What a shame this whisky will sail to Taiwan with nary a bottle left for North America. It would be the oldest and most expensive Canadian whisky on the continent. And bottled at 50%, one of the strongest. Wood, age, toffee, cooked sweet corn, fruit, and slightly dusty new jeans. Gloriously sweet, showing its ABV in a blistering pepper attack that subsides into sweetness and a mild fruitiness. (Taiwan only) NT$19,800

Reviewed by: Davin de Kergommeaux (Summer 2016)

With a mashbill of 70% rye, 18% corn, and 12% malted barley, this rye doesn’t disappoint. Butter-toasted rye bread and vanilla, with hints of herbs and campfire smoke. Then fruit…a lot of fruit: pear, banana, pineapple, followed by a bevy of sweets—caramel, butterscotch, and toffee, mainly—with a delightful cinnamon bread finish. This skews more toward bourbon than the Indiana ryes, and that’s a good thing.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Summer 2016)

One of the few remaining age-stated bourbons. Henry McKenna’s color is beautiful. You can hold it up in sunset light and just enjoy the russet and amber hues reflecting. Sweetness, savory, and floral fragrances followed by brown sugar, fresh-baked rye bread, and malt. Caramel and vanilla, with roasted pine nuts and spice, and a slight hint of strawberry lead to a long and savory finish. Balance is the point of this sipper.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Summer 2016)

If Willy Wonka was ever inclined to condense a knickerbocker glory into a dram, it would nose and taste like this: caramel toffee, hints of cocoa, peeled banana, chewy marshmallows, cream, and gooey fudge sauce. The palate has banana, slightly burnt caramel, poached pear, and Banoffee pie layered over mixed peel flavors, adding to its delicious appeal. It’s sweet, dry, smooth, and comforting, like that final satisfying mouthful drained from a mug of hot chocolate. Comfort food for thirsty people.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2016)

This rye has a lot going on. The palate ranges from herbs, caramel, cotton candy, honeysuckle, and rose petals, to chocolate, malt, black pepper, honey, and slightly burnt pizza crust. The whiskey sits on the palate, richly giving red fruit and pepper spice with a slight hint of banana on the end. The taste is magnificent. If the medium finish was just a little longer, this would venture into greatness.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Summer 2016)

Milsean is the latest Private Edition release from Glenmorangie. After initial bourbon barrel maturation, the whisky spent several years in heavily-toasted Portuguese red wine casks. Fresh fruits on the early nose, with ginger and a hint of musk. Coconut and icing sugar emerge. Smooth and rounded on the palate with a big fruit hit that becomes more citric in time, plus lively oak spices. Lingering in the finish, with persistent spice. Finally, plain chocolate and chili.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2016)

Remember those remarkable 20+ year old BenRiachs that appeared when the distillery reopened which we thought were gone forever? Think again. This new and keenly priced arrival has sweet malt on the nose, followed by mango, orange blossom honey, and Portuguese custard tarts. It needs a little water to calm the alcohol and help to spread an already thick texture along the tongue. A sweetly spicy and creamy hit toward the end. Marked within its competitive set. £60

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Summer 2016)

The Craigellachies just keep on coming. This, the oldest of the new Original Bottling range, is the most fiercely priced. It shows balanced and slightly restrained mature notes—think of candle wax and waxed leather. Some fruit syrups, clementine, and honey then follow. The palate is thick—the distillery’s worm tubs having an effect—giving floral accents and a hint of barbecued pineapple. Not the heaviest of the range, but delicious. (Travel Retail exclusive) £500

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Summer 2016)

Malt biscuits, runny caramel, blended black tea, melting butter sliding across a hot skillet, the leather uppers on new Oxfords, and a more enjoyable waft of peat smoke than expected. Clean, light flavors; lime jelly, root ginger, initially not overly sweet, then a boost of honey, caramelized fruits, with toffee and cocoa later still. It’s pricked with hints of smoke throughout, with a long finish of pepper and other spices. Perfectly enjoyable anytime.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2016)

Take a parcel of Macallan, Glenrothes, and Tamdhu all aged over 40 years, season lightly with gently peated Bunnahabhain and North British grain whisky and what do you get? Golden sultanas, linseed oil, orange blossom honey, butterscotch, drying nuttiness, and cedarwood. Blending has beneficially enhanced the three sherry-casked malts. It’s juicy and sticky, rhubarb and damson jams, oak tannins, and a little burnt note as the power swells. Cocoa, chocolate, and lingering oak to finish. (210 bottles) £350

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2016)

One of the first non-Kentucky bonded bourbons since the 1950s. There’s trepidation in this glass. Floral, pear, peach, and chocolate tickle the nose, leading to relief that its aroma isn’t over-oaked like some smaller distillers’ bourbons. Apricot meets dark chocolate, mint, and smoked corn, with hints of caramel, walnut shell, and a long, chicory-coffee finish. The taste is definitely not Kentucky but is convincingly delicious, especially the bitter notes toward the end. Taste this lineage; something special is starting.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Summer 2016)

The nose unravels with milk chocolate, thick hazelnut spread, and a slender twist of orange peel, though that delectable goodness is evenly balanced with peppermint patties and detectable light, floral top notes. This has a lush softness, with a perceptibly slow crescendo of flavors incorporating caramel toffee, popcorn, and chocolate praline. It’s beautifully integrated with a smooth, dense texture, and releases its grip reluctantly with just a whisper of a peppermint reprise.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2016)

I tried this alongside the ‘legendary’ 2013 which, while good, remains too tannic for me. This though, has refinement and some complexity, with roasted tea, scented wood, resin, new brogues, and then the fruity Yamazaki undertow. In time you’ll get perfumed, incense-like sherried elements. It’s the finish where things take off into rose petal, strawberry, and Yamazaki’s pineapple signature. Water increases the tannin. Better than 2013, but still only for sherry bomb and tannin lovers.

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Summer 2016)

WhistlePig does nothing by half measures. They had massive oak trees culled from their Vermont property, coopered into heavily-charred barrels, then used them to finish batches of already mature 100% rye. Layer on layer of soft vanilla, old lumber, cinnamon, fresh orange peels, baking spice, dark fruits, and medicinal hints of resin. Peppery hot and oakily sweet. A slight dustiness and a big juicy butterscotch kiss.

Reviewed by: Davin de Kergommeaux (Summer 2016)

This example is more assertive than the Strathclyde 1987 (see below), but with a better defined grain character. Peeled plum skins, Christmas spices, and honey. Well-balanced yet intense, it feels packed with potential. Warming, with dried orange peel, a big wave of ginger, spice, dried apple, and mango ensure sufficient sweetness to swamp the acidic tendencies of the citrus. The spices rattle around the mouth for some considerable time, colliding with the dry citrus. (198 bottles) £89

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2016)

Triple-distilled whiskey from Samuel Adams Cinder Bock beer, aged 3.5 years in Samuel Adams Utopias casks. Definite character of strong beer to the nose, very light smoke, some mixed fruit notes. Mellow smoke on the tongue, broad malt and fruit (prune plum, dried cherry, baked apple), a luxurious feel. Finish is slow and even. Flavorful, but not heavy or shouting. The casks have had a great effect here, but the distilling is skillfully done.

Reviewed by: Lew Bryson (Summer 2016)

Light in color it may be, but this is no wimp. The nose goes straight to the shore with mineral and salt, but it’s also sweet, which allows it to be fresh, lively, yet balanced. The palate delivers some menthol, bay laurel, more brininess, a hint of malt, and Parma violet. Everything remains very breezy, with peat smoke being blown from a kiln into salt-laden air. I prefer it to the 12 year old and the price is fantastic.

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Summer 2016)

Another example of the old ‘Strathspey’ style of whisky, which predates the lighter, more estery/floral style we have become accustomed to. Here, distillery weight and time work in tandem to give a nose that has slightly overripe orchard fruits, smoke, and Seville orange. The palate then heads into the hedgerows—hawthorn and currant jam—before a waxiness emerges. The finish reveals a mix of smoke and mint. All in all, an excellent dram. £425

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Summer 2016)