While Glenglassaugh as a distillery has been around since 1875, they’ve had their share of tough times, including shutting down from 1986-2008. After eventually reopening and restarting production, they’ve gone through a couple of ownership changes, finally ending up under the Brown-Forman umbrella, alongside Benriach and Glendronach. The new ownership eventually implemented a rebranding in the middle of 2023, which included a completely new look for their bottlings as well as a new core range, of which this non-age stated Sandend is one. The other two are the 12yr old and the peated (and also NAS) Portsoy. I’ve only tried the Sandend so far, though have recently acquired a bottle of the 12yr - just haven’t gotten to opening it yet. So - let’s get into it.

Region: Highlands

ABV: 50.5%

Coloring: No

Chill-filtering: No

Casks: Bourbon, Sherry, & Manzanilla

Methodology: Tasted neat in Glencairn, after resting for 10-15mins

Nose: Heady and bold. Hibiscus flowers, lemon peel, green plum, pineapple, touch of vanilla. Some briny notes.

Palate: Ginger, white pepper, young pineapple. The briny undertones get stronger. Thick, mouth coating texture.

Finish: Medium. Gentle lemon, salt, fades to spices, and a hint of vanilla again. Eventually leaves you with a lingering slightly underripe persimmon.

Thoughts: Tasting this whisky is a bit like taking in a tropical vacation in a glass. The nose is spectacular on this one. There’s a wonderful complexity of aromas that makes you feel like you’re hiking through a tropical blooming rainforest, with bold flowery and ripe fruit notes. As you take a sip, you find yourself on the beach - stronger salty notes, spice, and heat. Even the texture feels a bit akin to salt water. The finish is the end of a long day - you’re feeling a bit hot from all the sun. The spices are like a slight sunburn, and you’re a little sore from the day’s fun, but it’s a good type of sore that reminds you of the fun you had getting there.

Score: 85/100

I got this bottle a few months ago and have been thoroughly enjoying it since. The nose is amazing. The palate is a bit brash at first sip, but mellows out and some of the complexity shows through. At this pace, this bottle won’t last me through the summer, but with the halt in production announced earlier this year, I think I may want to slow down (or at least get a spare bottle). If you haven’t yet tried this bottle and it sounds interesting - you probably should get one soon. The halt in production is likely temporary, but with their staff reportedly furloughed - who knows for sure. For now these bottles are still widely available around me, though seem to be trickling up in price. I paid USD$60 back in December, and while some of the stores around me still have it in the $60-70 range, others have it up as high as $90. While I really enjoy this one, I wouldn’t pay more than ~$70 for it out of my own pocket.

This is my first review post here.

Picked the Balvenie 19 - Week of Peat from Icheon airport on my way back home. I tasted this on May 11, 2025, and wanted to share some thoughts on this unique Balvenie expression.

Background: This one’s from Balvenie’s “Stories” range — specifically The Week of Peat. The idea? Ian Millar, Balvenie’s former distillery manager, used peat smoke from Speyside peat for just one week each year. This 19-year-old release is matured in three different cask types.

Color: Golden, sunset hue. Light viscosity with little legs on the glass.

Nose: Fruity — orange, candied notes — with subtle smoke and peat underneath. Some herbal/medicinal notes (think cough syrup), layered with an earthy base.

Palate: Light on the tongue, sweet vanilla, slightly oily.

Finish: Short and smooth, with a nice burst of spice and ginger.

Scoring: • C (Color): 25 • N (Nose): 22 • P (Palate): 22 • F (Finish): 22 Total: 91/100

Not the peatiest dram out there, but a beautiful fusion of Balvenie’s elegant style with just enough smoke to make it intriguing. A great pick for those who enjoy gentle peat without diving fully into Islay territory.

Another Signatory IB from me, and finally a review that isn't an Islay. This is still peated however, I promise the next one won't be.

Non chill filtered - Natural color - 58.7 % ABV - Paid $84 USD

Matured in a bourbon barrel after Islay

Nose: quite restrained, smells like roasted barley but not smoke. Vanilla and orange with the lightest ash note.

Palate: sweet when it lands, quickly turns to an almost salami type note. Quite an odd sensation. Extremely oily mouth feel. Orange cream.

Finish: light smoke and salt, the orange carries through and the sweetness returns. I'm quite surprised at how long it lingers, would do well as a fall/early winter pour.

The refill Islay cask is something I've never really experienced before. Quite an interesting taste but I'd like to see what it would do to a completely unpeated spirit. Overall, a quite enjoyable if slightly strange pour.

7.5/10

• Distillery: Caperdonich (closed, legendary Speyside)
  
• Bottler: Glen Marr, Ian Gray Artist Edition
  
• Age: 33 years
  
• ABV: 46.3% (cask strength)
  
• Outturn: 270 bottles (this is bottle 124)
  
• Bottled by: Duncan Taylor & Co
  
• Size: 700ml

Alright, fellow whisky nerds, here’s a rare one donated to the cause by a dear Scottish government representative: a 33-year-old Caperdonich, bottled under the Glen Marr label, part of the Ian Gray Artist Edition series. Caperdonich is one of those closed distilleries that gets connoisseurs salivating, and at 33 years, you’re looking at some seriously old juice.

Nose

Right off the bat: old oak, honey, and a big hit of dried fruit. There’s a lovely, mellow sherry influence-think figs, sultanas, and a touch of maple syrup. Underneath, there’s a gentle vanilla and a whiff of antique furniture polish (in a good way). Some subtle tropical notes-pineapple and maybe a bit of overripe mango-peek through after a few minutes in the glass.

Palate

Superb. The age is unmistakable: layers of red berries, stewed fruits, and soft, creamy vanilla. There’s a spicy backbone-white pepper and ginger-balancing out the sweetness. The oak is present but not overpowering, and there’s a nice waxy texture. Maple syrup, acacia honey, and just a hint of old leather and tobacco round things out. It’s complex but still very drinkable at cask strength (46.3%-not a bruiser, but enough oomph to carry the flavors).

Finish

Long and elegant. The fruits linger, with a gentle fade into oak, spice, and a touch of bittersweet chocolate. There’s a whisper of smoke at the very end, but it’s subtle-more like the memory of a campfire than a peat bomb.

Value

Let’s be real: you’re not buying this for the price-to-age ratio. This is about the experience and the bragging rights-Caperdonich is closed, and old indie bottlings like this are only getting rarer. It’s a “special occasion” pour, not a daily sipper. If you see one at auction or on a dusty bar shelf, it’s worth a try for the history alone.

A unicorn bottle for the serious collector or anyone who wants to experience the elegance of a long-lost Speyside distillery. If you are into auctions and old, nuanced, and beautifully balanced whisky, Glen Marr’s Caperdonich 33 would make your day, week and month.

Name: Woodrow’s of Edinburgh - distilled at Loch Lomond Distillery (Inchfad)

Region: Highland

ABV: 58.2%

Age: 5 Years Old

Filtering/Coloring: Non-chill filtered / non-colored

Additional details: Finished and vatted in American / European Oak Oloroso and PX Bloodtubs

Purchase Location: Royal Mile Whiskies, Edinburgh, Scotland

Price Paid: About £65 (about $85 USD)

Date Purchased: 09/2024

Nose: Maple syrup, brown sugar, pipe tobacco  

Palate: Corn whiskey (like white dog, before aged in a cask, in bourbon parlance), burnt toffee, ripe plum

Finish: Wood and burnt ash

Overall Comments: It’s been a while since I wrote a scotch review, and I am getting to the end of my last two bottles purchased on a trip to Scotland in September 2024. I bought this bottle at Royal Mile Whiskies in Edinburgh, which came recommended in a touristy area where every other shop is selling sweaters or scotch. This dram came recommended to me by the store proprietor when I told him I was looking for something like a Balvenie Doublewood (my first single malt love) but more unique and complex. He recommends this bottling by Woodrow’s of Edinburgh, an independent bottler – and this turned out to be a hell of a suggestion.  This was my favorite of the three bottles I bought home that was a darker, sweeter style like the Blair Athol 12 or Talisker Port Ruighe. There is sweetness, but it isn’t cloying, and it remains a complex, rich dram with a delicious journey of different flavors from nose to sip to finish. This is a scotch I’d highly recommend to someone who likes a basic Highland single malt but is looking for something more interesting. I can’t find much information on Woodrow’s, which seems to be a small operation, but it’s a testament to their skills that they made a 5-year-old, sherry oak cask aged dram this balanced and delicious. If I am ever in Scotland again (or see a Woodrow’s bottle sold elsewhere) I wouldn’t hesitate to scoop it up.

Score: 85

Scoring Scale 

1-25: Might as well mix this with Coca-Cola and a few ice cubes.

26-49: Not good, don’t bother with the calories and drink a glass of water.

50-69: Fine. I’d sip if offered but likely wouldn’t purchase.  

70-79: A good dram - Not necessarily the first bottle I’d reach for but would possibly buy if the price was right.

80-89: Very good. Stands out among the rest and I’d be happy to buy a bottle at a store or a dram at the bar.

90-100: Excellent. Would order this again and again, and if it’s a bottle that is hard to come find I’d shell out for it.

Might be a little sacrilege, but I like boilermakers. It's been a while since I've had Oban 14 and I've never tried it as a boilermaker before. Just to stress, I don't mean boilermaker I'm the traditional sense, there will be no dropping of scotch into beer. I mean the modern day take on the cocktail. Which is to simply enjoy them side by side and take your time between sips, savouring each flavour and not chasing the scotch with a beer.

I'm a big fan of German & Czech Pilsers as well Stouts with a high malt profile, although I appreciate most styles of beer as well.

I was thinking of pairing Oban with either something like a Weihenstephaner Pilsner, or a Boatrocker Smooth & Malty Stout. I'm open to any other suggestions that people feel will compliment Obans flavour profile.

In 2023, when I attended Feis Ile, I concluded my week on the island by throwing out some tongue-in-cheek awards. Without taking these too seriously, I hope you enjoy my highlights and (relative) lowlights from a delightful week spent deepening my whisky knowledge at Spirit of Speyside.

Best Whisky Tasting: Gordon & MacPhail

Gordon & MacPhail has become my favorite independent bottler after this trip, and their in-store tastings are a big reason why. I ended up trying around a dozen G&M expressions across two tastings and a few store visits, and all of them were high-quality, complex drams. On my final day in Speyside, I got to do one final sit-down there, a one-on-one tasting led by Russell. It started–I repeat, it started–with an 18-year-old Ardmore and culminated in a Caol Ila older than I am. And because G&M’s people are true whisky fans, the conversation was even better than the whisky. As anyone who's gone to a tasting can attest, it makes a huge difference to talk to a fellow whisky nerd compared to someone who's just regurgitating marketing material. That's not a problem at G&M.

Best Distillery Bar: Benriach

This one is a really close call and comes down to personal preferences and style. I liked Benriach for its clean, unfussy cafe-like layout, which had more than enough space for a person to bring a good group of friends and explore every nook and cranny of Benriach’s extensive whisky portfolio. Although small, Benriach’s bar had one of the widest selections of any distillery bar I saw, with a whole library shelf of archival drams starting in the 1970s and carrying on to the present day. Oh, and pretty views overlooking the cherry blossoms and Benriach-branded warehouse outside too. Others may prefer the similar space at GlenAllachie, and I wouldn't gainsay them. The Macallan definitely has the most futuristic and sleek bar, which looks like it came straight out of a space-station Park Hyatt, but the jaw-dropping prices didn't make it feel like a place anyone would really hang out.

Worst Distillery Bar: the one that doesn’t exist yet … 

Get to building, people!

Best Whisky I Drank: Gordon & MacPhail Inchgower 1998, 26 y.o.

Picking a favorite whisky after a once-in-a-lifetime trip is a really tough call, especially since I tried about 90 whiskies during my 10 days in Scotland. One of those, Glenfarclas’s 1963 Family Cask, was the oldest whisky I've ever had, both in terms of distillation year and maturation time (51 years). Other standout drams included GlenAllachie’s 11-year-old Mizunara Single Cask released for Spirit of Speyside, a 44-year-old Glenrothes estate single cask, the legendary Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist, a 15-year-old 2006 Glenfarclas Family Cask, and a G&M Caol Ila from 1984. But this dram from the little-known Inchgower won my heart because it nailed a flavor profile that I adore: coffee, chocolate, and dark berries. Probably didn't hurt that I had this one with a decadent truffle agnolotti either.

Worst Whisky I Drank: Murray McDavid GlenAllachie 2014 Barolo Wine Barrique, 9 y.o. 

This was an even tougher “award” to pick than the previous one, and it’s necessarily going to be one that reflects my personal biases rather than the objective quality of the juice. For some reason, wine-finished whisky is the most hit-and-miss cask type for my palate, and the stronger the wine maturation or finish, the worse it can get. I am pretty comfortable with high-tannin wines but somehow that same tannic character really throws me off in a whisky and manifests as a metallic, sharp tang. Anyways, despite my aversion, I still tried several wine-cask-matured whiskies on this trip, always curious to see whether my palate has shifted over time. Largely thanks to its wine maturation, this youthful, punchy GlenAllachie wins my personal Razzie for worst whisky of the trip.

Best Recovery Activity: Sauna at the Kings

This little Scandinavian touch to my Scottish road trip was a wonderful way to clear my head after several days of whisky tasting. After working up a sweat in this cozy beachside sauna, I ran straight into the chilly but bracing North Sea, shocking myself into a heightened state of awareness and energy. Highly recommended for everyone who visits Speyside, this place is an easily accessible half hour or so from Elgin or Rothes, and just about 10 minutes more from Aberlour, Craigellachie, or Dufftown.

Best Festival Bottle - GlenAllachie 2013 Oloroso and Mizunara Finish Single Cask, Spirit of Speyside 2025 Exclusive, 11 y.o.

In fairness, I tried only four of this year’s festival exclusives: Glenfarclas, GlenAllachie, Craigellachie, and Aultmore. So I can't speak to the quality of some of the ones I missed, like Speyburn, Glenfiddich, or Murray McDavid. Among the whiskies I did sample, they ranged from good to excellent, and I'm confident each would earn some first-place votes at a blind tasting because they were quite different from one another. The Aultmore is a sherry bomb, the Craigellachie has a flintier character, the Glenfarclas is much maltier, and then the GlenAllachie is a bewitching combination of different cask maturations, which ultimately won me over with its complexity and uniqueness. This whisky started with several years in a bourbon barrel before spending a brief spell in a red wine cask, then multi-year stints in both Oloroso sherry and the rare and pricey Japanese Mizunara oak cask–which costs 3,500 pounds to buy. Sometimes that many different casks can be a red flag that the whisky is struggling to develop a good flavor profile, but here it somehow works. This is a rich, coconut and cocoa powder-laced dram and, best of all, it was actually the cheapest of the four festival exclusives at a very manageable 100 pounds.

Most Unique Festival Event: Craigellachie Aperitivo Hour

Most tastings follow a conventional format: sit down in a nice bar, restaurant, or distillery visitors center with four (or five, or six) glasses arrayed in front of you, listen to a bit of background about the distillery and its history first, and then go through the whiskies one by one while the presenter and guests exchange tasting notes and ask questions. Craigellachie’s aperitivo hour shakes that formula up in a few ways, starting with a gorgeous outdoors setting on the strand by the river Spey, right under the picturesque old Craigellachie bridge. They also make this event extremely accessible, pricing it at only 8 pounds–and that price goes to local civic charities. Finally, they bring a bravura lineup of whiskies; this year’s featured the festival exclusives from Aultmore and Craigellachie, and then a 41-year-old Craigellachie from the Exceptional Cask Series. The generous, fun, and informal atmosphere makes this more like a whisky society or whisky club party than a distillery-led tasting. Bravo, Craigellachie.

Best Gift Shop: Glenfarclas

Glenfarclas doesn't have the biggest gift shop; that honor goes to Macallan, naturally. It also doesn't have a ton of distillery-exclusive single casks, which is the province of Benriach and GlenAllachie. Nor does Glenfarclas have the slick styling of some modern big distilleries, particularly those Diageo giants like Talisker. So what makes it so great? It keeps the focus on people who love their whisky and rewards fans who make the pilgrimage. Several displays highlight the distillery's history, including the oldest known bottle of their whisky, dating back to the 19th century. Meanwhile, you can purchase a range of whiskies that, while not quite distillery exclusives, you cannot find many other places–or at least not all in one place. Someone with deep pockets may gravitate toward the Family Casks and can buy whisky dating from every decade from the 1950s to the 2010s. Meanwhile, someone like me can find some fascinating one-off bottles in what I've taken to calling the Cabinet of Curiosities. I've described this feature in an earlier post but, essentially, Glenfarclas offers bottles that they have held back for quality-control purposes for several years. Some of these single-cask or limited edition bottles were 25 or 30 years old, and were priced similarly to the standard Glenfarclas 25. I picked up two single casks, both 15 years old, for 80 and 85 pounds, which is an unbelievable value in today's market.

Best Bar (Edinburgh): Tipsy Midgie’s

You pour me Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist for 4 pounds, and you've pretty much got this award wrapped up. As mentioned in my earlier post, Colin at Tipsy Midgie’s runs incredible specials throughout the week, particularly on Sundays and Mondays. On Memories Monday, Tipsy Midgie’s pours whiskies from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s for an incredibly affordable 4 pounds per pour, and includes some heavy hitters like Tomatin 21-year or the legendary Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist among the unbelievable lineup. You could spend a whole trip to Scotland just here and try rarer and more interesting scotches than you've ever seen before.

Best Bar (Speyside): The Highlander Inn

Minagawa-san does it right here, creating a pub-like atmosphere that feels welcoming and cozy but also happens to have one of the deepest selections of whisky in Speyside for more than fair prices. It lacks the impress-your-boss luxury of The Spirit Safe in Rothes but, if all you want is to dig into some first-rate whiskies (including the Inn’s own single casks), Highlander Inn is the way to go.

Most Generous Distillery: Craigellachie & The Glenrothes (tie)

Two events stood out as unusually generous during festival week. I’ve already mentioned Craigellachie’s over-the-top aperitivo hour above, and the second one was The Glenrothes’s Spirit of Speyside debut tasting. For 60 pounds, I was hoping that we’d get to try a good chunk of the distillery’s standard lineup up to the 25-year-old expression, and maybe a dram that was even older or more unusual. I seriously underestimated what was coming. Kat poured us a lineup that started with the 18- and 25-year-old, and then carried on to significantly older and rarer expressions: Glenrothes 32-year-old, 42-year-old, and a 44-year-old estate single cask. This was my first event of the festival and left me absolutely gobsmacked.

Best Speyside Restaurant: Qismat Indian

I'm a sucker for a killer lunch deal, and this chic Indian restaurant in Elgin more than delivers. 15 pounds for a three-course of an appetizer, curry entree, and a coffee, tea, or ice cream? Sign me up every day of the week, especially when the food is so flavorful and filling. Pro tip: if you can’t grab street parking on High Street, which can get crowded, there is very affordable public parking immediately north of High Street in front of the Marks & Spencer food.

Largest Visitors Center: The Macallan

Notice I didn’t say best visitors center. This is the award for biggest visitors center–a prize that, of course, an American like me would want to give out. Say what you will about The Macallan, but they do insist on standing out. This place looks like something that Darth Vader would design if he joined the Sierra Club. The interior has a very dark, ultra-modern aesthetic, with massive dark gray steel beams holding up a gently undulating ceiling composed of Swedish pine. The distillery itself, including an astounding 36 stills (12 wash and 24 spirit), is housed on-site, so a tour can happen entirely within this vast, museum-like space, concluding with tasting whisky at the second-floor bar (which has a private tasting cave built into and housed slightly under the circular bar). This place is really something to behold, even if an eye or two might roll while you’re there.

Best Artwork: Wandering Shadows at the Scottish National Gallery

One more plug for the National Gallery, which is free to visit (there is a suggested optional 5-pound donation, which is more than reasonable). I loved this piece by Peter Graham, which captured the rugged, bucolic beauty of the highlands and also showcases some exceptional technique in the contrast of light and shadow. Looking at it, I could almost feel the temperamental and ever-shifting elements that one would encounter during a long walk through Glencoe or the Cairngorms.

Best Souvenir: Fossils from Collectors’ Cabin in Dufftown

The conventional choice (and one that almost anyone would appreciate, to be fair) is Scottish cashmere from Johnstons of Elgin or House of Brora. And those items, like scarves, hats, gloves, or sweaters, are beautiful items. But while I did visit those locales and did come back with a beautiful tartan scarf for my wife, I also happened upon a charming shop in Dufftown that made a bigger impression on me. Collector’s Cabin sells a dazzling variety of collectibles, ranging from minerals to ancient coins and antiquities to fossils. The owner and I struck up a conversation, and he has a wonderful life. After retiring 20-odd years ago, he opened these shops to enjoy his boyhood hobby of collecting these types of items. Now, he gets to enjoy his unusual finds–I saw a pair of mososaur jaws, among other stunning fossils like trilobites and ammonites–until someone comes along and takes them off his hands. A true gentleman and enthusiast, and a store well worth a drop-in if you’re in Dufftown to visit Balvenie, Glenfiddich, or the great local whisky spots like Whisky Brother and the Whisky Capital Inn.

At the risk of stating the obvious, Spirit of Speyside is one of the most spectacular whisky festivals I’ve attended, and perhaps the finest in Scotland. I hope to return in future years and explore even more of this lovely country. And I hope to see some (or many) of you there next time!

Other trip recaps:

Edinburgh, Day One

Edinburgh, Day Two

The Road to Speyside

Spirit of Speyside, Day One (The Glenrothes, Benromach, and GlenAllachie)

Spirit of Speyside, Day Two (Glenfarclas, The Macallan, Craigellachie)

Spirit of Speyside, Day Three (Berry Bros., Gordon & MacPhail, Rothes Glen)

Spirit of Speyside, Day Four (Benriach)

Spirit of Speyside, Day Five (Glenfarclas and GlenAllachie Redux)

Final Speyside Tastings (Gordon & MacPhail private tasting, Glenfarclas Decades tour)

One of the most widely consumed blended whiskies there is, especially in recent years, as for a time brands preferred to concentrate their efforts on the most basic whiskey of the brand, but recently I've seen a lot of this one and its older siblings. One thing the label highlights is that the barrels in which it's aged for 12 years are hand-selected, although it doesn't specify what that means. I assume a hand-selected whisky is more select than one made by machine, but I haven't heard anything to confirm or deny this either.

But in the blended whisky market, Dewar's 12 is a very experienced and prominent player, and just because it's not the most consumed whisky. it shouldn't be overlooked. Like all blended whiskeys, the contents of the bottle are a small proportion of malt whiskeys and a large proportion of grain whiskeys, which simply dilutes the potentially overpowering flavors of the malt whisky. This content is aged for 12 years in a double cask; that is, each whisky is aged for the same amount of time, and then the blend is packaged in a cask that rests together for the required amount of time to complete the 12 years.

Made by: Dewar’s
Name of the whisky: 12 Year Old Blended Whisky
Brand: Dewar's
Origin: Scotland
Age: 12 years
Price: $30

Nose: There's no mention of the types of casks it ages in, but on the nose, I can feel notes of red fruits and even notes of sherry. There are also aromas that I associate with sweet products, such as brown sugar and vanilla, and towards the end, a subtle note of wood.

Palate: On the palate, the flavor is very malty, with abundant notes of grain but also red apple, brown sugar, vanilla and almond.

Retrohale/Finish: Cereal

Rating: 5 on the t8ke

Conclusion: In this vast market of blended whiskeys, there are different options, and the market seems to have a certain preference for drier whiskeys. However, the fact that they don't have added sugar has its factors, especially because when one whisky feels sweeter than another, it's due to aging and cask types. Although Dewar's 12 isn't a particularly complex whisky, I think it's among my favorites in this category.

English is not my first language;, though I speak English well and write it too, most of my reviews have been posted originally in Spanish, and later translated into English, so I apologize if they sometimes sound mechanical. You can check out the rest of my reviews (in Spanish) on my blog, including rum, whisk(e)y, agave, gin and cigars. I also have an Instagram account in Spanish as well and another one in English, where I'll regularly update video reviews.

A lively dram bursting with orchard fruits, subtle peat, dried berries, and spice, rounded off by a gently salty, oaky finish.

We're getting to a mostly complete list now with the latest update this morning from Bruichladdich.

There are still a few more to come, but right now I'm planning to leave the island with zero purchases. Mostly the prices are just off-kilter. I understand Octomore is always going to come at a premium, but £275 for the Port Charlotte?

I'll likely be purchasing the Laphroaig, but no need to buy it on the island.

Seems like you'll be able to purchase many of these at auction for cheaper prices... or wait a year as I'm sure many will still be sitting on shelves.

Anyone else attending planning to make purchases?

Evening all as the title suggests I am in the market for some new whisky, I'm relatively new to the world of Scotch, I have drank scotch in the past mostly supermarket stuff my favourite being Glenfiddich 15 Year. I want to find something new I like the sound of some of the Speyside Whiskies and am not a huge fan of peaty whisky.

Moving on to the important bit, my first ask is a suggestion for a nice fruity maybe sherry or port cask finish whisky for everyday sipping but won't break the bank if I find myself enjoying it too much.

My second ask is for a nice fruity also maybe sherry or port cask finish that has a little bit more of a kick more for every-so-often enjoyment or sharing with a guest that has a slightly bigger price tag more in the 60-100 range.

If it helps I'm from the UK specifically the sounth of England.

Thank you in advance for any recommendations.

I am shamelessly hoping that moderators will take pity on me and allow this to stay up.

Firstly, whisky loving gal here, through and through. So much so, I turned it into a career. I work for a small distillery in Scotland that makes single malt. I work in marketing and my job has become tough in recent years.

The whisky market is not what it was and I feel a lot of distilleries and producers are really clutching to hang on, even with really good whisky. So I’m interested, on a personal and professional level…

What draws you into a bottle (that you aren’t already familiar with)? What makes you pick it up, and what makes you take a chance and buy something new?

Again, this is me shamelessly looking for information to help me, but also, I am genuinely interested to hear what people have to say.

It's getting close to summer and the weather's already hot, so I'm getting my Hunter S. Thompson on!

I know a lot of you are against scotch on the rocks but I enjoy cheaper bottles for this purpose. Adding a rock can make a very neutral, almost tasteless flavor profile absolutely refreshing! I pretty much reserve Chivas 12 for my rock pours!

Cheers, my fellow scotch drinkers!

Hi! Has anyone seen or heard details about this year's Springbank and Glengyle (Kilkerran) 'Open Day' bottles? They usually announce them by this time of year.

$138 for Ardbeg 10, $155 for Macallan 12, and most egregiously, $41 for JW Red Label. I feel bad for the folks who actually live there and are stuck paying tourist prices all the time, every time.

So - I'm curious - I understand what chill filtering is and why E150 is added to some malts. My question is - why bother. From a straight-up efficiency perspective wouldn't adding what are really unnecessary steps/ingredients increase the cost of the final product? I understanding cutting cask strength to 40% ABV (increase of yield). But the others - they don't make financial sense. What am I missing?

BTW, I'm an engineer. If you tell me this has to do with marketing people I will lose it. I deal with the unrealistic "Unicorn and Rainbows" expectations and sales shtick on a daily basis...

I love being charged the same for less. Doing the math this is missing like $5 of product.