Sauternes is the famous French dessert wine made from botrytised grapes (that's grapes that have essentially gone a bit mouldy in the vineyard and thus shrivelled up and become more concentrated and sweet). In wine it famously adds flavours of marmalade and this really does shine through on the nose and palate of this whisky. This expression is considered one of the best of the wood finish series from Glenmorangie.

Producer's Tasting Notes

AROMA
Tempted by the aromas wafting through the door of a French patisserie, you step inside to discover a tangy tarte au citron with its crisp pastry case and smooth lemony cream topping. Next to it is with its fluffy sponginess and milky vanilla aroma is a Genoise cake decorate with crystallised lime and orange peel. You can smell plump juicy sultanas, dates, warming ginger, coconut and nutmeg. In the background, gingerbread is baking in a wood-burning oven. Slip some water into the whisky to release the frothiness of lemon meringue pie and the rich aroma of baking fruitcake and warm gingerbread drizzled with crème anglaise

TASTE
The smooth, melting creaminess of lemon tart leaves the mouth full of citrus tang that gives way to crème caramel and zesty lime. This is replaced by warming ginger coupled with the mellow nutty flavours of nutmeg and toasted almonds that add warmth and chewiness that melts into oozing lemon meringue and melting honeycomb.

FINISH
Languid and sweet with lemon zest, vanilla cream and delicate hints of ginger and nutmeg

Balvenie is the young, strident upstart compared to it's owner and next door neighbour Glenfiddich. The Balvenie team get to experiment a little with their whisky, using weird and wonderful types of wood and new strains of barley etc. The Balvenie Double Wood is their best, and No. 1 whisky.?It's a rich amber in the glass - not quite to the extent of Hugh Hefners velvet drapes - but a warm and inviting hue all the same. The nose is sweet and lifted - bourbon wood doing the job here. Jersey caramels, jaffa, orange zest, and cinnamon buns dominate. It's mellow and sweet on the palate - with great honey-roasted cashew flavours, orange cake and marzipan notes. It finishes remarkably long for a 40% whisky.

GlenDronach is, quite simply, the go to distillery for sherry aged whiskies. This large, imposing Victorian distillery makes whisky to match and some of their single cask offerings are as dark as night and like drinking liquid Xmas pudding and crêpes suzettes.

This is the archetypal 12 year old, aged in ex-oloroso and PX sherry casks. The nose is rich and lifted with honey, caramel, treacle, vanilla sugar and prunes dominating. The palate is rich and rounded with dried fruit, sultanas and milk chocolate. A fantastic all-round whisky and a must for the cabinet at home.

The Glenlivet 18 years old is the perfect expression of age and elegance.  Sublime and complex, an enticing whisky of outstanding balance and flavor.

Nose: Fragrant, elegant, complex with a sweet oakiness, rich sweet fruit aromas. Toffee notes.

Palate: Smooth and wonderfully balanced.  A burst of spices and bitter oranges drying out an oaky note.

Finish:  Long and lingering hints of oak and spice.

After being matured in the finest Oloroso sherry and bourbon casks for at least 12 years,  the whisky is married in oak turns by Brian Kinsman, their innovative Malt Master, to give it an unrivaled harmony, complexity, and depth.

The Glenfiddich 12 years old is the perfect example of Speyside signature style, one that has made Glenfiddich the world's most awarded single malt.  A smooth and beautifully balanced nose complemented by refreshingly rich and complex notes of fresh pear and subtle oak.

The Tobermory Distillery is found on the Isle of Mull on the way to Skye from Islay and the whiskies made here reflect this island location with coastal, maritime, saline hints. The distillery produces two different, but equally alluring, single malts: the fruity, non-peated Tobermory and the more robust and smoky Ledaig. This expression slumbered peacefully in American oak casks for a dozen years before being bottled at 46.3% ABV.

Distillery notes.

Thanks to the forestry commission, sawmill and cooperage in France, we use the finest virgin French oak casks to enhance our whisky.

Layers of complexity and flavour emerge from a maturation journey that begins in American White Oak ex bourbon casks before a portion of the whisky is split between six different virgin oak casks sourced from across various regions of France (Limousin, Troncais, Allier, Vosges, Jupilles & Les Bertranges).

The result is a fruity and spicy whisky with flavours of crème caramel, baked peach and sweet liquorice.

The set up at Talisker produces a highly individual new make which mixes smoke, fruit, sulphur, salt and pepper. The malt is medium-peated, the worts clear and the fermentation long, but distillation is atypical with minimal copper contact, plenty of reflux and the use of worm tubs. The result is a heavier style of malt which lends itself nicely to a coastal influence and a smoky peat that is definitely there, but not too heavy.

Nose: A fresh and fragrant nose. Through pungent smoke comes sweet pear and apple peels, with pinches of maritime salt from kippers, seaweed.

Palate: It's a bonfire of peat crackling with black pepper, with a touch of brine and dry barley. A welcome delivery of orchard fruit provides a delicate and beautiful balance.

Finish: In a long finish, bonfire embers toast malt and crystallise a sugary underlay.

From Suntory’s mountain forest distillery, nestled deep in Mt. Kaikomagatake, Suntory Single Malt Whisky Hakushu is a fresh and gently smoky single malt whisky with herbal notes.

Straight from the untouched forests, soft and crisp waters and mountains of the Southern Japanese Alps, it is no wonder that Hakushu is a "green and fresh" whisky. Created by the dream for a new type of whisky of Keizo Saji, the second master blender, the unique taste made in distinct

Color: Light gold
Nose: Peppermint, melon, cucumber
Palate: Yuzu, grapefruit, lemon thyme
Finish: Refreshing, subtle smoke

Alc 43%

Triple distilled Irish whiskey matured in Sherry Cask

Nose:  Fresh oak, softened with sherry. 

Palate:  Full of flavours, and such a beautifully balanced, rounded. whiskey: oaky, fudgy, buttery, with that Bushmills rosewater character. 

Finish:  A grainy, but more-ish, dryness.

40% ABV.

Tullamore Dew is a distinctively smooth Irish whiskey; experts have described its flavour as "warm, sweet spices, pleasant maltiness with toasted wood hints and a creamy vanilla smoothness".

Nose A meeting of oloroso and crisp pot still character. Malty, too. Lovely fruitcake richness, though not as sweet as in recent years. Palate Very firm, oily, intense and mouthfilling. Finish A hint of spice counters an increasing oaky bitterness though the barley and sherry last to the very end.;Source;Jim Murray

Nose:  Intense and full blooded. Pot still richness: citrus oils, hot sealingwax, leather, tobacco, tea, maraschino, overripe fruits, marzipan.Exemplary.

Palate:  Ridiculously big. Oozes into the mouth and erupts. Spices galore to the finish. Oily and unctuous.

Finish:  Long, rich, oily.

Triple distilled Irish whiskey matured in bourbon and oloroso sherry casks.

Nose: Very lightly scented with nutty ice cream and sherry.

Palate: Rich dried fruit and chewy toffee, quite a mouth-filling shock after the very delicate nose.

Finish: Fudgy.

40% ABV.

Jameson Irish whiskey finished in  IPA seasoned oak barrels.

Additional light citrus flavours and pleasant hoppy aroma

40% ABV.