Not exactly a new whisky for the Jubilee, just a new pack, but it’s a good enough excuse to have a look at this top-end blend. Great maturity with masses of orchard fruits and a hint of passion fruit as well. The oak is rounded and supple while with water a banana note is released. Thick and chewy, with more grip than suggested on the nose and a little nut on the finish. Great blending.

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Summer 2012)

King Car is the name of the Taiwanese company that owns the Kavalan brand and this lavishly packaged single malt is its standard bearer. It's not hard to see why. More subtle and complex than some earlier bottlings of Kavalan, this has an exotic fruit, cream toffee, and soft banana nose, and has bitter orange, dark chocolate, and pepper on the palate. It's rapier-sharp, clean, and drying rather than sweet.

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Summer 2012)

A vatting of different ages of Glenfiddich (the youngest being 14 years old) aged in American oak, then married in virgin American oak casks on which folk from the States had written their hopes and dreams…Awww! Deliciously fruity and clean, it’s all pear juice, crème brûlée, fudge, cool mint, and dessert apple. With water, there’s dusty cinnamon, kiwi, and milk chocolate. The oak acts as a smoothing base for this fruitiness. A lovely idea and a lovely whisky.

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Summer 2012)

Cragganmore is a deep malt but its richness is often obscured by its fruity sweetness. A period in port pipes allows this element to be amplified. The black currant is now fully fruited and acts as a flavor bridge while the meatiness that sits underneath and often unseen is revealed. Think cherry pipe tobacco, clove, and dark fruits. Sweet, but not too sweet, and always identifiably Cragganmore. For me, the pick of the bunch.

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Summer 2012)

Funny to think how recently Caol Ila was an Islay giant that was kept pretty much under wraps by its owner. These days it has cemented its reputation as the island’s Mr. Consistent. This version shows its character the best, a nose that mixes seashore and grass with a distinct hint of smoked bacon. The peatiness isn’t dominant, but flows throughout the palate, scenting, lifting, and subtly changing the mix. A delicious oiliness makes it a great food whisky.

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Summer 2012)

WK209 is named after a steam herring drifter registered in the Caithness port of Wick, where Old Pulteney is distilled. This limited edition, travel retail exclusive was matured entirely in first fill European oak sherry casks for 8 to 10 years. Milk chocolate, crème brûlée, old leather, and sherry on the nose, contrasting with brine. Sherry, dried fruits, black pepper, English mustard, and sea salt on the full palate. Spicy sherry, heather, and black coffee in the luxurious finish. €50

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2012)

Amber in color and again some fresh fruitiness, this time mixed with a little cereal. The same dry grass you get on the 1981, but here there’s a nutty, biscuity edge above that meaty solidity. The palate shows slight oiliness and roasted red pepper, that changes into blackberry as it opens. Needs roughly the same amount of water to open fully, which also brings out chamois leather and then barley sugar sweets. Clean but rich — that’s Glenfarclas. (A U.S. exclusive.)

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Summer 2012)

This cask strength, 29 year old 1982 expression in the Wemyss Malts range is the company’s first bottling of a single malt distilled at the Northern Highland distillery of Teaninich. Just 201 bottles have been released. The insistently fruity nose features overripe pears, heather in bloom, soft fudge, salted popcorn, cinnamon, and ginger. Soft and peachy on the palate, with darker spice notes, walnuts, and plain chocolate. The finish is lengthy, with more plain chocolate and some spiced oak. £110

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2012)

Many of the independent H.P. bottlings are aged in bourbon casks, and, like this one, exhibit creamy vanilla, honeyed malt, and citrus. I’m also picking up some more subtle heather, brine, coconut, and nougat. This one is clean on the palate and shows nice balance, with enough dry oak on the finish to counter the whisky’s sweeter notes. (A D&M Wines & Liquors exclusive.)

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Summer 2012)

Southern Coast Distillers is part of a new wave of distillers in Victoria, South Australia, and unlike many fledgling distilleries who bottle too early and learn their trade in public view, with blemished, linseed-sappy malt, this distillery has hit the ground running and is already making fabulous whisky. There isn't an off note here, and it combines lemon sherbet bonbons, honeyed vanilla, bitter dark chocolate, licorice, and some pepper. Delightful. A$110

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Summer 2012)

Finished in sherry casks, which contribute lush red berried fruit, strawberry/rhubarb crumb pie, and candied ginger on top of honeyed malt, vanilla wafer, nougat, and warming spice. Oily texture, with resinous oak on the finish. Good balance with plenty of character. After years of younger Knappogue releases, I’ve really been enjoying the more recent older bottlings like this one. (Allocated mostly to the U.S.)

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Summer 2012)

Springbank has released a limited edition of 9,000 bottles of whisky distilled in November 2001, matured in small casks (traditionally known as rundlets or kilderkins), and bottled in January 2012. The small casks have left an impression of accelerated maturity, with coal smoke, cloves, young oak, and caramel on the rich nose. The palate is big and bold, with a sprinkling of salt, then more youthful wood, milk chocolate, and honey, while the finish is long and slightly tarry. £57

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2012)

Artein is the third release in Glenmorangie’s Private Edition range, with ‘artein’ being Gaelic for stone. The expression comprises two-thirds 15 year old and one-third 21 year old whisky, finished in ‘Super Tuscan’ wine casks. Briefly pear drops, then vanilla on the nose, with developing peaches and apricots, shot through with mild ginger. Viscous, mouth-coating, intense, dark fruits, spice, aniseed, and late onset of cloves and blackcurrant cough medicine on the palate. The finish is fruity, long, and herbal.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2012)

It’s a brave person who tries to persuade a malt like Lagavulin to go into a different direction. Indeed, even PX casks, from the sweetest fortified wine of all, can’t fully obscure the distillery’s character, just give it a raisined coating. The creosote turns to tar and licorice, while there’s Syrah-like sootiness, and damson. This release is slightly less sweet than in the past and is the better for it, though I still prefer my Lagavulin relatively ‘naked.’

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Summer 2012)

Woodford’s first permanent line extension. Aged in two barrels with different toast and char amounts. More visceral than the standard Woodford Reserve, with a darker personality, extra wood spice, and a nice sweet foundation. Notes of cinnamon stick, dark berried fruit, roasted nuts, caramel, creamy vanilla, and polished leather.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Summer 2012)

Three batches of malt, smoked separately with peat, cherry wood, and beech. The nose is Islay-reminiscent peat, with some beech bacon under it, but the top is all cherry; very rewarding. For all the nose, the mouth is relatively mild; mostly juicy malt up front, then opening to the peat fire in the middle, the beech crowding around the sides, and the cherry floating overtop like a good pipe tobacco. Smooth, smoky finish. Compelling.

Reviewed by: Lew Bryson (Summer 2012)

Very typical of old grain whiskies: light in body and floral, with soothing vanilla and a mélange of tropical fruit (mandarin in syrup, honey-kissed pineapple, banana, and coconut cream). The better examples, like this one, are not dominated by dry oak on the finish. Subtle spices (ginger, cocoa powder) add intrigue. Old grain whiskies are hard to find but worth exploring. (A Park Avenue Liquor exclusive.)

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Summer 2012)

The Dalmore Cromartie was distilled in 1996 and has been matured in oloroso sherry casks. The release is limited to 7,500 bottles. A floral nose with cocoa powder and warm leather, along with hand-rolling tobacco and gingery, citrus notes. Rich and elegant sherry notes on the palate, with soft, smoky treacle and dark chocolate-covered orange candy. The finish is long and spicy, majoring on cinnamon, with more dark chocolate, overripe orange, and a hint of licorice. £100

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2012)