A quartet of fabulous Scotches this month with two old favourites, a superb indie and a new release from old distillery that doesn’t usually bottle its own whisky. For a detailed look at the Bunnahabhain watch the video tasting notes here
Staff Picks - our choices for this month
Bunnahabhain 23 year old: Abbey Whisky: Rare Casks
Featured in a WMTV video this month, Abbey Whisky have bottled another terrific single cask malt. This is part of their Rare Casks series and they really do seem to know a thing or two about cask selection. This has that special quality, that spark of personality which distinguishes truly great whisky from just good whisky. For more detailed tasting notes check the podcast in the link above.
£72.95 at www.abbeywhisky.com
Glenrothes Select Reserve
If you haven’t sampled any Glenrothes, this expression is a fantastic introduction to the distillery’s style. Plenty of zesty fruit on the nose and palate of this full flavoured whisky, with some white pepper spice on the finish, make this an appealing and very accessible Speyside scotch from a much loved distillery.
£29.50 at www.thegreenwellystop.co.uk
Craigellachie 17 years old
Apart from a release under the Flora and Fauna range when the distillery was owned by Diageo, Craigellachie haven’t issued any own bottlings until now. The new owners obviously realised they have some gems in the warehouse and have released 13, 17, 19 and 23 year old expressions - all of which are superb. For us the standout expression is the 19 year old but sadly it’s travel retail only. This 17 year old however is almost as much of a delight and rather good value at the price. More info in an upcoming blog post.
£80.95 at www.thewhiskyexchange.com
Compass Box Hedonism
David Beckham is without doubt incredibly handsome, an advertisers dream, so you might well have seen him staring from the pages of the colour supplements clutching a blue bottle of Haig Club. Might well have seen him? If you haven’t seen him and his hipster ‘friends’ then you’ve obviously been on Mars for the last month. Many years before David thought about releasing grain whisky in a blue bottle John Glaser thought about releasing it in a brown bottle. It still tastes rather good.
£53.41 at www.masterofmalt.com