Hellyers Road 21 Year Old Peated Cask Whisky Review!

Hellyers Road has been one of the most divisive whisky brands in Australia. But now that they've split from the previous ownership, rebranded, hired a new Head Distiller, and launched a new range of whiskies including some serious age statements, could this be Tasmania's "ugly duckling" distillery? 

Hellyers Road Distillery is a little out of the way by Tasmanian standards, being in the coastal town of Burnie, around 4-hours drive north-west from Tasmanian capital city Hobart, or 1.5-hours west from second-city Launceston. The distillery was built in the late 1990s within production commencing in 1999, at a time when there were only a handful of whisky distilleries in the country and the others were all privately owned and absolutely tiny. Hellyers Road was different from the outset, being an off-shoot of large Tasmanian dairy company Betta Milk. This meant they had the finances to build a large distillery with large equipment, and they were able to lay down significant stock early-on when the competition needed to release young for cashflow reasons. Hellyers also had a visitor's centre and café/restaurant attached to the distillery, which still isn't the norm in Tasmanian & mainland Australian distilleries twenty-five years later. For a long time Hellyers was the only Tasmanian single malt exported out of Australia and the only Australian brand that was available in duty free / travel retail stores, which gained the brand an international awareness at a time when our other distilleries were largely unheard of. This was Australia's largest distillery for almost two decades, really until Starward and Archie Rose came along over 15-years later. Prior to those large players coming of age Hellyers was the cheapest Australian single malt on the market, often with significant age statements that early competitors couldn't get near. As an example, back in those early days - admittedly over ten years ago - the flagship Hellyers Road 10-year old at 46.2% ABV in a 700ml bottle was selling for $80 AUD, which was less than half the price of most competing brands that were often half the age and in 500ml bottles. Even now the new Hellyers flagship "Double Cask" at 46.2% ABV retails for $120 AUD in a 700ml bottle, where the more famous Tasmanian names are far higher - Lark's entry level "Classic Cask" single malt is now over $200 AUD in a 500ml bottle at only 43% ABV, and Sullivan's Cove's entry level Double Cask single malt is north of $250 - albeit at a higher strength of 47.5% and in a 700ml bottle. 

Today Hellyers Road produces around 500,000 bottles annually, but the only pure alcohol (LAL) capacity figure that I can find is 160,000-litres, which seems a little low and doesn't quite add up to the bottle figure. One crucial difference with Hellyers Road is that they have always brewed their own wash from the get-go, when many other distilleries were - or still are - buying wash from external commercial breweries for distillation. There is only one pair of stills here, but they're both massive, by far the largest in our industry - the wash still has a capacity of 60,000-litres and the spirit still is 20,000-litres! For reference this is far larger than the stills at Islay's largest distillery, Diageo's Caol Ila, which has 19,000-litre wash stills and 12,000-litre spirit stills, although they have three of each and boast an annual production capacity of 6.5-million litres! So Hellyers is much smaller than the giant of Islay, but is still equipped with massive equipment. Interestingly, and controversially, those two very large stills are made mostly from stainless steel rather than copper, with only the neck, lyne arm, and condenser being copper. I don't exactly know why they made this decision over 25-years ago, but we can safely assume it was due to both cost and to the distillery's dairy industry owners having the connections for stainless steel fabrication, which is very different to working with copper. Looking at these behemoth pieces of equipment pictured below, they more closely resemble dairy storage vats than the traditional pear-shaped pot stills that we're used to seeing in malt whisky production, which would explain why they're so unnecessarily gigantic. Thanks to their huge size, shape, and very slow distillation speeds - one distillation run takes two full days, roughly 50-hours! - they do have very high levels of reflux where the lighter compounds in the vapour condense back into liquid and fall back in to the body of the still, but due to the construction there still isn't a lot of copper interaction taking place. 

Hellyers Road's huge stainless steel still with copper neck, lyne arm & condenser. 

This crucial difference, among other factors, has historically given the spirit a rather unique - some would say challenging - flavour profile. Butyric acid (in this case often heading to the sour "vomit" end of that spectrum), sulphur, and metallic notes were the commonly seen descriptors thanks to that lower level of copper interaction. Those "challenging" notes also weren't obscured by the high levels of cask influence that most Australian whiskies were presenting at the time, thanks to the other distilleries using small format casks. Right from the start Hellyers Road bucked the trend and exclusively used larger format casks, and chiefly ex-bourbon rather than port (tawny) and apera (sherry). At a time when most Australian distilleries - Bakery Hill and more latterly Sullivan's Cove are the exceptions that come to mind - were using 20-litre or 50-litre casks, Hellyers was filling 125-300-litre casks, which left more of that rather odd spirit character on show. Some liked the unusual flavour profile, but the majority did not, which didn't do the distillery any favours in the PR department in those earlier years. Many Scotch whisky distilleries produce a sulphurous spirit by design, where that heavier style is counteracted by longer maturation, arguably resulting (if & when the plan comes together) in a more characterful whisky at the end of the tunnel. The way to change or reduce this sulphurous character, without switching to copper stills at least, is to increase the amounts of reflux, and to increase maturation time. Since separating from Betta Milk in 2019 and more recently with a new Head Distiller coming onboard, Hellyers Road have altered their distillation regimen by reducing speeds and fill levels, also adding copper plates inside the wash still for increased copper contact. They've also switched to using more charred casks and also longer ageing in some cases, which brings us to today's principle subject - their 21-year old Peated Cask. 

I have to admit that I didn't realise Hellyers Road had whisky stocks at this sort of age, let alone multiple releases at this sort of age! They actually have two 21-year old bottlings currently on the market, alongside a 20-year old and two 19-year olds, and one of those 19-year olds is peated which makes that bottling the oldest peated Australian single malt ever released! These sorts of ages are quite the rarity in Australian whisky, since due to their very small size and independent ownership most distilleries bottled young for cashflow reasons, and because the smaller casks were overwhelming the spirit very quickly. Only two distilleries come to mind as having released comparatively older single malts thus far; Sullivan's Cove released a 24-year old last year and have another on the way shortly, while Scottish independent bottler Cadenhead's have released 24-year old and 23-year old single casks from the mysterious Cradle Mountain / Small Concern Distillery. I can't find pricing on the latter as they were released some time ago and were matured and bottled in Scotland and thus shouldn't really be included. But the previous Sullivan's Cove 24-year old single cask was around $2,500 AUD and sold out very quickly. That may sound like a huge amount of money, probably because it is a huge amount of money, but that was the oldest official bottling of Tasmanian single malt released to date, and from the states' highest profile distillery - possibly the country's highest profile distillery. On the other hand this 21-year old Hellyers Road is nearly half that amount, at $1,350 AUD, which is still a lot of coin compared to similarly aged whiskies from Scotland, but for a "new world" whisky that isn't beyond reason. As an aside, the oldest Indian single malt released to date, Amrut's "Greedy Angels" 12-year old limited release, was priced at around $1,000 USD ($1,600 AUD) when it was released back in 2017, which would of course be even higher if released today. Likewise Teeling's 30-year old Irish single malt was $2,500 AUD back in 2022. Both of those "world whisky" examples are from much larger companies than what we have here in Australia, so it's all relative! This 21-year old Peated Cask Hellyers Road has won "Best Australian Single Malt" at the 2025 World Whiskies Awards, which is the same awards program that helped put Tasmanian whisky on the world stage back in 2014 when a single cask of Sullivan's Cove won "World's Best Single Malt". So the win with this 21-year old should help get Hellyers Road back on whisky fans' radars!

This 21-year old Hellyers Road Peated Cask Finish (distilled around 2003) was matured for 17-years in multiple ex-bourbon barrels before being vatted together and filled into an ex-Hellyers Road Peated 7-year old cask for a further 4-years of maturation. While there is a cask number printed on the label of this 21-year old, this Hellyers release is not labelled as a single cask since multiple casks were filled in to that one ex-peated cask, which is nicely transparent. This is an unpeated single malt that has been secondary matured in an ex-peated single malt cask, rather than being peated spirit from the outset - if you ask me it shouldn't be labelled as "Peated" on the label as you can see below, "Peated Cask" would've been more transparent which is explained in the smaller print on the label. I'll be the first to admit that I don't think peated cask finishes don't always work, in many cases there just isn't enough cask influence from what is essentially a refill cask that may have already been tired prior to filling with peated spirit. But when you're talking about one distillery tipping their own peated spirit out of a cask and then filling that cask with unpeated spirit, that's a different story. Ex-peated malt casks don't get much fresher than that, and if you're after cask influence it'll always be better than shipping a refill cask from the other side of the world! As an aside, the peated spirit from Hellyers Road is distilled from peated Scottish barley sourced from Inverness, like the vast majority of peated Australian whisky since we don't have many local maltsters willing to do small runs of peated malt. This particular ex-peated cask was previously used for Hellyers' flagship peated expression, the 7-year old. 

The distillery was generous enough to send me a sample of this 21-year old Peated Cask for this review, via their Sales & Events Manager David DeBattista who was formerly with Launceston Distillery. 301 bottles of this 21-year old were released at the natural cask strength of 52.5% ABV, with no chill filtration or added colouring. This is the first of the "new breed" of Hellyers Road expressions that I've reviewed, in fact I've only tried one or two Hellyers whiskies in the last decade. I will admit that I was not a fan of the brand back in the day, however, during my visit to the distillery in 2014 they offered hand-filled 500ml bottlings at cask strength, which were far, far better than any of the range offered for sale in the shop. They completely changed my opinion of the distillery for the better, and since then I've been waiting for the brand's official bottlings to close that gap. Based on what I've heard and read since Hellyers Road rebranded and relaunched back in 2021, it certainly seems like that's finally happening and the consistency of their whiskies is much improved. Speaking of which, if you'd like more information on the rest of the Hellyers Road range I highly recommend reading Andrew's recent article over at Whisky & Wisdom, where he's delved further into the distillery's history and their recent relaunch, as well as speedy reviews of a whopping 14 different expressions! He didn't get to this 21-year old Peated Cask though... so I'll be taking it from here!

Hellyers Road 21-year old Peated Cask, 52.5%. Tasmania, Australia.

Unpeated spirit matured in ex-bourbon barrels for 17-years, vatted together and filled into ex-Hellyers Road peated single malt cask for 4-years secondary maturation. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 301 bottles, cask number 20F05C01. 

Colour: Pale amber. 

Nose: Earthy, nutty, oily, and slightly coastal. And there's definitely some peat! Earthy, ashy, coastal peat, macadamia oil, thick honey, butterscotch, and drying sea salt. Orange peel, fresh stone fruit. Bushfire smoke (herbs & eucalypts included), iodine / disinfectant and slight mineral notes in the background. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Oily, surprisingly peaty & smoky again! Slight heat but it works well. 

Taste: Oily, smoky entry followed by spicy & earthy peat, more macadamia oil, honeyed stewed stone fruit, a little toasted oak, and drying sea salt. Ashy, bushfire smoke, those herbal & eucalypt notes again, and a slight touch of liquorice. 

Finish: Long length. Over-salted caramel, hot wood embers, bushfire smoke again. Slightly leathery & woody. Light orchard fruits and macadamia oil before the ashy peat and bushfire smoke take over again. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: OK, this is without doubt the peatiest "peated cask" whisky I've tasted to date! It's not just a one-trick pony, there are plenty of other things going on, but the level of peat influence here was a surprise! So much so that I reached out to David to doublecheck that I hadn't misinterpreted the slightly confusing labelling and this wasn't actually peated spirit in addition to the peated cask secondary maturation. But no, I had interpreted it correctly, it's an unpeated spirit with those four years spent in an ex-peated whisky cask. Obviously our climate is much more active than that of Scotland, even down in Burnie, but that's the advantage of having your own peated whisky on hand, there's no need to wait for overseas shipping while that precious peat influence dissipates or even disappears altogether. That freshly emptied cask has really made itself known here!

Like I mentioned above, it's been a while since I've tasted anything from Hellyers Road. This is by far my favourite of the distillery's work to date, even trouncing the previous leader which was the peated bottling that I filled from the cask back in 2014. There's a great oiliness here that I'd have to attribute to the heavier, more sulphurous style of spirit that just needs time in the right cask to help tell its story. Meanwhile the bushfire, macadamia, and eucalyptus notes really cement this as an ex-bourbon cask Australian & Tasmanian single malt that has spent such a long time maturing in our climate. Some of our best well-aged whiskies tend to have those notes to them, particularly when careful cask management hasn't allowed to overshadow the whisky's character. Which is what's happened here, with the addition of a healthy serving of peat! Thanks to David and the Hellyers team for the tasty sample. 

Cheers!

Cadenhead's Springbank 11-Year Old & Cadenhead's Kilkerran 8-Year Old Whisky Reviews!

Two semi-independent Cadenhead's bottlings from Campbeltown, an 11-year old ex-bourbon cask Springbank from the "Original Collection" at 46%, and an 8-year old sherry cask Kilkerran from the "Authentic Collection" at 59.5% - which is heavily peated!

Springbank Distillery, Glengyle Distillery (producing Kilkerran whisky), and independent bottler WM Cadenhead's are all owned by the same company, Campbeltown's J&A Mitchell. Cadenhead's are allocated one cask per year from each of the company's single malt whisky brands; Springbank, Longrow, Hazelburn, and Kilkerran. Cadenhead's are the oldest independent bottler in Scotland, originally founded in 1842 in Aberdeen on the east coast, passing through different hands before being acquired by J&A Mitchell in the 1970s, and subsequently being relocated to Campbeltown. For many years the original Campbeltown store was home to the famous Springbank "Cage" and the "Living Casks" demijohns, but both were relocated to the Springbank Distillery shop a few years ago, leaving the original shop dedicated to Cadenhead's' own products. There are also Cadenhead's shops in Edinburgh and London, although a few years ago there were six Cadenhead's franchises in mainland Europe. In mid-2022 the company announced that these six stores would no longer be Cadenhead's franchises, and they were required to have all signage and associations removed by mid-2023. It's always sad to see a company make this sort of move, particularly one that isn't large enough to buy out their franchise owners, which leaves those owners on their own after many years of loyal support and brand-building. Obviously this move didn't win Cadenhead's any new fans in Europe, and it happened around the same time as the company dropped the majority of cask strength bottlings from their range, switching to 46.0% ABV for most releases save for the Cadenhead's shop-exclusive bottlings and some of the limited releases. 

The Springbank that we have here is an 11-year old that was matured in an ex-bourbon cask and bottled in January 2023, and it's one of the very few Cadenhead's Springbanks to be bottled at "only" 46% ABV. There's nothing wrong with 46% ABV as a strength of course, but since that change mentioned above that figure attracts controversy when discussing Cadenhead's bottlings. That's because up until early 2022 they bottled almost everything at cask strength - well, almost all of the single malt, anyway. Fans of the brand will remember the Small Batch bottlings of single malt & single grain with the black labels or the gold labels for the single cask bottlings, both of which were always cask strength. These used to be the entry-level Cadenhead's independent bottlings which then gave way to the "Original Collection" with the grey labels, which are all diluted down to 46% ABV. Essentially they replaced their widely available cask strength range with 46.0%, and now the only way to purchase a Cadenhead's bottling at cask strength was to source one of the "Authentic Collection" bottles that are only sold at Cadenhead's' own stores, or the occasional "Enigma" mystery bottling or limited release. The three remaining Cadenhead's company-owned stores are the only physical stores where you can purchase Cadenhead's at cask strength, while the company supplies the Cadenhead's Club members directly through their own website. Unlike the Springbank Society which closed to new members during the pandemic, the Cadenhead's Club is still operating, offering lifetime membership for a £75 GBP fee which gets you early access to their releases, plus the occasional exclusive bottling - provided you're in a country that they can ship to. Membership also gets you two free tastings per year, provided you can get to either Campbeltown or London to attend those tastings. 

The second example that we have here is a heavily peated 8-year old Kilkerran that was matured in an ex-Oloroso sherry butt and bottled in April 2024. While they're both very much Campbeltown malts, Kilkerran (from Glengyle Distillery) is obviously quite a different spirit to Springbank, being "only" double distilled and in more modern & conventional equipment than its older stablemate. That difference is more pronounced when it comes to the heavily peated Kilkerrans, which unlike the standard lightly peated spirit is distilled from commercially malted barley sourced from the mainland - only the first batch of Heavily Peated was distilled from barley floor-malted at Springbank, subsequent batches of spirit were distilled from mainland peated malt. This Cadenhead's release is a single cask labelled as "Natural Strength", 59.5% ABV in this case, which makes it part of the Authentic Collection. This is only the second heavily peated Kilkerran that Cadenhead's have bottled to date, with the first example being exclusive to the company's Campbeltown store, and it's one of the oldest age-stated heavily peated Kilkerrans we've seen. This is one of the few heavily peated Kilkerrans to be matured solely in ex-sherry casks, with most official bottlings predominantly using ex-bourbon casks with a smaller proportion of ex-sherry. The only official example I can think of is the Online Tasting Week 5-year old special release from 2021, which was a small batch of 1,300 bottles. This Cadenhead's single cask seems to be a refill Oloroso sherry butt, with a yield of 606 bottles, which should be a bit more measured in cask influence than the Online Tasting Week. 

Both of these samples came from a generous fellow whisky nerd over in New Zealand, who I finally had the pleasure of meeting at DramFest earlier this year. Which was a brilliant event by the way. Let's get into these samples!

Cadenhead's Springbank 11-year old, 46.0% ABV. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Cadenhead's "Original Collection", ex-bourbon casks, bottled January 2023. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Medium gold. 

Nose: Clean, fresh, and zesty. Green apple, sweet & sharp lemon curd, aniseed. Golden malted barley and a little chalky minerality. Mint chocolate (spearmint?) around the edges. Touches of dried flowers, hessian sacking, and white pepper. Muddy / earthy clay notes building slightly with more time but subtle, still quite clean overall. 

Texture: Medium weight. Oily, malty, lightly spicy. No heat. 

Taste: Malty, oily, clean. Malted barley again with a drizzle of honey now. Spearmint milk chocolate, muddy & earthy notes again, but clean/fresh - modelling clay? Lemon oil, touch of marzipan, white pepper. 

Finish: Short length. Chalky minerality & that modelling clay carry over, plus a little lemon oil & runny honey. White pepper again. Slight touch of vanilla & marzipan cake icing to finish. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. Only just. 

Notes: The cleaner & lighter style of Springbank that isn't often seen in official bottlings. Probably more associated with Hazelburn these days in fact. But younger ex-bourbon Springbanks can show this lighter & cleaner side on occasion, and it's no bad thing! In fact there are shades of the 1980s 8-year old Japanese bottling (reviewed here) in this 11-year old, albeit with a little more body in this modern example which is probably down to the higher ABV of 46% over 43% - both are non-chill filtered. The finish does fall over quite quickly in this one, but it's a nice easy-drinking Springbank that won't be too challenging for anyone. However, I wouldn't be paying more for it than the regular 10yo official bottling, and the secondary pricing on this one seems to be a little silly...

Cadenhead's Kilkerran 8-year old Heavily Peated, 59.5% ABV. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Distilled 2015, matured in single ex-Oloroso sherry butt, bottled April 2024. Non-chill filtered, natural colour, 606 bottles. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Dirty, fatty, herbal, intense. Fatty uncooked smoked bacon, hay, lemon peel, Terry's chocolate orange! Burnt herbs, old rubber, greasy farmyard machinery. Power saw lubricant. Grassy & greasy smoke, damp rock pools, sheep's wool. A very eclectic collection of big flavours, but it works! 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Smoky, fatty, herbal. No heat. 

Taste: Sweet & smoky, fatty & herbal. Bacon grease, clean rubber, ashy peat, mixed berry syrup. Sheep's wool, machine oils, greasy rags. Dried oranges. Runny honey. Bonkers! 

Finish: Medium-long length. Candied orange peel, berry syrup, greasy & oily rags, new carpet. Burnt herbs. Runny honey, black pepper, new rubber, burnt bacon grease. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Absolutely crazy dram! The "standard" heavily peated Kilkerrans can also be a little crazy at times, but this Cadenhead's bottling takes it to the next level. It works, just in a crazy Campbeltown way with a fascinating combination of flavours & aromas. Plenty of complexity for a relatively young age like most 8-year old Kilkerrans to date, and it hides the ABV quite well. I do wonder where Kilkerran Heavily Peated will go from here, it certainly doesn't seem to need more age than this, even the (generally) younger official bottlings rarely seem immature. In fact some of these young releases are outshining some of the standard lightly peated releases, which I didn't think would happen so quickly. Heavily peated Kilkerran is definitely one to watch! 

The concept behind these Cadenhead's independent bottlings from Springbank & Glengyle (Kilkerran) still has me slightly conflicted. When the official bottlings of single malt are already naturally presented (no colouring or chill filtering, good ABV) and are extremely flavourful with plenty of variety in the range, the need for independent bottlings isn't really there. Even more so when the independent bottler is owned by the distillery or vice versa - much like Adelphi bottlings of Ardnamurchan or Signatory bottlings of Edradour, it's a little confusing. But when the independent bottler, regardless of ownership, can still present a different style and/or an unusual flavour profile compared to the official bottlings, like Cadenhead's has with these two examples, that's more than enough reason for me!

Cheers!

Signatory Vintage Old School Malt 31-Year Old Whisky Review!

A 31-year old blended malt from Signatory Vintage, matured in ex-sherry casks (for 26-years!) with only 1,148 bottles released. This is basically independent bottler Signatory's answer to the legendary Samaroli's / Masam's "No Age" blended malts - should be good!

Oh no, the dreaded "B word". Is there a dirtier word than "blended" in the wide world of whisky? Even here in 2025 when clarity is a simple google search away, there's a still a huge amount of confusion surrounding the definitions of whisky labelling. Even among the whisky drinking folk there is constant confusion about the meaning of "single" - social media is awash with people thinking that a single grain whisky can only be made from one type of grain, rather than meaning any non-malt whisky produced at a single distillery. While attending a whisky show recently I was told that a popular blended Scotch whisky contained "just single casks of distillery x" blended together, which would make it a single malt. Thankfully that was from one of the show's volunteers from a local whisky club, rather than a representative of the brand. The rise of the blended malt - a blend of malt whiskies from two or more different distilleries that was until 2018 known as a "pure malt" or "vatted malt" - over the last decade or so has only worsened this confusion, since most buyers don't know the difference and many will simple see the word "blended" and run in the opposite direction. The wording of the SWA's regulations don't really help either, reading more like a military manual than a buyer's guide. The simplest explanation is; malt whisky can only be made from malted barley and can only be distilled in pot stills, if a whisky doesn't meet these criteria then it can only be a grain whisky or a blended whisky. A single malt must meet those malt whisky criteria and be produced at one single distillery. A single grain whisky is any whisky made at one single distillery that is not a single malt or a blend. If a whisky is not made entirely at one distillery then it's a blend, if that blend is all malt whisky then it's a blended malt, and if there's both malt whisky and grain whisky in that blend then it's a blended Scotch. Things can get much murkier when we're talking about whisky from other countries. Ireland and the EU use regulations that are very similar to that of Scotch whisky, whereas Australia has extremely loose definitions which then aren't enforced. But let's not get into that today...

The "B word" gets a bad wrap partly because of marketing, and partly because the low-end blends can be nasty when purchased for the wrong purpose - by which I mean, purchased with the unrealistic expectation of that low-end blend equalling a more expensive product that is aimed at a different market. Just as there are single malts that are below average quality, there are blended whiskies that are below average quality. Yes, in blends that average is lower, but so is the pricing. Cheap blends are meant for mixing or to be used in highballs and cocktails, but there are high-end blends - and blended malts in particular - that can absolutely stand up to single malts, often with significant age statements and natural presentation (decent bottling strength, no colouring, and no chill filtration). The Samaroli/Masam "No Age" blended malts that I mentioned above are a brilliant example, since they contained single malts that would be unaffordable on their own. I've reviewed the 2020 cask strength bottling here if you'd like more details on that one. The subject of this review seems to be a similar idea from independent bottler & Edradour Distillery owners Signatory Vintage, except it has an age statement - a whopping 31-years of age, which is the age of the youngest component in the blend. Just like those Samaroli/Masam blends there's an extensive list here telling us which distilleries' whiskies were involved in this Signatory blend, and again there are some legendary names included. Obviously there could be tiny amounts of some or most components included - the SWA does prohibit producers listing proportions and ages of their blend recipes, after one of their corporate members complained about blender Compass Box including their exact recipes on their packaging. Still, a list of distilleries is better than nothing!

This is a 31-year old blended malt (all malt whiskies, no grain whisky) that was vatted together when the youngest component was 5-years of age, with the blend then matured in sherry butts for a further 26-years. The back label states that there are 104 different single malts in this blend, and it lists all of those 104 distilleries in alphabetical order. I'm not going to name them all, but there are plenty of standout names including closed distilleries like Banff, Caperdonich, Convalmore, Dallas Dhu, Glen Mhor, Imperial, Littlemill, Linlithgow (St. Magdalene), and the now-revived trifecta of Brora, Port Ellen, and Rosebank. The list also includes obscure long-lost distilleries like Coleburn, Dunglass (peated spirit from Littlemill!), Glen Albyn, Glenugie, Glenlochy, Killyloch (a lightly peated Lowland), Lochside, and Millburn, some of which were never bottled as a single malt in their own right. The 31-year age statement is the age of the youngest liquid in this blend as per the regulations, but many of those dead distilleries listed above closed in 1983, which means that those particular components were at least 40-years of age when this whisky was bottled in 2024. Looking even closer, some of the more obscure components would have to be even older, such as Dunglass which was only produced briefly in the late 1960s, and Killyloch in the Lowlands which stopped producing in the early 1970s. So both of those component malts would likely be more than 50-years old. Naturally there won't be large amounts of those malts in this blend, with a total release of 1,148 x 700ml bottles, or 803-litres, at a natural strength of 43.5% ABV. But it's still a very impressive and enticing list! This 31-year old blended malt seems to still be available in Britain, at around £280 - not cheap, but seems reasonable for the age and the rarity of some of the contents. Let's get to it!

Signatory Vintage Old School Malt, Blended Malt, 31-years old, 43.5% ABV. Scotland.

104 distilleries' malt whiskies vatted together at minimum 5-years of age, then matured in sherry butts for a further 26-years, bottled 2024. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 1,148 bottles. 

Colour: Copper. 

Nose: Fruity, savoury, spicy. Walnuts, red apple skins, aniseed, old leather. Dried apricot & nectarine, and bitter orange. Touch of baking spices - nutmeg, slight ginger. Dusty old library, oily furniture polish. Touches of melted butter, pie crust, and wood chips. Leaf litter (e.g. forest floor) around the edges. 

Texture: Medium weight. Soft & savoury, fruity, spices. No heat. 

Taste: Savoury & leathery. Lots of old leather, stewed stone fruit, baking spices, and walnuts. Touch of almond paste (not sweet like marzipan), aniseed, and toffee fudge in the background. 

Finish: Short-medium length. More dried orchard fruit & stewed stone fruit, and more old leather. Cigar box (tobacco & wood), black pepper. Vanilla pod & butterscotch in the background. Raisins & a hint of rye bread (pumpernickel) to finish. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Nice old sherried malt. Certainly does seem quite "old school" like it says on the tin! This is an extremely different proposition to the Samaroli / Masam "No Age" blends though, they were entirely spirit driven while this Signatory has plenty of sherry cask influence - which is a given after 26-years of maturation in sherry casks! The sherry influence here is more savoury, more nutty, and more "old school" than the more modern, cleaner, brighter sherry influence that we might be more familiar with. If I was tasting this blind I'd have guessed it to be an older Glenfarclas family cask, maybe with a dash of Mortlach thrown in for good measure. Maybe we would have gotten more spirit character coming through without such a long period in sherry casks or with some time in refill casks, but it's a very complicated blend regardless - 104 different distilleries - so that doesn't really matter. Besides, Signatory Vintage do love a sherry-led whisky!

Cheers!

Single Malts of Scotland Islay 30 Year Old Whisky Review!

A mystery Islay single malt from independent bottler Single Malts of Scotland, part of their "Marriage of Casks" series of older-aged small batch releases, at a whopping 30-years of age!

Despite the fact that casks of any Islay single malt are becoming harder to source and much more expensive, it seems just about every independent bottler has released at least one cask of 25-30 year old Islay during the last few years. Whereas the majority of younger mystery Islay single malts tend to be Caol Ila, purely by volume and availability, these older rarer examples seem to be different - they seem to be from the southern distilleries, and mostly from one in particular. This is all speculation really since aside from a few subtle hints from insiders we don't really know which distillery the cask or casks were sourced from, but given the flavour profiles it does make sense. It is of course possible that some were sourced from different distilleries, but having been lucky to enough to try older whiskies from all-but-one of the Islay distilleries, which take on quite distinctive characters at these sort of ages, I believe most of them to be Laphroaig. Bunnahabhain and Bruichladdich are mostly unpeated, and particularly were 25-30 years ago compared to the current day, so we can basically discount those two, particularly given Bruichladdich's closure around that time. Bowmore tends to lean more floral and is much more lightly peated, and Ardbegs of this age would be far more expensive and much more scarce thanks to the distillery's history around that time - having reopened in 1997. That essentially leaves Caol Ila, Lagavulin, and Laphroaig as potential candidates. Lagavulin is the one example where I haven't tasted enough 25-30-year old examples to know, aside from one cask sample during the distillery's warehouse tasting. Caol Ila tends to become more herbal and drier at these ages, but it's also quite the chameleon. Laphroaig though is more predictable at these advanced ages, particularly in ex-bourbon and/or refill casks. At around 25-years it starts to become lighter and more floral, less peaty and less medicinal, and at ages beyond that the tropical fruit characteristics grow as much as the phenolics tend to subside. Again, this is all really just speculation, but I would guess this one to be a Laphroaig. Regardless, it's an Islay single malt (malt whisky from one distillery), and most importantly it's delicious!

Smaller bottlers like Whisky Jury, Thompson Brothers, Whisky Sponge, and also Signatory Vintage all released single casks of these advanced aged "undisclosed" Islay single malts between 2021-2024, all aged 26-31 years and at similar ABVs and broadly similar pricing at launch ($600-900 AUD). That would make me think that a private cask owner or cask broker has gotten their hands on a "parcel" of casks from one particular source. Pricing however has climbed up since the earlier days of these independent releases, but so have the advanced-age official bottlings which are now stupidly expensive. The one exception in Australia is the 25-year old official bottling, which was recently cleared by the local importer and could be found for retail sale as low as $375 AUD, which is roughly half of the regular pricing. That's because Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA), the current Australian distributor, is selling at below cost to clear their inventory before Beam Suntory begins direct distribution in mid-2025. And rather than working out a deal to sell their stock to Beam Suntory, CCA decided to flood the market with stock at drastically reduced pricing, which isn't going to make it easy for the new operation after takeover. I would not want to be a Beam Suntory sales rep walking in to a retailer with Laphroaig or Yamazaki when that customer will have paid far less during the runout sale; they'll have an uphill battle for a while there! And even if the retailers have sold the reduced stock by then, the bars and end users (us!) either won't have finished their bottles or won't be in any hurry to replace them at double the price. 

Single Malts of Scotland is one of the independent bottling brands from Elixir Distillers, alongside the Elements of Islay blended malts and the Port Askaig Islay single malts, and Black Tot Rum. Elixir are the former owners of The Whisky Exchange (which is now owned by Pernod Ricard) who now own Tormore Distillery in Speyside and are currently building Islay's tenth distillery Portintruan. Single Malts of Scotland has become more prominent in the last few years, from the entry-level small batch "Reserve Casks" series, to the cask strength single casks, to the "Marriage of Casks" series, and then the top-end "Director's Special" bottlings which are personally selected by Sukhinder Singh. As you can guess from the name, rather than being single cask bottlings the Marriage of Casks releases are small batches of 1-3 casks married together, and reduced in ABV to 47.5%. This one was a very generous birthday present from some great mates which I opened & shared on the spot, and it's definitely deserving of a review! This 30-year old Islay single malt was matured in two refill ex-bourbon barrels and one refill sherry butt, vatted together and bottled in early 2023 at the slightly-reduced ABV of 47.5%. Naturally it's non-chill filtered and natural colour. Let's give it a whirl!

Single Malts of Scotland Islay 30-year old, 47.5%. Islay, Scotland.

Anonymous / undisclosed Islay distillery, single malt matured in 2 x refill ex-bourbon barrels and 1 x refill sherry butt. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Peaty, fruity, buttery. Dry ashy peat, ripe mango spread over toast, with melting salted butter. Oyster shells, olive brine, and tar alongside. Some old natural rope & salt-crusted driftwood around the edges. Fresh pineapple juice, a touch of crystallised ginger, and candied lemon peel. Warm caramel fudge, seaweed, and black pepper further in. 

Texture: Medium weight. Soft & buttery. Sweet, fruity, ashy. No heat at all. 

Taste: Sweet buttery & fruity entry - is mango butter a thing? If not, then it should be! Then a wave of warm ashy & dry earthy peat. Melted salted butter, crystallised ginger, and candied lemon again. Soft ashy peat runs underneath pineapple juice, toasted oak, and a touch of cinnamon. 

Finish: Long length. Soft earthy & ashy peat carries through, some cigar smoke this time too. Oyster shells & seaweed behind that, with sea salt caramel sauce. Mango, pineapple, and pawpaw / papaya. Touches of tar, mothballs (camphor), and a little leather to finish. 

Score: 4.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Just a lovely dram! Older Islays can be a minefield of disappointment and over-casking, and over-pricing, but they can also be utterly fantastic. In fact older (25+) Laphroaigs seem to be the more consistent, at least when looked after properly - i.e. no hasty finishing or overly assertive casks! When treated well they can often develop this fantastic sweet fruitiness, without losing the phenolics for balance. Which is exactly what we have here! This 30-year old Single Malts of Scotland is a complex, soft, and supple dram which is still evolving 3.5-months after opening. The balance here is just spot-on. Great work Elixir Distillers - these people know their way around Islay whiskies!

Cheers!

Cadenhead's Mortlach 13 Year Old Whisky Review!

A 13-year old single cask Mortlach from independent bottler Cadenhead's, bottled in 2017 during their 175th anniversary. This is how "The Beast of Dufftown" should be treated!

Image c/- scotchwhisky.com

Like many of Diageo's underappreciated distilleries, for many years there was only one option for lovers of Speyside's Mortlach Distillery; the independent bottlers. The likes of Signatory Vintage and particularly Gordon & MacPhail have bottled some excellent Mortlachs, including the 15-year old in their "Distillery Labels" range which was basically a surrogate official bottling. It was these independent bottlings that earned Mortlach's reputation amongst whisky aficionados, something that it continues to enjoy today. Diageo did release a Flora & Fauna bottling in the mid-2000s that is reported to be one of the best in that rather large range of semi-core range bottlings, which is now reflected in its rarity and the pricing on the secondary market. The gigantic drinks corporation did eventually realise what they were squandering by only tipping Mortlach malt in to their blended products, and in 2014 they decided to release a small range of single malt official bottlings. Unfortunately they made a complete hash of it by only presenting it in 500ml bottlings, pricing it too highly, adding artificially colouring, and chill filtering, and only bottling it at 43.4% ABV - with the exception of one travel retail (duty free) exclusive and a couple of cask strength bottlings in their annual Special Releases program in 2021. Unfortunately they also made a complete hash of those by snorting a little cocaine before deciding on their pricing, which saw non-age statement bottlings from a relatively obscure distillery priced at $350-400 AUD. Mortlach did also make an appearance in the corporation's Game of Thrones bottlings, surprisingly bottled at 46% ABV and in 700ml format, but I'm yet to try that one. Diageo did realise their mistake with the core range bottlings, re-launching them in 700ml bottles a few years later. Unfortunately they decided to stick with the 43.4% ABV, even in the $350 AUD 20-year old bottling, and left their standard artificial colouring and chill filtration practices in place. Which is where the official single malt bottlings still remain today, after some inevitable price rises of course. 

Mortlach enjoys the reputation it does because of the style of its single malt, which is heavy, meaty, sulphurous, and characterful, hence the colloquial nickname "The Beast of Dufftown" since it's easily the heaviest single malt produced in that area. This is also why the distillery's malt was highly prized for blended whiskies, adding weight and texture. In my experience Mortlach tends to work particularly well in ex-Oloroso sherry casks, which is something that Diageo are yet to give us - even in the massively overpriced Special Releases, where they've instead used wine casks, virgin oak casks, and even port & muscat fortified wine casks. Silly pricing aside, that may be the idea behind most of the bottlings in the Special Releases range, but it's not what we whisky geeks want! Mortlach is unrecognisable compared to its more famous Dufftown neighbours; Glenfiddich and Balvenie, and it's nearly 65-years older than Glenfiddich, having been founded in 1823. 100-years later the distillery was sold to John Walker (yes, that one) & Sons, which became part of DCL a few years later, which in turn became part of Diageo. Annual output is a relatively large 3.7-million litres of spirit, achieved through six large wooden washbacks and six pot stills, a relatively short fermentation time of 53-hours (roughly half of most modern distilleries) and a relatively fast distillation speed. That heavy, meaty, sulphurous character in the Mortlach spirit is partly down to the externally-located worm tub condensers fitted to all six stills, but the fermentation and distillation times also have an impact, as does the shape & design of the stills, and the distillery's unique distillation regimen which has been in place since the late 1890s! Mortlach's spirit is distilled a sum total of 2.81-times, through a complicated and very convoluted system. 

The very-short version is that some of the final spirit has been distilled twice, some three times, and some four times, resulting in a mathematical total of 2.81-times. The less-short version is that the heads & tails from two of the three wash stills are combined with the heads & tails from two of the three spirit stills, with that liquid then being filled into the first spirit still, affectionately dubbed "Wee Witchie" thanks to it resembling a witches' hat in shape. But that's not where the weirdness ends, because nothing is collected from this spirit still during after that distillation run! Instead this first distillation run is a "blind run" or "dud run" where no cuts are taken before it is run again, and the entire contents have been distilled a second time in the same still. So some of the resulting spirit has been distilled three times - once through a wash still, then twice through Wee Witchie - and some has been distilled four times - once through a wash still, once through another spirit still, and then twice through Wee Witchie. As for the third wash still and the third spirit still, those two are paired together and are operated conventionally, meaning the heart of that spirit run was only distilled twice. Like I said, rather convoluted, and the resulting heavy & meaty spirit is not recommended for beginners who might be expecting a light, sweet, and fruity Speyside dram like those produced up the road!

This particular Mortlach is a 13-year old single cask bottling from Cadenhead's, the independent bottler owned by J&A Mitchell, the company behind Springbank and Glengyle (producing Kilkerran) distilleries. This is Scotland's oldest independent bottler, having been founded in 1842! This 13-year old was distilled in 2003 and was initially matured in a refill hogshead (250-litre cask) for roughly 11-years before being filled into a first-fill Oloroso sherry cask of the same size. It spent roughly 3.5-years in that sherry cask before being bottled in mid-2017 at a cask strength of 55.1% ABV, with a yield of 306 bottles. Naturally it is non-chill filtered and natural colour, like all single malts from J&A Mitchell. The sherry cask bottlings from Cadenhead's would normally be packaged in a dark red box, but 2017 was the 175th anniversary of Cadenhead's, which saw selected bottlings packaged in the tartan box seen below, plus the addition of a copper neck tag embossed with the same "175" logo. I purchased this bottle at auction in Britain a few years ago, and it wasn't cheap with shipping and duties included. But here in 2025, and for the quality it offers, it was a relative bargain! Let's see how it goes. 

Cadenhead's Mortlach 13-Year Old, 55.1%. Speyside, Scotland.

Distilled 2003, initially matured in refill hogshead, finished in first-fill Oloroso sherry hogshead from 12/2014, bottled mid-2017 (finished for 3.5-years approx.). Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 306 bottles. 

Colour: Bronze. 

Nose: Spicy, dried fruit, tickles the nose hairs! Prunes & raisins, black cherries, crystallised / candied ginger, wood spices, and butter cream icing. Gravy powder, beef stock, and a touch of marmite. Bitter dark chocolate with coffee beans. 

Texture: Heavy weight. Thick & chewy, spicy & meaty. No heat here, the texture hides it well!

Taste: Great thick & meaty feel with beef stock, gravy powder, ground ginger, and dates. Fruit & nut dark chocolate with a bit of rum & raisin ice cream. Nutty toffee, tea tree oil, and a little bitter orange peel. 

Finish: Long length. More orange peel, beef stock, and gravy powder. Ginger syrup, marmalade, and more nutty toffee - hazelnuts mainly. Some dried fruit leather / roll-ups, dark chocolate, and coffee beans. Butter cream icing again with that tea tree oil. 

Score: 4.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Delicious Mortlach that really belies its age. Plenty of complexity and, for my tastes at least, the perfect amount of sherry cask influence. That cask influence hasn't added much sweetness, letting the drier side of Mortlach's character shine. Great balance of meaty & spicy notes with fruit & oak, while that chewy texture helps balance out the dryness. One of my favourite Mortlachs to date, particularly at a relatively young age. This 13-year old has character & texture that the NAS & core range official bottlings can only dream of! Independent bottlings like this Cadenhead's single cask are exactly why Mortlach has such a cult following among enthusiasts. Great stuff!

Cheers!

SMWS 25.64 Rosebank 22-Year Old Whisky Review!

As special drams go, this one is right up there! The only Rosebank I'll ever own, found for a bargain price a few years ago, and opened to help celebrate my 40th birthday!

A triple-distilled Lowland single malt using worm tub condensers. On paper it sounds strange and contradictory, much like the production regimens of many other Scotch whisky distilleries. But in the case of Rosebank there's one undeniable fact: whatever the reasoning for those contradictions, it worked! This dead - but now rebuilt - distillery in Falkirk, roughly 45-minutes north of Edinburgh, has earned a cult following since it's closure in June 1993. Then-owner United Distillers' (which later became Diageo) reasoning for closing this 150-year old malt whisky distillery was a £2,000,000 investment to make it compliant with environmental requirements and waste practices. After the distillery was closed the property was sold to the local government thanks to its convenient location on the banks of the Forth & Clyde Canal, and the distillery buildings soon fell into disrepair and neglect. The stills were then cut up & stolen under suspicious circumstances and other pieces of plant were pinched for other distilleries, which cemented Rosebank's fate. 

For most Scotch whisky lovers there are three most-vaunted names uppermost in their list of departed distilleries; Brora in the Highlands, Port Ellen on Islay, and Rosebank in the Lowlands. This dead distillery trifecta is far more popular and more widely known than they were while operating, akin to many great artists not being appreciated fully until their demise. Maybe we don't know what we've got 'til it's gone! Diageo still own the former two distilleries which have since been rebuilt and reopened, but in 2017 they surprisingly sold the Rosebank brand and remaining stocks to Ian McLeod Distillers, the company behind Tamdhu & Glengoyne distilleries plus a few independent bottling brands. Ian McLeod also managed to purchase the original distillery site and the remaining buildings from the Scottish government, and in 2019 they began planning to rebuild Rosebank Distillery. Work didn't actually begin until 2021 and production at the new distillery - pictured above - didn't begin until mid-2023, and the visitor's centre didn't open until mid-2024. The company has continued to release the old pre-closure stock as well, and will do so until 2026-onwards when the new spirit comes of age as Scotch whisky.

Despite the new owner's efforts to retain as much of the original Rosebank site as possible, in reality this is a completely new and modern distillery. But they've stayed true to the Rosebank name by going with 100% triple-distillation and worm tub condensers, arguably the most important part of the distillery's production regimen. Triple distillation is a practice more widely (and inaccurately) attributed to Irish whiskey, and is a rarity in Scotch whisky. The entirety of Rosebank's production is distilled three times rather than the usual two-times that is commonplace in Scotch whisky. A few Scottish distilleries do dabble in triple distillation - for example Benromach, Benriach, Glasgow, and Springbank for their Hazelburn brand, but only Beam Suntory's Auchentoshan and now Ian McLeod's Rosebank triple distill 100% of their spirit production. Crucially, particularly for a triple-distilled spirit, each of Rosebank's three pot stills are equipped with traditional worm tub condensers, which makes Rosebank unique in Scotch whisky and quite possibly in the world. While triple-distillation makes for a lighter, cleaner, and more refined spirit, worm tub condensers do the opposite by providing less copper contact than a modern shell & tube condenser, while also being faster to condense the spirit vapours back into liquid. Essentially the spirit vapours travel through the lyne arms at the top of the pot stills into a single copper or sometimes stainless steel coiling pipe which plunges into a vat of cold water, rapidly cooling the vapours back into liquid. This results in a heavier, more characterful, and more viscous spirit when compared to a modern shell & tube condenser, generally also resulting in a more meaty, dirty, or sulphurous character due to lessened interaction with copper which removes sulphur compounds from the spirit. And that's what we have with Rosebank; a floral but muscular, viscous but delicate Lowland single malt. This is even apparent in the few younger examples that I've been lucky enough to try over the years, but it's a profile that also works beautifully with long-term ageing in a refill cask. Which is exactly what we have here!

The Rosebank that we're looking at today is an independent bottling from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), who use distillery code '25' to signify Rosebank. Named "Manzanilla Sherry Trifle" this bottling was the 64th cask of Rosebank that "The Society" had bottled, so it's labelled as 25.64 in their coding system. It was distilled on the 14th of November 1990 and matured in a single refill ex-bourbon hogshead (250-litre cask) prior to being bottled at 22-years of age back in 2013. 231 bottles were released at a cask strength of 58.9% ABV, and it is of course non-chill filtered and natural colour. I was lucky enough to stumble across this bottle at a very reasonable price - all thanks to a much appreciated heads up from a fellow whisky nerd - a few years ago, and since Rosebank is the favourite distillery of another good mate, I decided to crack it open to help celebrate my 40th birthday in late-2024 where I opened one bottle for each person's favourite distilleries. As you can see, unfortunately for me one of these good mates has much more expensive tastes than the rest of us, and I'm extremely unlikely to ever own another bottle of Rosebank! But he & the rest of us loved the dram if anything it's improved even further in the subsequent months. So I stand by my decision! Let's get into it!

Rosebank 22-year old, SMWS 25.64, 58.9% ABV. Lowlands, Scotland.

Distilled 14/11/1990, matured in single ex-bourbon hogshead, bottled 2013. 231 bottles, non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Malty, fruity, floral, and dense. Lovely biscuity malted barley, milk bottle lollies (vanilla chewy sweets), quality vanilla custard, marzipan, and ground wood spices. Woody & sweet dried flowers (pot purri mix), bitter grapefruit rind, and a touch of lemon peel. White pepper, salted liquorice, and freeze-dried berries. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Thick & viscous, oily, malty, and spicy. Slight heat, but it is 59% alcohol after all!

Taste: Malty dry entry with that biscuity malt, more white pepper, ground wood spices, some freshly cut hardwood & sawdust. Salted liquorice again, vanilla bean custard, and pot purri (woody & sweet dried flower mix). Marzipan, a touch of thickened cream, and lemon butter cake icing. 

Finish: Long length. White pepper, marzipan, and a little fresh sawdust. Sharp & bitter grapefruit (one of my favourite notes in whisky), and that lemon butter cake icing. Still malty & biscuity, sweet, lightly floral & woody. This 22-year old Rosebank would make a fantastic perfume!

Score: 4.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Just delicious. Rosebank really is excellent, and this is a great example, one of the best I've had to date. The only other Lowlanders I've had that come close are St. Magdalene / Linlithgow, which is far rarer and even more expensive than Rosebank, and one good ex-bourbon cask Daftmill - in a more "modern" style of course. In fact there were surprising similarities between that first Daftmill I tasted and those younger Rosebanks mentioned above, which is surprising because Daftmill use neither triple distillation nor worm tub condensers... Just goes to show that both distilleries were & are doing something right! It's good to see Rosebank finally kick back into life, and I hope the new owners can successfully recreate this fantastic & unique style of whisky. Time will tell - a couple of decades' time, in fact. 

This review is slightly bittersweet, since this bottle is irreplaceable, but I'm very glad I've opened it. And for a fitting occasion as well! I'll not be rushing to finish this very special bottle - not that I ever do rush to finish a bottle, often taking years! But I'll be stretching this one out as much as possible. Fantastic whisky and a great example of what Rosebank made back then, and hopefully will make again. 

Cheers!

SMWS 3.309 Bowmore 13-Year Old Whisky Review!

Another auction win! This one is a 13-year old single cask Bowmore bottled by the SMWS, titled "Peat Smoke, Pipe Ash, and Pata Negra"... Don't worry, I had to google that one too; it means "black foot" in Spanish and refers to Iberico jamón (Spanish ham). Thanks for that, SMWS!

Ah, Bowmore. If it weren't for the independent bottlers, I'd have a totally different opinion on this distillery. I suspect most serious malt heads are in the same boat there. Bowmore seems to be quite a versatile spirit, despite being the most lightly peated of the peated Islay malts. It can work quite well in very active sherry casks, and can even hold up to virgin oak. But it's in refill and/or ex-bourbon casks that this distillery really seems to shine, particularly when left alone until the mid-teens or preferably longer. Most importantly though, it needs to be bottled at a decent ABV and without chill filtration and artificial colouring. Which is of course where the vast majority of official bottlings drop out of the race. When it comes to the Bowmore core range, distillery owners Beam Suntory really don't seem to give a shit. This is Islay's oldest surviving malt whisky distillery, yet the owners choose to only give us 40-43% ABV whiskies that are chill filtered to the harshest degree, and are loaded with artificial colouring. Let's not forget that the 15-year old expression used to be called "Darkest", despite being thoroughly dosed with E150 caramel colouring! That's quite a different story to sister distillery Laphroaig, where Beam Suntory allows three core range expressions to be bottled at 48% (Quarter Cask, Lore, and 10yo Sherry Oak) without chill filtration. Interestingly Bowmore and Laphroaig have two of Islay's three malting floors, although the in-house malt only provides 15-20% of their requirements, with the rest sourced from commercial maltings either at Port Ellen (not anymore, I'm sure) or on the mainland. Beam Suntory have also spent a substantial amount over on the east coast at Glen Garioch, where the malting floor has been recommissioned and the wash still has been converted to direct firing, along with the promise of reverting to the use of peated malt in future. And that distillery's core range has been bottled at 48% and above for quite some time now. So maybe all is not lost just yet!

There are higher ABV official bottlings of Bowmore, of course, but they're priced beyond the reach of most of the distillery's fans. Very few - if any - of those higher-end expressions are ever imported in to Australia, so a quick browse of a UK retailer tells me that you'd need to spend upwards of $600 AUD to get your hands on something like that. Those of us in Australia may get some more higher-end Bowmore OBs in mid-2025 however, when Beam Suntory switches to direct distribution as their decade-long distribution contract with Coca-Cola is due to expire. For now though, as with many distilleries, if you want a higher ABV and naturally presented example, you'll need to look to the independent bottlers. Thankfully there are always a few to choose from, although the stock does seem to be diminishing and the ages do seem to be moving upwards, with prices jumping much higher as a result. 15-18 year old cask strength Bowmores are regularly appearing for $400 or more here, which might be pushing it, but is also a sign of the times. Younger examples seem to be thin on the ground too, which has me thinking that the distillery has reduced its sales to external customers. Which is a real shame if the distillery is going to keep pumping out boring chill filtered whiskies at 40-43% ABV rather than show us what they can do with their own product at a reasonable price. The Vaults series of NAS bottlings were the most recent appearance of such a thing, at sub-$200 with ABVs in the mid-50s. Originally there were meant to be four releases in that series, but to date only two have seen the light of day - "Atlantic Sea Salt and "Peat Smoke", with the former being released in 2016 and the latter in 2019. So we'd better not hold our breaths for any future instalments in the series! 

This particular SMWS Bowmore, code 3.309 -  meaning the 309th cask they've bottled from distillery code 3, which is Bowmore - is a single cask 13-year old that was distilled in 2004. It was matured in a refill hogshead and bottled at a cask strength of 56.2% in early 2018, with an outturn of 241 bottles. They've named this cask "Peat Smoke, Pipe Ash, and Pata Negra" which as mentioned above is a fancy way of saying Spanish ham. "The Society" is never shy with their bottling names, or with their tasting notes - some are just absolute wank! At least it sounds like many of us want in a Bowmore, hopefully with some tropical fruit, citrus, and a medicinal edge. Let's give it a go!

SMWS 3.309 Bowmore 13-year old, 56.2%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled 2004, matured in single refill hogshead, bottled 2018. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 241 bottles.

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Buttery, medicinal, smoky, fruit. Chilled salted butter, tiger balm & deep heat muscle gels, honeydew melon on toast (yes, I know...), white pepper, camphor (moth balls), and cigar ash. Lemon balm ointment, smoky malted barley, hint of lavender bath soap. 

Texture: Medium weight. Oily, sweet, medicinal, fruity. Slight heat but pleasant. 

Taste: Sweet tropical fruit gels (the pastille / jube lollies with the jelly / liquid centres), fresh sharp pineapple, mango skins, more salted butter & medicinal ointments. Big pinch of white pepper, some damp rock pool-like minerality. Hot tar & asphalt (i.e. new road), touch of gravy powder / beef stock around the edges. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Melted salted butter, cigar ash, more sweet fruit with mango skins, honeydew melon, and fresh pineapple. Salted preserved lemons, smoky malted barley, heavily smoked ham around the edges. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Delicious spirit-driven Bowmore. Hides its youth quite well, showing off the more medicinal and smoky side of Bowmore without any overt cask influence getting in the way. It's surprisingly smoky actually, heading towards that smoky bacon side of things that reminds me of some (very) smoky beers I've had in the past - which aren't peat smoked of course, but there are similarities regardless. I don't recall getting that sort of note in a Bowmore before, or the meaty smoked ham notes either, which I'd normally associate more with Caol Ila. Not a negative by any means, it's delicious! It's just a little unusual for this distillery in my experience - but that's the beauty of these single cask independent bottlings! Once again I'm reminded that the distillery owners don't seem to appreciate what they have, requiring you to spend some serious money to see what Bowmore can actually offer. Then again prices on independent bottlings of Bowmore are also very high these days!

Cheers!