Whisky Brands

A rare young Balblair bottled in the 1980s in a flat bottle with a label emphasising the distillery's (then) connections with Ballantine's blend.

The sixth release of Tempest – Bowmore’s cask-strength 10-year-old. Aged in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels, the emphasis is on tropical-fruit character. A peaty, smoky and fruity dram with great balance.

One of the best ongoing bottlings from this great distillery. This is more lightly peated, allowing its fresh, coastal maritime character to shine through. This is a real gem.

This is the relaunched version of Bunnahabhain 18 year old, with owners Burn Stewart having ditched the caramel colouring and chill-filtration and upped the strength to 46.3%. A triumph for 'naturalist' whisky drinkers and a PR triumph for Burn Stewart – bravo!

2013's unpeated release of Caol Ila is named for distillery manager Billy Stitchell, who is retiring after almost 40 years at the distillery. This year it's been bottled without an age statement and despite being 'unpeated' there's a definite smoky tang to the whisky, although less so than in previous years.

The 2001 vintage of Talisker's Distillers Edition, which is double matured, with the finish taking place in Amoroso casks, similar in style to sweet oloroso sherry. This adds sweetness and extra fruitiness to the smoke.

A delicious no-age-statement dram from Glenmorangie, some of the spirit in Signet has been made using a unique heavily roasted chocolate malt that really beefs up the rich flavours. The packaging is impressive, too.

Part of Ledaig's limited releases is this 19-year-old Marsala finish. Produced at Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull, this peated whisky has notes of citrus, grape, toffee and dark chocolate.

An all-time classic, Glenfarclas 25 year old is the epitome of long-aged sherried Speyside, gorgeously smooth and silkily-textured, with rich, generous flavours of fruitcake, hazelnuts, dried fruit and a hint of dark chocolate and coffee. A thoroughly delightful dram.