Whisky Considered

The Basics: Do I recommend it?: Yes. Availability: Some specialty retail. ABV: 46.4% Presentation: Unchillfiltered and natural color. General information: Lightly peated. Bottling type: Proprietary Character: Fresh and slightly mineralic. Score: 80/100 The details: Another very new distillery on a slightly out of the way Hebridean isle: Raasay is a mid-sized island lying in between Skye…

When most drinkers think of Orkney, they think of Highland Park. Highland Park is quite old, dating back to 1798, it has been fairly consistently available as a single malt since single malts became a thing at all, it has been intermittently beloved by both professional whisky critics and malt aficionados, and it spent most of the 2010s and early 2020s leaning strongly into the Norse heritage of…

The Basics: Do I recommend it?: For fans of lighter malts, yes; for the rest, skip on down. Availability: Auction only ABV: 58.1% (cask strength) Presentation: Unspecified General information: n/a Bottling type: Proprietary Character: Citric, grassy and herbal. Score: 80/100 The details: Auchroisk was built in 1972 by IDV, the parent firm of Justerini & Brooks. From the start, the…

The Basics:  Do I recommend it?: For completionists, yes; less so for more casual malt drinkers. Availability: Specialty retail. ABV: 46% Presentation: Unchillfiltered and natural color General information: An early release of the core NAS Nc’nean whisky; I was unsuccessful at identifying a precise batch. Bottling type: Proprietary Character: Aromatic, fruity, and a little spicy. Score:…

The Basics: Do I recommend it?: Yes indeed! Availability: Specialty retail, especially UK-based. ABV: 51.5% Presentation: Unchillfiltered and natural color General information: n/a Bottling type: Proprietary Character: Nutty, fruity and savory. Score: 90/100 The details: Originally called simply Scotia, the distillery was founded in 1832 by Steward, Galbraith and Co. It became part of a…

The Basics: Do I recommend it?: Very highly! Availability: Intermittent ABV: 58.4% (cask strength) Presentation: Unchillfiltered and natural color General information: Mix of peated and unpeated spirit. Bottling type: Proprietary Character: Aromatic, peaty, fruity and complex. Score: 93/100 The details: It has become increasingly common practice for independent bottlers to acquire or…

The Basics: Do I recommend it?: Yes, but only close to retail price (unlikely). Availability: Scarce. ABV: 49.0% Presentation: Unchillfiltered and natural color General information: Commemorates a small amount of Ardbeg whisky being sent into space. Bottling type: Proprietary Character: Sooty, smoky, fruity and sweet. Score: 91/100 The details: Ever since the great Ardbeg renaissance…

The Basics: Do I recommend it?: Yes, ish. Could be a bit tricky to find these days, and it’s not worth a huge premium. Availability: See below. ABV: 46% Presentation: Unspecified General information: n/a Bottling type: Proprietary Character: Big, fruity and meaty. Score: 91/100 The details: Built in 1825 by the colorfully named “Long” John MacDonald, the distillery is the only one…

People often ask me: “Michael, what are your favorite Scottish distilleries? You know so much about Scotch whisky, I really want to pick your brain and find out which distilleries you keep coming back to!” Just kidding. No one has ever asked me that, although I have often wished someone would ask me about my favorite distilleries. Well, I’m not waiting any longer to be asked–I’m just going to…

The Basics: Do I recommend it?: It’s solid. Availability: Some specialty retail and auction. ABV: 59.7% (cask strength) Presentation: Unspecified General information: Finished in port casks. Bottling type: Proprietary Character: Fruity, spicy and smoky. Score: 89/100 The details: Like stable-mate Clynelish, Talisker’s early history is closely tied to the brutal Highland clearances,…

The Basics: Do I recommend it?: Yes, ish. Availability: Ish? See below. ABV: 46% Presentation: Unchillfiltered and natural color General information: A very early batch. Bottling type: Proprietary Character: Peaty, earthy, and citric. Score: 90/100 The details: Kilchoman parish is where the MacBeatha/Beaton family first settled in around 1300 upon coming over from Ireland. The family…

You can breath, now. Diageo has finally officially announced their 2025 Special Releases, dubbed “Horizons Unbound,” and for those of you itching to get your hands on them, the usual suspects in UK specialty retail have them for sale. I know we’ve all been losing sleep over this! Let’s face it, the Special Releases have felt less and less special in recent years, and even among malt enthusiasts,…

The Basics: Do I recommend it?: Yes Availability: Widespread–liquor stores and some big box stores will have it. ABV: 43% Presentation: Unspecified General information: n/a Bottling type: Proprietary Character: Powerful and richly smokey. Score: 93/100 The details: Reviewing my reviews, I see that I’ve managed to miss Lagavulin’s core 16 year old expression. Let’s remedy…

For reasons explained here, I’ve been a little out of the loop when it comes to industry news. An extensive perusal of Spirits Business showed me that I haven’t missed a whole, whole lot. There haven’t been a ton of new openings or plans or brand revamps as there have been in recent years. Overall, the spirits business is struggling. Younger people drink less compared to older generations, the…

When I started this website almost three years ago now, I knew that I was never going to be the kind of dedicated, regular poster that some other enthusiasts who run whisky websites are. Quite a few dedicated enthusiasts post at least one or two reviews every week, and have been doing so for years (Whisky Notes being an outstanding example). That ain’t me, and it never was going to be me. But I…

The Basics: Do I recommend it?: If you like really weird whisky, hell yes! If you like smooth, this isn’t for you. Availability: Scarce (possibly some still gets auctioned, but I wouldn’t count on it) ABV: 61.9% (cask strength) Presentation: Unspecified General information: Matured in a sherry cask Bottling type: Proprietary Character: Weird–herbal, dry, briney, with notes of motor…

The Basics: Do I recommend it?: To the collector or completionist only. Availability: UK/EU specialty retail ABV: 43% Presentation: Unspecified General information: Nothing specified, but probably matured in refill bourbon barrels Bottling type: Proprietary Character: Fragrant, grassy and herbal. Score: 81/100 The details: Mannochmore sprouted up at the tail end of the post-war Scotch…