On the nose, intense fruit underlaid with smoke: a grilled half-peach. Hints of cinnamon and milk chocolate; blackberry jam; brisket. With water, the peat turns slightly rubbery and mineral, and that minerality carries into the palate, balanced by juicy berries, Raisinets, and almonds. Curling wisps of pipe smoke wrap around smoked almonds and sea salt-sprinkled dark chocolate on the finish. Though hefty, it’s pretty easy to drink at full strength; add a bit of water and you’ll soften the alcohol without diminishing any of the flavor. (607 bottles; U.S. exclusive)

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2020)

Part of Bardstown Bourbon Co.’s Collaboration Series, distilled in Tennessee and aged 9 years, then finished 18 months in French oak barrels that previously held The Prisoner wine. The nose offers raspberry, grape hard candy, bubble gum, and dried orange slices. A palate of chocolate fudge, coconut, cinnamon, and baking spice leads to a finish that’s rich and smooth, with more chocolate and lively fruit. Balanced and with excellent depth; a unified, harmonious whiskey. (10,000 bottles)

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Summer 2020)

The nose is thick with peanut brittle and peanut shells, blackberry cobbler, grape jelly, allspice, dried ginger, and mint and other herbs. Beautifully mature flavors on the palate: cooked plums, raisins, and dark chocolate mingle with integrated oak, with peanuts bringing up the rear. Silky, especially in the finish, which fades almost too quickly to relish dark chocolate-covered cherries, peanuts, and smooth oak. (2,000 bottles)

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2020)

Aged at least 18 months in new charred oak, then finished with Texas pecan wood staves added to the barrel. The nose offers melted caramel, buttered pecan, vanillin, oak, and subtle fruit. A soft palate has notes of baked plum tart, chocolate, figs, allspice, tea leaf, and dusty oak. The finish is spiced, with dark chocolate, light tobacco, and hefty but well-integrated oak. Bold and robust, with an abundance of flavors. (42,000 bottles)

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Summer 2020)

Buckets of fresh-picked berries, pastry cream, green banana, saline, and iodine peat on the nose. It stays consistent on the palate, with sweet berries, toasted baking spice, chocolate, salty and mineral peat, and a creamy texture. The flavor builds and then, on the finish, crescendos on a wave of dark chocolate, bittersweet oak, and smoldering peat smoke. The fruit doesn’t make it to the end, but there’s no lack of a sense of completion. (1,260 bottles; U.S. exclusive)

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2020)

This was produced from barley grown on the distillery’s Cadboll Estate and matured for 15 years in first-fill bourbon casks. Soft malt, ginger, honey, tangerines, and rose petals on the pleasing, harmonious nose. Rounded on the palate, with malt, more honey, white chocolate, fudge, and tangy citrus notes. Citrus fruit, vanilla, and cocoa powder on the finish.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2020)

The official debut of the distillery’s 100% own-make single malt. The nose has an earthy expression of the grain, and works in heady aromas of guava, pomegranate, blueberries, and kiwi, along with sandalwood soap. It’s oily and silky in the mouth, with forthright lemon and orange oil, guava, and kiwi, as well as dried leaves, nutty tobacco, and peppery spice. The finish is gentle and fades slowly, with lemon oil, milk chocolate, and a hint of ashy charred nuts. (9,600 bottles)

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2020)

Mature but lively character; it has dark fruit, black tea, mint oil, fennel seed, and licorice on the nose. The palate is brawny and robust—it practically eats water—and swells with mint, licorice, root beer, black pepper, baking spice, espresso, and grape Robitussin. The lengthy finish is peppery and rich, with oak, herbs, baking spice, tea leaves, and dark chocolate.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2020)

From Colorado-based Wood’s High Mountain Distillery. A nose of apple, brown sugar, and blackcurrant, set against jalapeño spice and smoke. The palate offers flavors of cinnamon and burnt espresso beans, with an alluring smoky bitterness and notes of jalapeño, smoked chiles, and black pepper. On the finish, dried dark fruits and bitter chocolate emerge, with a blast of pepper at the end. Rich, brawny, and assertive, but also supple and well integrated.

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Summer 2020)

Opening with fresh grain aromas, it soon develops to show complex cinnamon, clove, chai, black tea, dried orange peel, and smoked salt; delicate pastry notes also appear. The palate is rich, roasty, and hot without water, offering dark chocolate, dried chiles, barbecued brisket, cacao nibs, charred nuts, and peppery spice that starts as a small flame and builds into a burn on the warming, chocolaty, ashy finish. (1,200 bottles)

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2020)

A well-choreographed interplay of rich dark fruit—plums, Luxardo cherries, Concord grapes—and deep spices on the nose, along with hints of wood char and licorice; it turns tropical and nutty when water is added. The palate is richly spiced—cedar, ginger, cloves, allspice—and silky with extra-dark chocolate, grilled plums, espresso beans, and hints of aged cigar. It ends rich and toasty, with lush oak, hookah tobacco, and coffee bean.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2020)

The malt shows well on the nose, with toasted almonds, cooked cereal, and rolled oats; there’s also coriander seed, dill, dewy grass, peaches, and nectarines. It’s intensely spiced and herbaceous on the palate: clove-studded orange, chai, sandalwood, pouch tobacco, and more coriander and aniseed. With water, milk chocolate, almonds, and hazelnuts emerge. The finish is oaky, with hints of tobacco and persistent spice, especially coriander. Compelling. (300 bottles; U.S. exclusive)

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2020)

Perfumy in both aroma and flavor: rose potpourri, peach blossom, lemon drops, strawberry shortcake, talcum powder, and clean cereal notes on the nose. Candied rose petal on the palate, as well as dried fruit (especially with water), rich and well-integrated spice, cacao nibs, and dry oak. It’s distinctive and well-balanced, even when the oak seems a touch bitter. The finish is dry and leathery, with pipe tobacco, cinnamon, and, still, that rose note. (172 bottles; U.S. exclusive)

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2020)

A nose of oak, lemon meringue pie, lashings of vanilla, pink peppercorns, and paprika. It’s particularly mouth-drawing at cask strength, offering vanilla, toffee, a slight nuttiness, and banana, with a clove spiciness that really takes hold. It keeps surging forward, finding different ways for the spices to peak before settling on a vanilla finish.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2020)

Cranberry, watermelon, and cherry, with deeper notes of raisin and prune, are lanced by piercing spices. There’s a thick and heavy mouthfeel that begins with caramel and vanilla, sliding into chewy toffee with coffee notes and a hint of raspberry, though harried by peppery spices so sharp they taste spiky.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2020)

Fresh pear, grilled banana, chile oil, cardamom, brown sugar, oak sawdust, vanilla, snuff tobacco, and peppery crackers on the nose. Light vanilla and caramelized brown sugar, then mouth-drawing with apple and lemon peel. A spicy buildup spills into banana peel and banoffee pie; the mouthfeel gains weight over time. Smooth, sweet, caramel finish. (150 bottles) Collectible

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2020)

Aromatic on the nose, with vivid fruitiness mingling with briny, rubbery peat: grilled apples and pears, lemon zest, and peach slices. On the palate, it presents as simple, but wait a beat to let the whisky settle—and add a bit of water—and that simplicity reads more as softness in texture. The flavors are expressive and consistent with the nose: lemon and lime zest, peach, apricot, and salty-peppery peat. It finishes with bittersweet smoke, tobacco leaf, black pepper, and lingering oak. (250 bottles; U.S. exclusive)

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2020)

Delightfully rich on the nose, with grape jelly, raspberries, Raisinets, buttered pecans, toffee, dark chocolate, baking spice, leather, and the old oak smell of a rickhouse. Chewy and viscous, the palate shows excellent consistency, balancing raisins, Concord grape jelly, baking spice, and dark chocolate with coffee bean, cola, and lush oak. A lengthy and elegant finish highlights mocha, grape skins, cinnamon, black pepper, and rich oak. Best Value

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2020)