Bursting with hawthorn, red currant, cherry, pomegranate, baked sugar sweetness, roasted spices, cardamom, dark honey, and plum pudding. This pot still whiskey from 1985 is mouth drawing with fruit flesh and skins, tasting of stewed fruits, baked orange, apple, and pomegranate, with a very fine shimmer of spices that sparkles on the tongue. Adding to their canon of single cask Redbreast releases, this is absolutely smashing. €500

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

Vanilla, dark chocolate, pepper, ground ginger, hard candy, floral blooms, Parma Violets, and dried apple sing from this oloroso sherry butt-finished blend of 18 year old triple-distilled single malt and 8 year old single grain. Syrupy fruit textures with flavors of apricot conserve, the European oak finds harmony with the orchard fruits, gingerbread, and pepper. Mouth-coating, lingering finish of oak and dried banana. (5,000 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

Triple distilled in Coffey stills and aged for over 6 years, the black grape, blackberry, dry-roasted spices, and cocoa demonstrate how the 6-month finish was well-judged. A wonderful mouthfeel, the wine notes chasing the vanilla sweetness, fudge, gentle spices, and creamy custard tarts before a finish of chocolate and spiced dark fruit. This is so good, I had to check the bottle to confirm this was grain whiskey. (5,000 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

Earthy, leathery, and spiced, this bourbon shows nice maturity and polish, evoking a well-worn wood-paneled barroom. The flavors offer good intensity and concentration, striking a nice balance of sweet and savory notes, as spicy cedarwood and cigar box come draped in toffee. Water releases some vivid chocolate, vanilla cream, and clove-studded orange. Nice verve, fine balance, and evident maturity.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Fall 2018)

A beautiful rye nose of clove spice, sandalwood incense, warm cinnamon toast, and vanilla sugar leads to a palate that is both creamy and juicy, with abundant apricot, orchard, and citrus fruit; the citrus smacks of ruby-red grapefruit with its hint of bitterness. Shows a good bit of heat and power, as the seamless flavors and well-integrated spice coast through a long finish. The first bottling to include High West’s own-make spirit. Tasted blind against previous batches.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Fall 2018)

After 12 years of waiting, Francis Cuthbert has finally released the first bottling of his Daftmill Lowland single malt. The nose is soft and floral, with peaches, walnuts, coconut, warm caramel, and milk chocolate. The palate features cereal, almonds, nougat, and subtle citrus fruits. Drying in the relatively long finish, with subtle oak. Well worth the wait! (629 bottles) £210

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2018)

Chocolate orange, a sizzle of bacon fat, and dry peat. While this feels less potent than Samaroli’s other Islay offerings, it fits the mood perfectly for a nightcap. The taste buds detect orange, honey, chocolate praline, hazelnut, Oreos, a hint of cocoa, and an underbelly of peat smoke that carries into the finish. A wonderfully rich, smooth digestif that will transport you back to Islay in your dreams.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

Made by the sea in Côtes d’Armor on direct-fired small stills attached to worm tubs, which the French elegantly call condenseurs serpentins. This has smoked fish, iodine, pine forests, driftwood, lemon zest, and clean medicinal qualities rather than peatiness. Waxed lemon, light fudge, lemon bonbons, and vanilla from the bourbon barrels ride a crescendo of pepper and ginger before smoke obscures all before it. A match for any Islay.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

This includes whiskies from nineteen oloroso sherry butts filled in 2007, 2008, and 2011. Medium sherry, orange marmalade, cinnamon, and developing sea salt on the nose. The palate yields more sherry, earthy peat, dark chocolate, honey, and ginger. Fruit spice, sultanas, and charcuterie in the medium to long finish. The best Loch Gorm to date. (15,000 bottles)

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Fall 2018)

Smoked meat, paprika, cumin, peppercorn, and star anise, amid fragrant smoke and maple bacon. The flavors are supremely fruity with tangerine, marmalade, lime zest, and pineapple juice. Among the fruit is a cascade of aromatic spices, before the interjection of a most compelling sour fruit note, and the smokiness takes charge. It’s certainly no Islay mimic, this terrific Indian whisky demonstrates it has the courage of its own convictions.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

Mesquite-smoked New Mexico single malt. Rich and beefy on the nose: charred brisket, salted meat, tangerines, dark wood, brine, and white smoke. The palate is powerful, oak-forward without being astringent, and very spicy. Walnut, cayenne pepper, and grilled citrus balance out the meaty, oaky flavors. Saddle leather, cherries, and even more smoke on the finish. Tangy, salty, spicy, and malty. A truly compelling American single malt with great structure.

Reviewed by: Adam Polonski (Fall 2018)

A little savory at first, with burning leaves and green wood, aromatic spice mix, pastrami, malt loaf, and Worcestershire sauce. Certainly complex and distinctive from a sensory perspective. Initially there is light vanilla sponge, citrus, and brown sugar, but the vanilla grows stronger, combines with malt, and meets an angry surge of pepper. The pepper kicks back to peat smoke and then all is right with the world.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

The aroma is a mélange of sweet goodness, with violet candies, figgy dried fruits, and molasses cake that almost evoke a cane-like rum sweetness, as tobacco leaf, leather, and sassafras notes add depth. It’s a real roof burner on the palate, broad and mouth coating, offering a big blast of spices, cocoa powder, tropical fruits, and vanilla before the wood and minty herbs drive it to the finish line.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Fall 2018)

Malty and biscuity aromas mingle seamlessly with vanilla, plums, raisins, and chocolate-covered bananas. The Highland scotch in the blend asserts itself with dry graininess and a floral character bordering on potpourri, but is well-balanced with cooked plum and pear, chocolate, ginger, and Fig Newton. Nuttiness and a bit of ash round out a pleasantly bitter-sweet finish that shows impressive length.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Fall 2018)

The additional year of aging in new American oak is readily apparent in this blend of American whiskeys. Dry, toasty, charred oak takes the lead before cherry cough drop, cedar, clove, eucalyptus, and toasted nuts emerge. The red and blue fruits are met with a jolt of spice that will delight rye whiskey fans, before delivering earthy, leathery, tobacco leaf on the finish. Big in oak flavors, but not overdone.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Fall 2018)

Repackaged at a higher strength, the nose is grassy, with lemon zest, hints of apple and pear, vanilla seeds, almonds, and fresh florals. Light honey and summer fruits, barley notes, and vanilla, becoming juicier over time with base notes of whole spice, before serving up a lemon-and-honey lozenge finish. Very assured, this double-distilled single malt is a must for your Irish whiskey shelf. Best Value

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

Sweet smoke mingles with lemon curd, milk chocolate, roasted marshmallow, and vanilla-frosted yellow cupcake on the nose. The palate has a rubbery peatiness, yet the flavor remains fresh, with cherries and grapes, roasted nuts, salted caramel, and milk chocolate. It all wraps up with the ashiness of pipe tobacco and lengthy saline minerality. Beguiling and moreish—a whiskey worth lingering over. (3,000 bottles)

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Fall 2018)

The nose smells wonderfully chewy, with buttery toffee, candied nuts, charred oak, cracked pepper, and a hint of fresh dill. The palate sings with electric spice and rolls along nicely with stone fruit, peppercorn, sweet vanilla, and leathery oak, each taking their turn before the slightly hot finish of oak tannins. A blend of 51% and 95% rye mashbills from Indiana’s MGP.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Fall 2018)