Cotton candy, marshmallows roasting over an open campfire, baked apples, and cornbread batter start a whiskey that then offers hints of caramel apples, pumpkin pie, and roasted pecans. Water opens it up to more nuanced fruit, spice, and sweetness. Without water, brown-sugar butter dominates about mid-palate and leads to a long finish. Dilution makes this a completely different whiskey experience.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Fall 2017)

One hundred ten years after the Nimrod expedition, blender Richard Paterson’s adventurous marriage of over 20 Highland malts brings fresh green fruits, manuka honey, vanilla, banana muffin, cantaloupe, fresh herbs, spice, and a wisp of smoke. Refreshing palate of green melon, light honey, vanilla, cinnamon, cooked apple, and gooseberry, becoming sour. More complexity on the finish: spice, smoke, cooked fruits, and chalky Sweethearts candies. Pair with mature prosciutto.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2017)

Brown-Forman deployed a triple-cask finishing process on mature sourced whiskeys, involving virgin oak, refill, and sherry casks. A lovely fruity complexity ensues, with blackberry, apple-toffee notes, malt, vanilla, and sherry influences. Butterscotch with nutty undertones, herbal notes verging toward spicy, and hints of dried apple, red berries, and a touch of leather roll into the finish. You want complexity, intrigue, and flavor for thirty bucks? Look no further.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2017)

Wheat, corn, and malted barley are your three grains here. Orange grove before harvest, a rounded candied peel note, plenty of sweet grain, and creamy vanilla, all backed by gentle spice. Luscious and chewy caramel, taffy candy, lavishly rich orange, and glowing spice notes wrap around the tongue. It’s incredible how they can make this tasty blend of five whiskies look so devastatingly easy (when it’s not). Value Pick

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2017)

This veteran expression was fully matured in first-fill sherry butts. Fragrant on the nose, with black treacle, prunes, raisins, lanolin, bung cloths, and polished oak. Big stewed fruit and warm leather notes on the palate, soon reeled in by spicy tannic oak, plus licorice and aniseed, though a stubborn dusty fruitiness persists. The finish is lengthy and mouth-drying, with lots of dark oak. A lovely example of its kind. £1,575

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2017)

Swiss-based Chapter 7 released this 19 year old single malt, a marriage of two sherry butts (#796 and #1,476). Malt, sweet sherry, cocktail cherries, milky coffee, and a slightly earthy undertone on the nose. Very rich on the palate, with chewy-sweet soft fruits, notably strawberries, syrup sponge, and lively fruit spices. Mouth-drying in the long finish, with aniseed and wood spice. (1,076 bottles)

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2017)

Swiss-based Chapter 7 released this 19 year old single malt, a marriage of two sherry butts (#796 and #1,476). Malt, sweet sherry, cocktail cherries, milky coffee, and a slightly earthy undertone on the nose. Very rich on the palate, with chewy-sweet soft fruits, notably strawberries, syrup sponge, and lively fruit spices. Mouth-drying in the long finish, with aniseed and wood spice. (1,076 bottles)

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2017)

This single cask bottling was distilled in December 1995 and matured in a refill hogshead (#258). Warm, sweet biscuit notes on the nose, plus almonds and tangerines. Substantial on the palate, with vanilla fudge and Jaffa orange. Softly spicy, with developing licorice. Long in the finish, with spicy licorice, plain chocolate, and light tannins. (258 bottles)

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2017)

Sherry finishing influences, from leather satchel, maraschino cherry, floral blossoms, and deep orange notes to a pinch of Chinese Five Spice and buttered ginger loaf. Medium bodied, with a malt content of 75%, it riffs around an orange theme, at times quite sharp, with pith, some bitter grapefruit, more ginger, and herbal strands. Lively spices flicker across the tongue throughout the long finish as the citrus seeps away.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2017)

Matured in first-fill oloroso sherry casks, this is 20% peated whisky from 1997 and 80% fruitier whisky distilled in 2001. Earthy on the early nose, with bonfire smoke, vanilla, raisins, and prunes. The palate opens with sweet fruit notes and medium-dry sherry, giving way to nutmeg, brine, and peat. The finish features plain chocolate, bitter lemons, and a hint of smoky chili. £85

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2017)

This is the sixth—and oldest—limited annual release of Loch Gorm, distilled in 2009 and aged in oloroso sherry butts. The nose is earthy, with raisins, dry spices, smoldering peat, and a not unpleasing hint of rubber. The palate is lively with spices, sherry, cherries, and iodine-soaked peats. Aniseed, sweet sherried peat, and tingling spices in the medium-length finish. (13,500 bottles)

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2017)

This non-chill filtered vintage release was matured in a mix of American oak and Spanish oak sherry casks, and stored in traditional dunnage warehouses. Peaches and vanilla on the nose, with a hint of milk chocolate-coated Turkish Delight and background ginger. Tinned peaches in cream and more ginger on the palate, then orange notes emerge. Spicy in the long finish, with plain chocolate.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2017)

This 2017 edition is non-chill filtered and finished in Amarone dry Italian red wine casks. Slightly perfumed on the nose, with a suggestion of madeira, plus malt and ripe pears. Viscous in the mouth; earthy, with plum and dry blackcurrant, black coffee, and plain chocolate, balanced by notes of honey. Mouth-drying in the finish, with a touch of tannic oak.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2017)

Thanks to the Gulf Stream, palm trees grow on Arran’s west coast. That prevailing sunny climate appears to have influenced this mature example from Lochranza: ripe, yellow summer fruits, lime zest, strong mixed spices, and notes of the sea, like sand brushed from seashells. Very approachable; this just oozes sunshine, bringing us the joys of sweet citrus, spices, marzipan, mango, and papaya. The finish is like slurping melted ice cream.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2017)

A non-chill filtered single cask bottling from The Creative Whisky Co. This is a classic ‘full-on’ yet well-balanced Islay, with a nose of sweet peat, lemongrass, iodine, and brine. Ultimately, a whiff of aromatic pipe tobacco. Sweet fruit notes on the palate, developing smoky peat, and barbecued meat. Long in the finish, with spicy licorice, chili, and peat embers.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2017)

When spice meets fruit in whiskey, it’s a beautiful thing. Here, chili pepper melds with banana and pear, then baking spices tumble into passion fruit. Next, it’s cornbread, vanilla ice cream, hazelnut, and brown sugar. Finally, a touch of caramel appears toward the end, where a medium but lovely finish takes it home. This will make a fine table whiskey for easy sipping.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Fall 2017)

When bakers knead dough there’s a distinct aroma that drifts upward as the flour and water combine. That doughy goodness is found here, with root vegetable cellar and funky leather notes. Then powerful flavors drive this whiskey home: black licorice, caramel-flavored rice cakes, rye bread, paprika, cumin, and sugar cookies over a richly coating mouthfeel. Its greatest flaw is a shorter than desired medium finish with a hint of toasted pecan.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Fall 2017)

Here’s one in the eye for people who grumble about high prices for age statement whisky. Sherry aromas, good-quality plain chocolate, clove-studded oranges, coffee beans, and fat sultanas. Thick, gloopy texture with lashings of sherry, mouth-drawing tannins, a pleasant buzz of wood spices, peppery chocolate, and coffee dregs. It emerges from a savory middle section to a burnt orange salvation, followed by a hot, oaky finish. £148

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2017)