023) Contrasts Organic 46%

  • Nose – Surprisingly light at first. Leafy, green peppercorn, dried ginger, vanilla, honeysuckle, wood, nutmeg, cloves, and then minerals
  • Palate – Wow! All the big bold flavours were on the palate – from chilli, to banana, coffee, and coconut, honey, and capsicum – a real mix and range of contrasting elements
  • Finish – Bitter aftertaste initially, some tobacco leaf, some even found a bit of sawdust

I found this Benromach expression differs from what I normally associate with this distillery. This is likely due to their use of virgin oak barrels instead of their normal ex-Bourbon and sherry casks – sometimes with a touch of peat too.

Next up, we shifted to a newer player with Nc’Nean. I first encountered Nc’Nean in Nürnberg, Germany, during the February 2020 “The Village” whisky messe as part of their early launch activities. I’ve since had a chance to sample a few different batches of their core Organic Single Malt expression and the Huntress expression – Orchard Cobbler plus their Quiet Rebels line with Gordon. I had even purchased a bottle in 2022 to bring back for the Whisky Ladies! As it turns out, that particular bottle became a gift for a friend before I could host a session. So I was delighted the ladies had a chance to try this whisky… which has a truly beautiful bottle!

Nc’Nean Organic (lot BH08) 46%

  • Nose – Cod liver oil, medicinal, overripe gruit, then became fruitier, some moss, honey citrus, hard round candies, orange peel… After considerable time, it opened up into light hay then gentle flowers
  • Palate – Initially also medicinal, fire, rough and raw – hot! It was young and brash. Then, as it sat in the glass, it began to morph… think a peppery candy…
  • Finish – Salty then candy sweet!

From fishy to fruity and then remarkably from fruity to floral! Whilst it wasn’t the top pick of the trio, it was worth trying!

We closed with GlenDronach – which I normally associate with rich sherry, not peat. In this case, the barley was peated and then matured in PX and Oloroso sherry casks, as well as Port.

GlenDronach Traditionally Peated 48%

  • Nose – Rich mocha,
  • Palate – Concentrated dry fruits, lots of dates especially. Molasses, a curiously “juicy” peat, and also very sweet. Cherry pits, loads of caramel and smoke, more of that mocha, apricots
  • Finish – Bitter, wood that fades, left a minty paan-like aftertaste

It had a wonderful flavour profile – full-bodied, rich, yet not overpowering. There was a really interesting quality to this expression – one described it as a smoky liqueur – given it was both incredibly sweet and most definitely peated!

With the revisit after some time, it had a delightful ‘roasted’ quality, shifted into a delicious maple bacon / smoked meats dimension that many of us really enjoy in our peaty drams.

For most of the ladies, the GlenDronach was the clear favourite, followed by the Benromach, with the Nc’Nean lagging behind.

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2025 Whisky Show – Glen Grant “Birth Year” Dream Drams

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Dream drams are a highlight of London’s Whisky Show! And in 2025, we splurged by augmenting the token included in our ticket to go up to the really pricey and rare stuff. 

Our theme? His and Hers…. Or more precisely, his birth year (approximately!) and her birth year (precisely!)

HERS – 1969

Wind back the clock… Apollo 11 lands the first humans on the Moon; Woodstock draws over 400,000 people and becomes a counterculture landmark; the Stonewall riots ignite the modern LGBT rights movement… and in a small Canadian city, a girl was born.

Glen Grant 39 year (1969 / 2008) Lonach 49.6% (Duncan Taylor – Lonach Collection)

  • Nose – Heavy, generous old dried fruits, sweet, old wood, a touch of tobacco
  • Palate – Balanced, creamy
  • Finish – Light spice, a hint of bitterness

To be fair, this wasn’t the most exceptional Glen Grant I’ve ever tried. And yet, it was undeniably a piece of history – one I was delighted to have sampled.

HIS – early 1960s

Whilst we don’t know the exact year this Glen Grant was bottled for the American market, we’re confident it was early 1960s… a time of incredible change, decolonisation and independence in Africa and Asia, Kennedy established the Peace Corp, the Berlin Wall was constructed, the Vietnam war and the anti-war movement grew, feminism gained ground… and a boy was born.

Glen Grant 25 year (~1960s) 86 proof 43% (Stuart MacNair & Co for USA)

  • Nose – Beautiful, nuanced, honeyed with a gentle citrus
  • Palate – Balance with loads of berries
  • Finish – Long with a hint of coffee

It was exceptionally soft and sweet, a gentle treat.

Between the two, the 25 year old in particular won our hearts. And yes – I know my tasting notes are limited – that’s because we were simply too distracted by enjoying our “birth year” dream drams!

If you are curious about other dream dram experiences, check out:

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Duncan Taylor – The Octave: Glentauchers 17 year 54.3%

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The concept behind Duncan Taylor’s The Octave collection is simple. Take something that is already good, transfer it into smaller Octave casks, mature it for more time. The aim? Amp up the aromas and flavours through a higher whisky to wood contact, triggering a bolder, more intense version.

So what did we find with this Glentaucheers?

Glentauchers 17 Year Old (8 May 2008 / 25 Aug 2025) Sherry cask 8546097 54.3% (Duncan Taylor – The Octave) ~90 GBP

  • Nose – How delightful! Cake, salty caramel, lots of rich fruity base notes, heavy mocha, ripe dark cherries, chocolate, and cream like a black forest cake, more coffee, toffee – delicious!
  • Palate – Very full, loads going on. There is an intensity with dark fruits, chocolate, old wood, malty, luscious fruits, and over-ripe nectarines. The dusting of pepper just adds another element – like a rich chilli chocolate ice cream
  • Finish – A big finish, treacle sweet
  • Water – Wow! Intense exotic fruits, durian to peach, then warmed pineapple

What a delight! We absolutely adored this expression. The extra “oomph!” from the Octave cask finish added complexity in a big, bold, beautiful way. Whilst we have no idea what it was like before the re-casking, here is what the folks at Duncan Taylor have to say :

Before Octivation

Apple strudel, creamy, raisins, custard creams, gooseberries.

After Octivation

Sherry, chocolate cake, spiced red fruits, clotted cream, white pepper.

What a complete treat! Curious about other Glentauchers experiences? Check out:

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Whisky Ladies ABCs – Ardnahoe, Benromach, Creag Isle

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Our Whisky Ladies sessions are curated by our members. The theme, the order, everything is up to our monthly host. The only “rule” is to make every effort to avoid repeats! It could be a vertical progression from one distillery, a regional or country theme, something more fanciful or practical, tying the whiskies together.

For our (hopefully!) annual weekend retreat, our host took a delightfully simple approach – the alphabet! And selected whiskies starting with A, B, and C!

  • A = Ardnahoe “Infinite Loch” Islay Single Malt 50% £55
  • B = Benromach 15-year 43% £73
  • C = Creag Isle 10-year Island Malt 42.2% (Hunter Laing) ~£50

It was a counterintuitive tasting order. Normally, we begin with the milder drams, progressing to bolder, more powerful flavours and finishing with peat. We took the opposite approach here – and it worked wonderfully!

A is for Ardnahoe 

I was first introduced to their whisky range in 2024 at the London Whisky Show. Backed by Hunter Laing, Ardnahoe became Islay’s 9th distillery in 2016 with distillation starting in 2018.

Ardnahoe “Infinite Loch” Islay Single Malt 50%

  • Aroma – Loads of peat! Leather and bacon, fruity – particularly baked pineapple, spicy, marmalade with generous orange peel… Spiced pears, cinnamon, star anise, menthol
  • Palate – Super peppery at first, also very active – full of smoke, yet also quite fruity and summery, the mint was joined by fresh cucumber, then shifted into a gentle milk chocolate
  • Finish – Ginger, cinnamon, cloves, burnt sweet spices

As we swirled the whisky in our glasses, we inhaled the sweet, smoky aromas, joined by sea salt too. It grew on us more and more – a sipping dram to settle down with for a desultory evening.

In front of us was an indulgent cheeseboard with bitter marmalade jam and apple-gin jelly. We found a sharp cheese with bitter marmalade jam made a brilliant contrasting pairing with the Ardnahoe, enhancing the whisky’s sweetness. Superb!

Their official tasting notes share:

Ardnahoe Infinite Loch has been matured in a combination of ex-Bourbon and ex-Oloroso sherry casks, and is bottled with no artificial colouring and no chill-filtration.

Sea-spray, Islay peat and dark chocolate on the nose. Menthol, fresh fruits and bonfire notes on the palate lead into a smoky, zesty finish.

Would we agree? Yes indeed!

B is for Benromach

Up next was a familiar standard – the Benromach 15 year!

Benromach 15 year 43%

  • Aroma – Sweet molasses, dark milk chocolate, honey, raisins, Christmas plum cakes, ginger, pine, sweetened fruits, opening up a bourbon vanilla candle, then clove-stuck orange, salted caramel, spiced rum, mint
  • Palate – Spiced rum ball, warming, creamy, full-bodied yet smooth, malty, cocoa, coffee mocha… as it opened further in the glass – chocolate-covered salty caramels or malty salted peanuts, a touch of toast, a hint of gentle peat perhaps?
  • Finish – Slightly bitter, fruitcake

When we set it aside, it continued to mellow in the glass. The Benromach was the most classic dram of the evening, one for the traditionalists vs those in the mood for something more experimental or peatier.

C is for Creag Isle

I wasn’t familiar with Creag Isle… turns out it is a private independent label from the Hunter Laing stable. Whilst they typically focus on Islay whiskies (rumoured to often be from Caol Ila), the particular expression we tried was specifically identified as an “Island” single malt – which technically isn’t an official Scottish whisky region – with no further details!

Creag Isle 10 year Island Malt 42.2% (Hunter Laing)

  • Nose – How interesting! A distinctly Indian garam masala, coastal salt, and sand, dried fish, slowly sweetening over time
  • Palate – Funky yet interesting. It initially had an almost fizzy quality. There was peat behind the bitter. Curiously approachable for something so distinctive. At the same time, there was a delicate and light touch too. Quite different – yet it worked!
  • Finish – Very sweet finish, cinnamon smoke close… over time took on a bitter walnut quality too

One person shared that this dram was like kissing someone who had been puffing away on a cigar! As strange as our initial impressions may seem on reading them now, it was surprisingly compelling, drawing us back to continue to sniff, swish, and appreciate.

I’m already looking forward to next year’s Whisky Ladies of Mumbai retreat!

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Glen Grant Arboralis in Mumbai

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It was a bit of a dichotomy:  A whisky being launched in India to attract a younger crowd was the focus of an evening entertaining folks in their 50s and 60s! And yet, it was a lovely setting at Mumbai’s Breech Candy Club – even if its Arabian Sea view is now interrupted by highways and highrises.

The young lass introducing the whisky was clearly more familiar with Campari than single malt whisky, however, she made a valiant effort. Meghna explained that Arboralis was aged a minimum of 5-6 years, created to be youthful and accessible. What wasn’t said, yet was clearly key, is affordability, with a 750 ml bottle retailing for Rs 3,750 in Mumbai. (For those scratching their heads about the amount – currently this is Eur 35 / USD 40.)

What did we think?

Glen Grant Arboralis 40%

  • Nose: Fresh, fruity, floral, vanilla, light nuttiness, effervescent yet sweet
  • Palate: Young, lots of pepper, bitter leaves – tobacco?
  • Finish: Black pepper

Overall, we found it rather straightforward and inoffensive. Whilst the greeting is friendly with a fruity flavour, there isn’t much on the palate, and the finish dashes off.

To be honest, it was a bit disappointing. I wondered how it compares with the even more affordable Glen Grant The Major’s Reserve 40%?

What more do we know? Glen Grant Arboralis is aged in ex-Bourbon and Spanish Sherry oak casks. With their official tasting notes sharing:

  • Colour: Bright Gold
  • Aroma: Floral and fruity, dried raisins, honeysuckle, lemon citrus
  • Taste: Oak, butterscotch, dried fruits, and light spice
  • Finish: Long with malty vanilla, pear, and hints of citrus

Whilst we didn’t fundamentally disagree with their tasting notes, we certainly didn’t find the finish long. And it certainly didn’t linger long enough to discern pear and citrus!

In fairness, we were not the target audience. Amongst us was a former Brand Ambassador for venerable Scottish whisky brands, connaisseurs, and collectors. Our silver hair was out of synch with the desired market.

And yet, we couldn’t complain about the company, the nibbles, the cigars, the pleasure of being outdoors for a pleasant evening in Mumbai!

Let’s face it. We are spoiled. At London’s 2025 Whisky Show, we were treated to such a remarkable range of whiskies that this experience fell short. Rather than grouch, I’ll leave you instead with a cheeky teaser of what could have been a fabulous evening!

Check out the Glen Grant Whisky Flight – Part 1

Which was followed by more mature expressions in the Glen Grant Whisky Flight – Part 2

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2025 Whisky Show – Tamdhu Flight

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Tamdhu is one of those distilleries I simply assumed would have a chance to explore, but somehow never managed. Day 2 of our 2025 London Whisky Show was finally my chance to have a proper introduction! My tasting companion insisted we make the stop – sharing how he’s become a real fan, and it was high time I gave this Speyside distillery some attention.

We focused on the core range, doing a vertical flight by age!

  • Tamdhu 12 year (~2025) 43% – 2025 Whisky Show £50
  • Tamdhu 15 year (~2025) 46% – 2025 Whisky Show £100
  • Tamdhu 18 year (~2025) 46.8% – 2025 Whisky Show £120
  • Tamdhu 21 year (2025) 47.5% – 2025 Whisky Show £295

Our approach was a simple sniff, swish, and spit with just a light mini-pour – enough to get an impression, not enough to have any major consequences!

Tamdhu 12 year (~2025) 43%

  • Nose – Loads of sherry! Cinnamon, raisins, vanilla
  • Palate – Nice, easy-going, spice, malty with oak too
  • Finish – Sweet with a spice kick

It was a great start to our Tamdhu flight.

Tamdhu 15 year (~2025) 46%

  • Nose – Rich yet rounded, ripe red fruits, berries, a hint of chocolate, raisins, dried fruits too
  • Palate – Nice mouthfeel, oily, juicy, fruity, silky…. in short, it was delicious!
  • Finish – Dry

With American Oak & European Oak ex-Sherry casks, this was a solid sherry expression.

Tamdhu 18 year (~2025) 46.8%

  • Nose – Intense, dark, dried fruits – plums, dates, cherries
  • Palate – Juicy fruits, dark chocolate – think black forest cake!
  • Finish – A bit dry

Like the 15 year, this Tamdhu 18 year old was matured in both American and European oak, just with a higher ratio of European oak. Clear sherry stamp – dense, complex and full-flavoured.

Tamdhu 21 year (2025) 47.5%

  • Nose – Bright Seville marmalade, kumquat, jammy
  • Palate – A hint of spice and sweet. It reminded me of warm oats with stewed apples, cinnamon, and brown sugar
  • Finish – Lots of tannins, woody, and slightly bitter

This was clearly the most mature of the expressions and well worth trying if you have an opportunity!

Prior to this flight, my only experience was the Tamdhu 11 year. This flight reinforced the impression of a solid sherry style – well done! I could see why my tasting companion is such a Tamdhu fan.

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Chorlton – Speyside 13 year 64.6%

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We were off to a rollicking good start with our Chorlton “Bold and Beautiful” evening featuring four cask strength whiskies! After the Blair Athol 12 year, our attention shifted firmly in the Speyside region with what is likely from The Glenrothes distillery.

Speyside 13 year (June 2008 / Nov 2021) 64.6%

  • Nose – First whiff was surprisingly mellow, quite subdued and shy, then began to open up with mawa cake, buttery, cherry in brandy, then a hint of leather, shoe polish, quite fermented and yeasty, shifting further into orange, sour plums (umeshu), becoming more vegetal, rubbharb, pumpkin and nutmeg, cayenne then maple syrup sweet, butterscotch, persimmon
  • Palate – Initially, incredibly sweet, also quite oily and peppery, then shifted to a slightly sour gooseberry (amla) flavour. Coming back for the second sip, and wow! It really is something – bold with loads of flavour, dense, wonderful mouthfeel, round and rewarding! Like a hot, buttery, cinnamon roll combined with rich, intense mulled wine, steeped in sweet spices and dark fruits.
  • Finish – A pepper close joined by the distinctive taste of Big Red cinnamon chewing gum, sweet with spice
  • Water – We had a mixed response here – some thought it augmented the dram – revealing juniper, more orange, whereas others thought it made it more vegetal with brussels sprouts!

Overall, this was a complex, sometimes contradictory whisky. Yet the more we sipped, the more I enjoyed it. And I am looking forward to revisiting on a quite cool evening where all I do is settle down with just this whisky.

What did David have to say? The following is an extract from his email…

This is sherry-matured single malt from Glenrothes distillery.

You almost get two whiskies for one here. Neat this is rich and intense, with chocolate, peanut brittle, dried figs, jaffa cake and a thickly-textured mouthfeel. Adding water brings a zesty fruitiness into the foreground (orange cake, grapefruit jam, apple pie), with the richer caramel and nutty notes returning in the finish. It’s great fun to play around and find your own perfect balance!

This whisky was distilled on the 19th June 2008, and matured in a second-fill sherry butt until being bottled in November 2021. It produced 368 bottles at a cask strength of 64.6% and they were sold for £76.50 each. I purchased this directly from Chorlton in December 2021.

Our “Bold and Beautiful” Chorlton quartet also included:

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Chorlton – Blair Athol 12 year 54.9%

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When planning our Chorlton Bold & Beautiful whisky evening, I knew that Blair Athol would make the cut. Whilst often underestimated, there are many reasons why Blair Athol has been around since 1798 – known for a rich, robust, nutty, and full-bodied character. Most expressions will have some maturation in sherry casks, however there are a few – like this one – which was matured exclusively in ex-Bourbon cask.

It was first up for our quartet…

Blair Athol 12 year (2022) 54.9% 290 Bottles ~Eur 79

  • Nose – Sugar on toast, scrambled eggs, waffles with a drizzle of maple syrup, vanilla custard, caramel, gulkand – a sweet preserve of rose petals, then a little orange zest….  it shifted into green pepper, becoming more vegetal, a few folks even found gerkin – pickle juice, red earth after it rains, leaves, mustier over time
  • Palate – Initially came on full force, lots of tannins, raisins and rum, very dry, became plummier and nuttier on the next sip, marzipan joined by gingerbread, even a hint of lemon sherbert!
  • Finish – Dry, long and tasty, more of that capsicum, then a delightful teasing ginger
  • Water – Worth trying with a generous amount of water – whilst it loses some of the complexity, it amps up the sweetness and fruits, with the overall impression of ginger tea

It began like breakfast, then shifted into savoury, herbal, a hint sour, and autumnal dessert! One taster remarked how it reminded them of samahan – a herbal, gingery tea one often has to help with a cold.

We set it aside, and discovered a lovely combination of dessert and sour plums, blackberry leaf team… with even more time in the glass, it took on more toffee, becoming super sweet with toffee, with substance too from tobacco leaf, a bit woody, ending with a dry finish. Overall, it was delicious and well worth exploring!

As for Chorlton tasting notes? Here’s what was shared when this whisky was launched in 2022:

…we have a 12-year-old Blair Athol from a first-fill bourbon hogshead. This whisky actually has more colour on it than the sherry and marsala ones above, and fits in with the recent-ish Orkney 15 and Caol Ila 12 bottlings in terms of slightly aberrant bourbon casks!

So, on the nose I find toffee pennies, fruit jellies, hay bales and shoe polish. Also rum baba, various dried fruits and peels, and orange sponge cake. It’s even cakier with added water, and softer too, with some marzipan and even a nibble of Fondant Fancy.

The palate is really big and nutty (walnut liqueur? is that even a thing?), with dark plum jam, marmalade, tea-soaked raisins and maple syrup. Some anise-y herbal liqueur notes develop, and there’s a distinctly mineralic, even salty, finish. With water everything feels cleaner, with lots of stone fruit popping up.

A lovely dram this, with some stout Highlands spirit standing up nicely to the active cask, and even soaring above it when water is added. It’s been quite a hit with people who’ve had a preview.

Whilst released by Chorlton in December 2022, I waited until it became available via WhiskyBase – only purchasing it in July 2023 for Eur 79 + tax + shipping.

It then patiently waited for the right opportunity to join a special Bold and Beautiful Chorlton quartet – bringing the Whisky Ladies and Bombay Malt & Cigar gents together with:

Plus we enjoyed a bonus with a revisit of a few bottles opened previously:

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2025 Whisky Show – Decadent Drams Highland, Speyside + Orkney

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Decadent Drinks has become a favourite at whisky shows for great conversations, a fabulous range of new and rare whiskies. The 2025 London Whisky Show experience was no exception. Our first day began with them, and our last day closed there too.

Between the start and finish, we had a couple of pit stops. During one, we explored some of their non-dream dram “Decadent Dram” expressions with :

  • Highland (Deanston) 27 year (1997/2025) Refill Hogshead 50.4% (Decadent Drams) 2025 Whisky Show GBP 278
  • Speyside (Glen Moray) 10 year (2014/2025) 57.1% (Decadent Drams) 2025 Whisky Show GBP 95
  • Old Orkney (Highland Park) 25 year (1999 / 2025) 50.3% (Decadent Drinks) 2025 Whisky Show GBP 345

Without further ado, let’s get on with the whiskies, shall we?

Highland (Deanston) 27 year (1997 / 2025) Refill hogshead 50.4% 

  • Nose – A clear classic, all those lovely Highland notes, a real beauty!
  • Palate – Well-rounded, fruity, and balanced… everything in harmony
  • Finish – Nice with a gentle spice

Whilst I’m not always a Deanston fan, this expression was spectacular. Narry a hint of that slightly industrial element I sometimes find with Deanston. This was elegant, exceptional, and such a treat to taste!

Speyside (Glen Moray) 10 year (2014/2025) 57.1% 

  • Nose – Fruity, full yet not too much
  • Palate – Bold but not forceful, complex, juicy, rich, stewed fruits, sweet yet not cloying, creamy milk chocolate
  • Finish – Salty, sweet, with a bit of gentle, fragrant leaves

Again, whilst we aren’t always Glen Moray fans, this was way beyond expectations. For a distillery that pumps out the (relatively) cheap stuff, this was top shelf.

This wasn’t our first Old Orkney expression. We tried their 20-year-old expression at the 2024 Whisky Show, so we were curious to see what their 4th bottling in this series was all about!

Old Orkney (Highland Park) 25 year (1999 / 2025) 50.3% 

  • Nose – Heather, light leather, peat, and sweet with dark fruits
  • Palate – Yummy! Lovely rich sherry, backed by a gentle peat
  • Finish – Lovely and lingers

Practically in unison, we shared our impression that this was what Highland Park used to be!

What more do we know? This 25-year-old was mostly matured in refill wood, then its final six years, it was matured in a very old 1st fill, ex-bodega, oloroso sherry butt. 

And there you have it – another delicious trio from Decadent Drinks!

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