Matured in 80% bourbon and 20% Pedro Ximénez casks, this has Golden Delicious apples, melon, and banana on the nose, with aromatic peat smoke drawing weighty spices in their wake. It’s a beautifully honeyed dram, supported by melon, golden sultana, and a touch of lime. The crest of clove, black pepper, and sooty smoke is kept at bay by that golden sweetness, ahead of a tingling, spicy finish. €55

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2019)

Spiced plums, spearmint, clove, dried ginger, fennel, lilac, and bubble gum on the nose. The palate is perfumy and well-spiced, with candied rose petal, blueberry, bubble gum, chili powder, black pepper, and chocolate, tingling with a racy, spicy, oaky finish. Now aged 4 years, this whiskey has shown improvement with every orbit of the earth and exhibits hallmark rye flavors: a perfect silhouette.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2019)

It’s recommended to taste everything neat once; after you do that here, add water liberally. Once you do, you’ll find lovely aromas of butterscotch, orange, brown sugar, and toffee. The palate is richly spiced, with cinnamon, clove, orange, iced tea, and cedar oil, as well as generous oak, ending on a finish of cigar wrapper, cloves, and lengthy oak.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2019)

Part of Wild Turkey’s Whiskey Barons Collection, which re-creates brands lost during Prohibition. A blend of 4 and 6 year old charcoal-filtered bourbons, with a nose of cereal, vanilla, lemon cake, orange, and baking spice. The palate brings out vanilla, caramel, cinnamon, walnuts, peach pie, licorice, pipe tobacco, and a halo of chili pepper. The finish has kick and heat, with notes of honey, lemon, chocolate, and spicy oak.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2019)

This bourbon is finished for 5 months in pinot noir barrels from Willamette Valley’s Elk Cove Vineyards. The nose offers toasted spicy oak, orange Creamsicle, clementines, and lime leaf, but is also herbal, with light notes of dill and white pepper. Oak-driven on the palate, spicy and nutty, with citrus oil and espresso. A smooth finish offers dark chocolate, roasted almonds, coconut, and tobacco leaf, and becomes fruitier with water.

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Summer 2019)

Master blender Andres Faustinelli began with 7 year old Canadian whisky which he finished, first in tight-grained French oak wine barrels and then in air-dried virgin Hungarian oak. This wonderfully mouth-filling, fairly complex dram begins dry and closed, developing caramel, char, exotic woods and spices, berries, red grapes, luscious red wine, glowing heat, pulling tannins, and sandalwood, with butterscotch-like vanillas, luscious dry fruits, and a rich, rye-like, spicy texture.

Reviewed by: Davin de Kergommeaux (Summer 2019)

The nose has berries in steel-cut oatmeal, bracing vanilla, bubble gum, strawberry Fanta, and yet also rugged earthiness: a picnic in a pine forest. On the palate, the grain is evident, but so too is drying oak, orange, cinnamon, and chocolate. Water helps integrate the flavors and enhance the silky mouthfeel, tying in Orange Crush, cinnamon, and espresso on the finish. At 2 years old, this bourbon is youthful but balanced, a well-constructed iteration of the four-grain (corn, wheat, rye, malted barley) motif.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2019)

A blend of high-rye bourbons (30% rye) aged 6 to 8 years. A warm, welcoming nose, with pleasant dunnage warehouse earthiness, toasted oak, maple syrup, cinnamon, blackberries, grape candy, licorice, and an herbal note. A racy palate offers candied citrus, cherry, and apricot, as well as bitter chocolate, caramel, cinnamon spice, and pepper. Light and delicate on the finish, with milk chocolate, almond, orange, and more cinnamon. Delicate, smooth, sweet, and balanced.

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Summer 2019)

Spicier and funkier than other Caskmates, this is where Irish whiskey meets Scott Vaccaro’s brews from the Lower Hudson Valley. This is self-assured with dark ale aromas, cinnamon bark, grapefruit, bitter lemon, and some savory notes. The pot still spices work overtime, complementing the dark honey, apple, and creamy beer notes. It feels a little out of focus, with pulses of flavor rather than a smooth development.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2019)

The latest addition to Glen Moray’s Classic range was aged in bourbon barrels and finished in cabernet sauvignon wine casks. Raspberry cordial is prominent on the nose, with soft toffee, marzipan, and coconut. The raspberry carries over from the nose to the palate, with vanilla, ginger, and ultimately, dark chocolate. Spicy in the finish, with berry fruits and 
subtle oak. Best Value

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2019)

Sweet candy shop, nougat, and honeycomb flavors are underscored by some funky earth and mushroom notes. The palate is sweet and lively, delivering orange peel and subtle hints of baking spice. Overall a pleasant pour, with the only criticism that it feels rather light-bodied, with the oak a bit sharp. Adding water makes this bourbon feel underpowered and hollow, but it is a fine sipper otherwise.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Summer 2019)

A William Grant & Sons single malt from an undisclosed Lowland distillery. It offers flavors of mashed turnip sprinkled with table salt early on the nose; brittle toffee, malt, and vanilla aromas develop. Creamy toffee, more salt, honey, orange fondant, and sweet oak on the palate. The lengthy finish features gentle spices, oak, and white pepper. £22

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2019)

The nose offers early grassiness, then vanilla, Jaffa orange, toffee apple, and honey. A smooth palate delivery, with more orange and toffee apple, plus almonds and caramel. The finish is long, with white pepper and sweet oak.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2019)

Selected from one of Scotland’s most fascinating distilleries and finished in fresh bourbon casks from Chicago’s Koval Distillery, the nose has light lemon, white pepper, mixed citrus, green melon, green chili, and floral notes. Soft pulpy melon, green fruits, poached pear, hints of citrus, then a wave of brown sugar and caramel sweetness melts into buttery fudge, with a late burst of cloves, peppercorn, and toasted hazelnut. (635 bottles for U.S.)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2019)

Finished in sherry casks. The nose is slightly reticent, with orange peel, instant coffee, and a hint of burning coal. More obvious orange notes on the palate, with milk chocolate and drying oak. Dark chocolate and slightly bitter oak in the medium-length finish.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2019)

Spicy on the nose, with deep, full tropical fruit notes, praline, and marzipan. The palate is silky, with fudge and raisins, then cherry liqueur. The finish yields dark chocolate and citrus fruit, plus peppery oak.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2019)

Dates, brittle toffee, dried fruits, and old leather on the nose, then a hint of ripe peaches surfaces. Smooth in the mouth, with sherry, damsons, more dried fruits, and background pipe tobacco smoke. Prune juice in the finish, which is drying, and ultimately quite oaky, with white pepper.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2019)

Floral on the nose and quite delicate, with citrus fruit, spicy vanilla, walnuts, and cereal. The palate is smooth, with malt, orchard fruits, toffee apples, and graham crackers. An herbal note features early in the slowly drying finish.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2019)