Signatory Inverleven 1977

$295.19

Founded in 1938 Inverleven Distillery was purpose built along with Dumbarton grain distillery. Inverleven was closed in 1991 and later dismantled with much of the equipment going to Bruichladdich. The distillery also had a Lomond still and produced Lomond single malt. Nose: oily and round, fudgy and soft with some vanilla and gentle fruits. Palate: soft and smooth with beautiful vanilla/orange notes that dovetail into clean, sweet lime; firm but not overpowering oak and threads of perfume. Finish: medium but light with burnt orange.

Signatory Highland Park 1990 23 Year

$274.49

Miltonduff distillery had a pair of Loch Lomond stills installed in 1964. These stills had the ability to change their shape and therefore the style of spirit they produce. In theory this allowed a single distillery to make several different types of spirit. In practice the Lomond stills were awkward and difficult to maintain. The Lomond stills at Miltonduff were replaced with tradition pot stills in 1981. Mosstowie is an exceptionally rare single malt. Nose: lots of vanilla, linseed oil, some earthy notes and a faint trace of smoke. Palate: soft, sweet and round, very malty and a lovely palate; brown sugar and spicy oak with some caramelized white fruits. Finish: clean, round and rich, with moderate length.

Suntory Yamazaki 18 Year

$95.84

Tasting Note Courtesy of Whisky Magazine: Nose: Rich and slightly sweet though with a balanced oakiness. Walk in the woods: apple and violet, an old log cabin in the summer heat. Palate: Though lighter than the nose suggests this has class. Leafy, almost mossy. Pine woods, violet again and a dusty rooty quality but sufficient sweetness to add depth and complexity. Finish: Good length. Pomegranate.

The Japanese having been making single malt whisky for more than 80 years and this is an excellent example. Matured in sherry casks it is very smooth, with raisin and sherry notes.

OMC KWM Port Ellen 25 Year

$224.99

Our private bottling of Port Ellen was selected from a number of casks belonging to Douglas Laing of Glasgow, Scotland. Matured in a Refill-Sherry Butt 210 bottles of the whisky have been bottled at a cask strength of 54.7%. Distilled in the months before Port Ellen closed its doors forever, our bottling matured 25 years before bottling.

Highland Park 40 Year

$1,854.99

My tasting note from Highland Park Distillery on Monday September 8th 2008. 48.3% Nose: strawberries and whipped cream, fresh peach, crème brule and white chocolate; palate: dark fruits in fresh whipped cream with dark chocolate, honey and smoke show up later; finish: buttery and mouthwatering with honey, fresh fruit and rich cream. As my friend Jane would say, "it tastes like more!" Although Highland Park has not positioned this whisky to be a collectible, it is beautifully packaged and a real treasure.

Bruichladdich Octomore 6.3 Islay Barley

$175.49

This is the first Octomore release produced entirely from Islay barley. The barley was grown and harvested at Lorgba, a single field on Octomore farm in 2008 by farmer James Brown. The whisky is peated to 258ppm and has been bottled at 64%. The whisky was matured 5 years in ex-Bourbon barrels.

Distiller's Tasting Note

Nose: It opens with the call of the sea, the thundering west coast waves driving a gentle mist onto the moorland and tempting the wild plants to release their unique aromas. Notes of myrtle, meadowsweet, mint and heather flowers drift across the nose. Wild thyme and red clover dance in perfect harmony with the strong uplifting peatiness of the Islay grown barley. It’s exhilarating, and seriously dramatic.

Palate: When the heat of the peat fires cool there is a spontaneous detonation of soft red grapes, cherries, Russian toffee, bitter chocolate, maple syrup and mellow oak. It is a taste like no other, a whisky cut loose, unhindered, unchanged. This is sorcery.

Finish: Long and strong, it warms the soul and lifts the heart. It evokes memories of those early years when the sweat of men instilled the spirit with a unique character. Join us as we look to the past, celebrating our Islay DNA while journeying into the future in a never-ending quest for the rainbow’s end.

Scotch Malt Whisky Society G3.6

$188.99

FASCINATING REMINDER OF A BYGONE ERA

This 33 year old single grain whisky came from a refill hogshead and is 53.2%

Flavour profile:  Old & dignified

Outturn:  197 bottles

Panel's tasting note:  "Everyone in the Panel relaxed and felt very comfortable with nosing this rare sample from the now closed Edinburgh distillery built in 1855. Very deep wood and new leather aromas are all very well integrated; smoked aromatic wood, polished wood but also freshly cut wood and sawdust. There is an underlying sweetness best described as breakfast waffles with vanilla ice cream. The taste surprises with a sweet smoke and a volcanic ashyness to start, then very smooth, floral and sweet; chocolate honeycomb, muscovado sugar and Black Jacks. With water the aroma becomes slightly chalky and soapy and the taste ashy, fruity (apples and watermelons) and a Starburst candy sweetness."

Drinking tip:  "Best enjoyed without adding water"

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 29.144

$177.29

YOU GOTTA LOVE THIS ONE

This 27 year old from Islay came from a refill hogshead and sits at 51.2%

Flavour profile:  Peated

Outturn:  275 bottles

Panel's tasting note:  "The smell made us all smile and for some there were memories of a warm sunny autumn afternoon day - peat smoke emerging from the pagoda and a fresh salty/briny breeze - standing on the pier at the distillery by ‘the beautiful hollow by the broad bay’. Freshly opened oysters, crispy seaweed and tempura prawns with a sweet chili sauce complete the kaleidoscope of aromas. Very restrained on the palate; salty and sweet popcorn, beach barbecue with langoustines and scallops as well as crispy aromatic duck. Adding water it becomes like a comfort blanket or a long soak in the bath. Sweeter and juicy to taste like a tropical fruit salad and in the finish clean peat smoke."

Drinking tip:  "If in need of a comfort blanket"

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 35.114

$170.09

A SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN

This 19 year old Speysider is 58.9% and is from a 1st fill toasted oak hogshead

Flavour profile:  Spicy & sweet

Outturn:  241 bottles

Panel's tasting note:  "Mild nosefeel and quite closed to start, then presents ‘a box of After Eight mints’ with a shake of white pepper. Soon there is a scent of Rye whiskey - coconut oil and linseed oil: oak lactones (for those who know!). The taste at full strength mirrors this: smooth, oaky, sweet and spicy in the finish – “bourbonesque’. It drinks well straight. Water advances the coconut theme – macaroons, toasted coconut, even Bounty Bar, but still with linseed oil and peppery wood spices. Soft and sweet and easy to drink; toasted marshmallows, warming syrup sponge. Much influenced by the American oak cask, but elegant: a southern gentleman in a white suit – and the initial mintiness even recalls mint juleps at the Kentucky Derby!"

Drinking tip:  "At sunrise, in paradise"