A 100% rye unaged “white whiskey.” Nose is fruity—pear, apple, black raspberry—and peppery, with a mineral edge to it, like fresh-cracked stone. Creamy sweet mouth, repeating the fruits in half-voice, with a sharp alcoholic heat. Sweetness makes me curious about the fermentation attenuation…but this would be good with seltzer.

Reviewed by: Lew Bryson (Summer 2015)

Cork’s Franciscan Well brewery borrowed some whiskey casks, but now Jameson has taken them back to make Irish whiskey aged in craft stout barrels. On the nose, roasted coffee beans, 70% chocolate, green apples, juicy cantaloupe, and a buzz of hops. The thick, creamy mouthfeel tastes of stout, with strong chocolate and coffee notes and a tight, spicy finish. Perplexingly experimental in results. A whiskey for stout drinkers? A stout for whiskey drinkers? Incomparable to other Jameson. Funny peculiar. €45

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2015)

Nosing this whisky, you'd never guess just how fruity it is, with barnyard hay, dry malt, honey, and light smoke. On the palate, however, the fruit is unmistakable with giant mango and apple. The mid-palate takes a sharp left turn into smoke and salt, but the mango just won't let go. A very dry, smoky finish is too dry, making the case against release at this ABV. An oddball whisky that will probably only appeal to a very narrow audience. (U.S. only)

Reviewed by: Geoffrey Kleinman (Summer 2015)

Another youthful offering from Douglas Laing in its Premier Barrel series, presented in one of 863 ceramic decanters. This Glengoyne initially offers a nose of cherries and treacle before tinned tomatoes make their presence felt. Tangy fruits on the palate, malt, and spicy sausage. Caramel, spices, and a hint of oak in the finish. An interesting contrast to the older, more sherry cask-focused Glengoyne ‘house’ bottlings. £65

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2015)

Very pale straw. The color indicates that there’s been no real cask activity. A little closed on the nose to start; clean, quite green and leafy (young ferns). The flavor however, makes up for this, with good mid-palate sweetness and some dark fruits beginning to assemble themselves in the middle. Of interest to completists. £45

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Summer 2015)

The nose is slow to open up, and when it does it reveals simple rye spices and butterscotch. These become primary flavor notes on tasting. Biting spices burst onto a buttery palate before a pleasing bitterness seeps in. The second sip seems almost nutty and sweet, with pralines and thick cream. This 10 year old blend of all-wheat and rye-grain whiskies is simple, but displays its age with such subtleties as fading orange water and woodsy herbal notes. (Canada only) C$25

Reviewed by: Davin de Kergommeaux (Summer 2015)

Redesigned label, wincingly generic in looks, even for a bottom-shelf 80 proofer. Whiskey’s quite light in color, and smells young as well: sweet, a wheated bourbon hint of peanuts, and just the faintest hint of wood. Mouth is warm, softly corny, and a little bittersweet on the finish. But that’s it. Just not much going on here.

Reviewed by: Lew Bryson (Summer 2015)

Following a similarly youthful Provenance range bottling of Talisker, and an NAS “Young and Feisty” variant, Douglas Laing has opted to release this 5 year old expression in its Premier Barrel lineup, complete with ceramic decanter, 495 of which were produced. Initially meaty, then peat smoke envelops the nose, with damp tweed backing it up. Black pepper and gunpowder tea on the bold palate; flinty, with lemon and lime. Lingering black pepper and a metallic tang in the finish. £75

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2015)

Pale straw. The nose is very draff-like/sweet mash, then green herbal notes, reminiscent of angelica. The palate remains light and slightly hot on the tongue, with some cereal and a certain fatness. Water brings out a little more from the cask. A delicate and pleasant enough dram, but I’m slightly bemused as to why it’s being bottled at this age when there’s clearly so much more to give. £69

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Summer 2015)

A 10 year old single malt whiskey bottled for Pete St. John by Glendalough musters a low-key olfactory range with reference points of malted barley, sawn oak, and soft fudge. A woozy haze of toffee buttercream, vanilla, and clotted cream hang on a light structure. The flavor has limited room to maneuver, roaming around a palate of sponge cake, fudge fingers, and ginger snaps before it putters out with a dry, fleeting finish. €60

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2015)

Bottled as part of Douglas Laing’s Single Minded range, which focuses on young small batch bottlings, this 8 year old Jura matured in two refill sherry butts after being distilled in April 2006. Pear drops, pine nuts, and damp woodland on the nose. The palate is light and fruity, though dark spices and aniseed soon emerge. Peppery oak in the dry finish. £33

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2015)

A robust, pleasing, yet simple session whisky, 1878 is made for mixing and shooting but not for contemplation. Wet stones with some sweetness on the nose predict the almost liqueur-like sweetness of the palate. It quickly becomes hot and zippy with a white pepper payload. Before long some slight bitter pithiness creeps in, then subsides leaving crème brulée and Caramac candy bar, with a rich, almost eggy mouthfeel. The finish is short with cleansing grapefruit pith. (Canada only) C$19

Reviewed by: Davin de Kergommeaux (Summer 2015)

Big Bottom finishes their light-style Barlow Trail whiskey in 10 year old tawny port casks. On the nose it's promising, with oak, blackberry jam, orange, vanilla, and rye spice. The entry is soft and light with vanilla and berry, but it shifts dramatically in the mid-palate, which is exceptionally spicy and dry. Big Bottom’s previous port cask finishes have been blockbusters, but the light-style Barlow Trail whiskey doesn't have the same level of balance and integration to prevail.

Reviewed by: Geoffrey Kleinman (Summer 2015)

Auchnagie (1812–1911) was a southern Highland distillery that existed for close to a century near Balluinluig, south of Pitlochry. This reanimation is pale yellow in color with an abundance of young, green herbal, and foliage notes, with summer ferns, cardamom pods, and green tea. It has an ethereal, gossamer-like texture, with green apple, melon boats, and soft honey. As the layers peel away, the sweetness is dabbed with spices and black pepper before it peters out.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2015)

“Smoked” with a maceration of Lapsang Souchong tea (which leaves some fine sediment). Thickly sweet and herbal nose in a ruddy whiskey; like a sweetened, aged genever. On the palate, this 70% 7 year old MGP corn, 30% unaged Two James rye is woody and ash-bitter in the core, with a wrapping of that sweetness. The herbal character saves it from the squabble between sweet and bitter, but it comes off more as a tonic than a whiskey.

Reviewed by: Lew Bryson (Summer 2015)

An oddball whiskey by all accounts, with a very high 72.2% of wheat in the mashbill, distillation on an old farmhouse cognac still, and aging in a little Oregon barn in 63-gallon new oak barrels. The result is a strange, disjointed whiskey that starts out pillow-soft with wheat and caramel, and then dramatically shifts to raw oak, nougat, and cinnamon stick. The flavors in Billy don’t integrate well: they're like a jazz band severely out of step.

Reviewed by: Geoffrey Kleinman (Summer 2015)

An unaged whiskey from Carroll County, Iowa, with rye grain and sugar mash. The nose is all kinds of barnyard funk: hay, horse, and manure. Underneath is a bite of sugar and vanilla. On the palate it’s less funky, with sugar, strawberry, and a grappa-like note. The rye spice emerges mid-palate, but it’s fleeting and leads to an edgy and fractured finish. Time in oak might help, but there are issues here that wood won’t resolve.

Reviewed by: Geoffrey Kleinman (Summer 2015)