Initially, floral and fruit meet oak and a cadre of baking spices. Then it’s a plethora of vanilla in several forms, from icing to pudding, followed by notes of butterscotch, fudge, Oreo cookies, and pecan shell. Sweet cigar tobacco and honey follow this home to a short to medium finish with a hint of peach cobbler. Ideal for cocktails.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Summer 2018)

Drink to the Boston Strong Boy, the last bare-knuckle boxing heavyweight champion of the world. The nose is bright: apple, pear, vanilla pod, lime zest, orange peel, puffy marshmallow, and light toffee. As the gloves come off, the palate rolls with the punches of malt, apple, vanilla, and spearmint, parrying jabs of brown sugar, caramel, and stroopwafels. It’s light on its feet and delivers nutty, spicy finishing moves.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2018)

This offers an enticing nose of honey, malt, and barley sugar—sweet and floral. Peaches in cream on the palate, a suggestion of madeira, milk chocolate, and Brazil nuts. Cocoa, citrus fruits, and light oak in the medium-length finish. Value pick

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2018)

Lovely cinnamon candies offer an entrancing first taste, with lemon drop and orange sherbet close behind. Baking spices come on strong mid-palate, with undertones of caramel and vanilla. But what makes this special is its mouthfeel: tingly and warming the palate throughout. Cinnamon is ever-present.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Summer 2018)

The nose is muted, with gentle orchard fruits, subtle malt, nougat, and nutty toffee. The palate, by contrast, is bold and offers big fresh fruit notes, notably zesty tangerines, along with crème brûlée. Dry peat notes follow. Earthy peat smoke and white pepper with a citrus tang in the long finish. (230 bottles)

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2018)

Lemon meringue pie, flaked almonds, cereal bars, almost porridge-like, enlivened by the tiniest pinch of allspice. A ferocious peppery intensity saves itself for the palate, where it tramples all over the lemon zest and apple flavors without mercy. Once the conquering spices call it a day, this is a sweeter concoction, with soft fudge, brown sugar, and blueberry muffin. In the finish, the allspice has the final word. (Batch 3; 162 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2018)

Initially restrained; as the nose opens up it reveals plum, red berry fruit, pine resin, and root-beer spices. The palate picks up a bit, slightly vinous in its red-fruit drive, herbal-cherry cough drop, and sweet vanilla, leading to a modest finish laced with licorice, cinnamon, and pine forest.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Summer 2018)

Soft and floral with perfumed lavender soap, peach, green apple, and parma violets. It floats in the mouth, dispensing flavors of sweet apple, custard, tangy tangerine, hard candies, green plum, marshmallow, and white pepper. Delicious and accomplished, but there’s an overlap here: it feels like the NAS version had a birthday, rather than the arrival of a new member of the family. £35

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2018)

By finishing this blend of two sourced whiskies in its own maritime rum barrels, Authentic Seacoast Distillery gives this classic Canadian whisky a somehow tropical twist. Oily molasses undertones on the nose continue onto a spicy palate, which is syrupy but not slippery, with hints of wet slate, bananas, and heavy fruit. Barrel notes and suggestions of dry oak restrain an initially lush mouthfeel. (Nova Scotia only) $55 CAD

Reviewed by: Davin de Kergommeaux (Summer 2018)

Ripe yellow fruits, summer florals, satsuma peel, anise candy, and, unexpectedly, a catch of smoke at the back of the throat. Interestingly, the malt in this blend was made elsewhere, on the stills now installed at the Pearse Lyons Distillery in Dublin. Mellow, with tropical fruits, melon, and citrus. It becomes quite tangy, with a growing dominance of spices, ginger, and pepper. Shades of sourness creep in, heralding a light, spicy finish. (KY, GA, and FL, with expansion planned)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2018)

This amber-hued whiskey seems part bourbon, part single malt, offering a nose of sweet dried fruits —raisin and apples—heaped with earthy, leathery oak. The palate is enjoyable for its crème caramel sweetness and drinkability, but the drying oak is a bit heavy-handed, overwhelming the medium body. A serviceable and versatile whiskey for the price. Corn, malted barley, wheat, and rye.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Summer 2018)

After 6 to 7 years in a bourbon cask, this is finished for 9 to 12 months in oloroso casks. Sweet sherry, glacé cherries, butterscotch, and roses on the nose. Medium-bodied, with caramel, dark chocolate-cherry liqueur, and warming spices. The finish yields black currant, cough medicine, then allspice, and slowly drying oak.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2018)

Highly approachable, with soft, earthy peat on the nose, plus pineapple, honey, and vanilla. Warm leather, ashy peat, ripe pears, and discreet vanilla notes on the palate. Slightly thinner than the unpeated Classic. Relatively long in the finish, with peppery peat and ultimately, aniseed.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2018)

After 6 to 7 years of maturation in bourbon casks, this spent several months in chardonnay white wine casks. The nose offers resinous wine notes, melon, grapefruit, and a hint of vanilla. Nutty on the palate, with orchard fruits, more vanilla, and milk chocolate. Peaches and a slightly oily note in the finish, with apples, nutmeg, and a sprinkling of black pepper.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2018)

Quite an unusual start: melted butter poured over brown rice followed by caramel, vanilla, and fried sweet potatoes. Although the ABV suggests it’s light, the body actually holds up quite well with notes of banana, quince, marzipan, bread pudding, and vanilla. Alas, the short finish doesn’t follow suit, only offering a hint of caramel.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Summer 2018)

Who wouldn’t love this? Aromas of vanilla, malt, cream, cake batter, mashed banana, and heady florals, with a hint of dark fruit and dry spice. There is concordance between the nose and palate; the taste is sweet and honeyed, with orange, lemon and lime zest, and well-integrated spices, then becomes creamier, with custard, banana loaf, a little dark peel, and marmalade. Honey and citrus round things off nicely.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2018)

It begins with notes of brown sugar, Nutter Butter, hazelnut, nutmeg, and vanilla, with hints of roasted nuts. They’re pronounced and rounded, with secondary and tertiary notes introducing malt, cornbread, and salt water taffy. The medium finish offers a hint of bacon bits.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Summer 2018)

This single cask, cask-strength bottling was matured in a port hogshead. Slightly sharp on the initial nose, savory, and a touch vegetal. The palate is full and malty, offering creamy toffee, hazelnuts, ripe peaches, and ginger. Creaminess lasts through the cinnamon-spiced medium-length finish. (290 bottles)

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2018)