Review | Speyburn 18 years old

This 18 years old single malt form part of the core range from the Speyside distillery of Speyburn. It sits the no age statement Bradan Orach, plus 10 years old and 15 years old in the range. There are also three travel retail exclusives currently available - Hopkins Reserve, a higher strength version of the 10 years old and 16 years old. The Speyburn 18 years old has seen spirit matured for the full term in either American oak ex-bourbon or Spanish oak ex-sherry casks, which are then married together. It was first released to the core range in 2018.

Review | Old Pulteney Harbour

The north Highland distillery of Old Pulteney has added a bottling to its core range - Old Pulteney Harbour. The name refers to the harbour in the distillery's hometown of Wick, which was once one of the largest fishing ports in Europe during the Victoria era. The new whisky has been designed to show the brand's continued connection to the sea. Old Pulteney Harbour has been matured in a quartet of American oak ex-bourbon cask styles - first-fill, second-fill, re-fill and re-charred. These were hand-selected by Malcolm Waring, the long-serving Distillery Manager at Old Pulteney, and his team.

Review - Old Pulteney 25 years old

The Old Pulteney 25 years old is a recent super premium addition to the core single malts from the north Highland distillery. This replaces the multi award-winning 21 years old, which won the prestigious Whisky of the Year 2012 in Jim Murray's Whisky Bible, in the range. The new expression has been matured in American oak ex-bourbon barrels for its first 22 years, before being transferred to Spanish oak ex-sherry butts for three years.

New release - Old Pulteney 35 years old

This whisky is the latest premium release from the popular Highland single malt brand of Old Pulteney.  It has been matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, which were hand selected by Distillery Manager Malcolm Waring, for 35 years.  This makes it one of the oldest bottlings ever to be released from the distillery, second only to last year's 40 year old expression.  This 'new' release was actually launched back in June but we are only now getting around to reviewing it ...

New releases - AnCnoc 'The Peaty Collection'

The Highland distillery of Knockdhu have released three new limited edition whiskies in their AnCnoc single malt range. The Peaty Collection marks a new chapter in anCnoc's history as they are the first smoky whiskies to be released by the brand. The distillery has been making peated spirit in very limited runs for the last 10 years or so. The Rutter, Flaughter and Tushkar expressions are all named after traditional tools used to cut peat.

Have just tried - Old Pulteney Navigator

The Navigator is a whisky that was originally released in early Autumn last year and was designed to celebrate Old Pulteney's maritime heritage, links and character. It was launched on September 1 to coincide with the start of the Clipper Round The World yacht race, which set off from London and for which the brand was the main sponsor.  The Navigator was made from ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, which were hand selected by Distillery Manager Malcolm Waring.

Have just tried - Hankey Bannister 'Heritage Blend'

Last Summer the blended Scotch whisky brand of Hankey Bannister launched a new expression in to its range - the Hankey Bannister Heritage Blend. The new whisky was inspired by a British couple who discovered a rare bottle of Hankey Bannister Fine Old Liqueur Scotch Whisky dating from the 1920s in their possession, and sold it to the brand. From this, details of the retro release were tracked down and the new expression has been produced in a recreation of the style of that 1920s era.