Whisky

Our selection of the new and the notable from the best British drinks producers.
Visit Drinks of the Month for this month's Variety Show

Blair Athol 12 Year Old

Blair Athol Distillery is the home of Bell's blended whisky, a popular brand famous for its long running series of bell shaped commemorative decanters. Nearly all of the whisky made here goes to supply the blend, so tasting the malt is a bit of a rare treat.

Blair Athol 12 Year Old is a good everyday dram. If you like Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old or other robust Highland malts then this is an interesting alternative.

About £35/70cl; at the distillery, from specialist retailers, Master of Malt, Royal Mile Whiskies.

Posted on 17 Feb 2012 in

Pig's Nose 5 Year Old

With its jokey name and distinctly un-Scottish label it might seem that Pig's Nose is a bottle to be avoided, but there is a decent whisky hiding in there, and one with a respectable pedigree at that.

Made with a high proportion of malt – around 40% – and using whiskies chosen from first fill casks, which have more influence on the flavour, there's plenty going on in this dram.

40% 70cl/£21 from specialist retailers

Posted on 16 Jan 2012 in

Bruichladdich Black Art 19 Year Old

Faced with the challenge of re-establishing the reputation of the re-opened distillery in 2001, Bruichladdich took a decidedly modern approach to packaging. Even the more standard bottlings – if Bruichladdich can be said to have standard bottlings – stand out on the shelf with their bright light blue livery, but the Black Art takes this to another level altogether.

The stars and astrological symbols promise magic within, but can the whisky live up to such a billing?

51.1% 70cl/£80 from specialist retailers. NB There is also a 21 year old release available, Black Art II.

Posted on 17 Sep 2011 in

Glenmorangie Nectar d'Or

This Glenmorangie Nectar d'Or has finished off its ageing in barrels which previously held ultra-sweet Sauternes wine from Bordeaux, France.

Wood finishing, additional cask enhancement, double maturation – whatever you call it, the practice of transferring whisky to a different kind of cask for part of the ageing process, now practised by, well, more or less everybody, was pioneeered by Glenmorangie in the 1990s under the far-seeing leadership of Dr Bill Lumsden.

46%, 70cl/£50, from specialist retailers

Posted on 17 Sep 2011 in

Glenmorangie Original 10 Year Old

Ask a Scot which malt she favours, and chances are the answer will be Glenmorangie. But as well as being the most popular single malt in its home country, the ten year old Original has won many friends & awards further afield, most recently a Gold Best in Class at the International Wines & Spirits Competition 2011.

40% 70cl/ about £28, widely available in supermarkets & specialist retailers.

Posted on 16 Sep 2011 in

Laphroaig Quarter Cask

If you are famous for making the most strongly flavoured whisky in the world, where do you go next? Well, in the case of Laphroaig, that meant an experimental programme of maturation in specially commissioned casks, a quarter of the normal size.

48% 70cl/£30 Loch Fyne Whiskies, Master of Malt, Royal Mile Whiskies & other independent retailers.

Posted on 03 Aug 2011 in

Bruichladdich Organic 2010

A classically light Laddie, with cereal and citrus notes and a subtle spiciness from the casks, this is the only organic whisky from Islay, and one of only two organic single malts. What's more, we are told the names of the farms which produced the barley for this whisky, and even the names of the farmers.

In my glass it is straw coloured, in typical lightly-peated Bruichladdich style. The nose is fresh, elegant, and youthful, showing cereal, lemon, and a little warm bourbon-cask spice. Elegance and refinement are the hallmark of the Laddie, and this example has them in abundance.

46%, RRP: £36, Master of Malt, Royal Mile Whiskies, The Whisky Exchange, The Laddie Shop

Posted on 19 Jul 2011 in

Arran 14 Year Old

A sweet malt, the Arran 14 Year Old has plenty of fruity notes, given weight by the woody, spicy cask flavours.

Mid-amber in colour, much like the 10 Year Old, there are an array of fruits on the nose - red fruits like raspberries all the way to tropical (bananas!). There is also the characteristic Arran malty note, and a well balanced woodiness, which comes through as vanilla, cinammon, and allspice.

To taste it is sweet and mid-bodied, with toffee, maltiness, a little pepper, perhaps some mint, and plenty of vanilla from the casks.

£40/70cl, from the distillery website, Royal Mile Whiskies, The Whisky Exchange, and independent retailers

Posted on 19 Jul 2011 in

Bruichladdich 12 Year Old

Light, elegant, and clean, the Bruichladdich 12 Year Old combines delicacy and intensity.

It's pale looking beside other whiskies; no sherry casks here to darken the malt, just light, sweet ex-bourbon barrels.

£37/70cl, from Royal Mile Whiskies, The Good Spirits Co, and other good specialist retailers

Posted on 17 Jul 2011 in

Clynelish 14 Year Old

Until as recently as 2003 there was no official standard bottling from Clynelish, and even now there are only three. The 14 Year Old is the most widely available. It is an elegant medium-bodied whisky, neither peaty nor overly malty, and thus a good all-rounder.

£34 / 70cl, widely available at specialist retailers; Waitrose

Posted on 15 Jun 2011 in