Deep notes of wood polish on the floral nose, with toffee and a whiff of cloves. The palate is slick, with Christmas pudding, orange, caramel, oak, and dark chocolate. Black coffee, citrus fruit, ginger, and black pepper in the lengthy finish.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2020)

Candied cherries and oranges on the nose, along with a note of fresh blueberry and a blast of cinnamon. Smooth on the front palate, with flavors of cinnamon gum, cooked dark berries, old leather, and dunnage warehouse floor. Water brings out chocolate and vanilla, as well as dark fruits and white pepper. A lengthy finish offers savory herbs, bitter chocolate, fresh coffee beans, and roasted walnuts. Great texture and well-balanced throughout.

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Fall 2020)

Trademark rich, ripe fruitiness abounds here with a mashbill of malts consisting of Braemar, peated Concerto, and floor-malted Tipple. Fruit hard candy, pear, melon skin, green apple, and grassy turf smoke on the nose. It’s a big, juicy whisky on the palate with tangy citrus, pear, vanilla, and caramel, sideswiped by pepper and clove. Ride it out to discover Skittles, honeydew, and a lengthy finish of Golden Delicious apple. (1,556 bottles) Collectible

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2020)

Fresh fruits and white pepper on the nose, with brine and rock pools. Very little smokiness. The palate is also fruit forward—ripe red apples and pears—with barley sugar. The peat is now much more apparent, along with prickly spice. Mildly medicinal. Salt and black pepper in the long finish. Price is for entire Prima & Ultima Collection, of which this whisky is a part. (721 bottles) £20,000

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2020)

Sweet peat smoke and heather on the nose, with light ginger and smoked fish drizzled with lemon. Oily and rounded on the palate, with more sweet peat, lemon, and sea salt. Very long in the slightly waxy finish, with peat and licorice. Price is for entire Prima & Ultima Collection, of which this whisky is a part. (1,013 bottles) £20,000

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2020)

With its nose of honey, green apple, lemon, and fragrant spices, this kicks off Compass Box’s 20th anniversary celebration. Blended by lead whisky maker James Saxon, it has an unctuous, luxurious texture, malty and sweet, with dark toffee, gingersnaps, cinnamon, lemon zest, dried tropical fruits, and vanilla cream. The gentle spices ebb and flow, finishing on a last hurrah of dark cookies and vanilla. (2,400 bottles for U.S.) Collectible

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2020)

The nose yields tangerines, linseed, marzipan, ginger, and honey, followed by a mild menthol note. Rounded and chewy on the palate, with lively orchard fruit flavors, turning to slightly bitter Seville orange and light chile. Licorice root and tannins develop in the very long, citric finish. (62 bottles; U.S. exclusive)

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2020)

Created by master blender Marianne Eaves for a group led by former NFL star Peyton Manning and tennis great Andy Roddick. Aromas of breakfast cereal, bananas, dried strawberries, leather, and integrated oak on the nose, and a smooth palate of Grape Nuts, allspice, bitter chocolate, pipe tobacco, and earthiness. The finish offers powdered sugar, cracked pepper, and baking spice. Future releases of Sweetens Cove are planned—very good news indeed. (14,000 bottles)

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Fall 2020)

Richly oaked, its maturity is evident in the walnut, cigar box, burnt sugar, toasted marshmallow, and waxy furniture polish notes. On the palate, it pours rich, dense, and chewy with sweet treacle balanced against tobacco leaf. Mouth-coating and warming with generous proof, figgy fruit, and cinnamon on the mid-palate, culminating in a finish of bitter chocolate and fine wood tannins. (2,600 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Fall 2020)

Ardbeg’s 2020 limited-edition cask-strength Committee Release was matured mainly in pinot noir red wine casks from New Zealand, a country notable for its sheep, like Islay. Woodsmoke on the nose, with coal fires, cedar, and canned fruit cocktail in a mild antiseptic solution. Supple and sweet on the palate, with orchard fruits and an emerging wave of peppery prickly peat smoke. Long in the sooty finish. Lively, with chile paste.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2020)

Bottled to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Ardbeg Committee. Woodsmoke on the nose, with coal fires, cedar, canned fruit cocktail, and mild antiseptic. Supple and sweet on the palate, with orchard fruits and an emerging wave of peppery, prickly peat smoke. Long in the sooty finish. Lively, with chile paste.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2020)

The unusual cask finish lends a minty herbal note throughout, from the nose—which is honeyed and sweet, also showcasing milk chocolate, peanuts, candy apple, maple syrup, and a whiff of licorice—to the palate and finish. Overall, this serves as a great example of the importance of texture in whiskey; the mouthfeel is oleaginous and almost fatty, gliding over the palate and shedding flavors of chocolate-covered cherry, white pepper, gingerbread, and roasted walnuts. The finish is zingy with ginger, white pepper, and tingling peppermint, buttressed by bittersweet mocha, cherry, and dark grapes.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Fall 2020)

Pastry shop aromas permeate the nose: blueberry crumble with crusted brown sugar, fresh-baked muffin, boysenberry syrup, and fragrant peaches, nectarines, and orange peel. The palate pops with lively citrus, a surprising but not unwelcome element that plays well with toasted almond, chestnut honey, and nutty oak flavors. It finishes with roasted peanuts, bittersweet chocolate, and tea leaf, still retaining peppy citrus.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Fall 2020)

The annual bottling for 2020 was matured in bourbon barrels and second-fill ruby port barriques, married together, and finished in red wine casks. Ripe strawberries, iodine, and peat on the nose. Red berry jam in time. Flinty, with sea salt. Creamy on the palate, with caramel, hot tar, sweet red wine, burning peat, antiseptic, chile, and brine. Licorice, pepper, and drying peat in the long, satisfying finish.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2020)

Faint smoke on the nose, with orange and malt. Floral notes in time, plus nougat. More orange, and star anise on the palate, with overt woodsmoke, old leather, and developing dark chocolate. The finish is long and lightly smoky. (1,380 bottles) £6,500

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2020)

This kosher whisky has abundant flavors from both the bourbon and shaved, toasted, and re-charred (STR) casks. Golden syrup, caramel, pastry, vanilla, and marshmallow on the nose with floral top notes, hints of dried apple, and bold nutmeg, cinnamon, and pepper. A firm, juicy-sweet palate with caramel, vanilla, shortbread, honey, orange, nectarine, pepper, nougat, and almond. The finish is short, sweet, and lightly spiced. Editors' Choice

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2020)

Spice forms the foundation, from start to finish. Allspice, cloves, and cinnamon Red Hots are interwoven with caramel-coated shortbread, dark chocolate, and walnuts on the nose. Zingy and lively on the palate, with cinnamon, allspice, cloves, sandalwood, nuts, and semi-sweet chocolate. With water the flavors deepen, adding burnt sugar, vanilla bean, orange oil, and roasted nuts. The spices fade with a slow burn, mingling with sturdy oak and coffee bean. (3,000 bottles)

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Fall 2020)

This stirred a primeval urge in me for a good steak: bramble, blueberry, ripe Victoria plum, Morello cherry, exotic spices, and a hot and heavy perfumed scent from the select wine cask maturation. Sweet berry fruit—though mouth drawing—and a delicious chocolate note, then it lashes the tongue with an intense peppery spice that made me double-check the ABV, so dilute liberally. Savory finish with charred oak. NTD15,000

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2020)