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Those of you who received the January set had the opportunity to taste this new(er) Islay distillery’s first core release at the start of the year. Founded by top independent bottler Hunter Laing back in 2017, they worked with the legendary Jim McEwan (previously of Bowmore and Bruichladdich) to build the distillery and perfect their craft. Worm tub condensers are used (uniquely on Islay today) to ensure the desired texture and complexity. Stewart Laing and his sons Andrew & Scott are producing classic peated (40PPM), fruity Islay spirit, and patiently waited until 2024 before releasing their first whisky. It was worth the wait!

The second core release is Bholsa, named after the dramatic sea caves near the distillery. Here the sherry influence is dialed up, with this non-chill filtered, natural colour single malt matured predominantly in oloroso sherry casks.

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Distillerie Tessendier, founded in 1880, is a celebrated Cognac producer. Today it’s run by brothers Jérôme & Lilian Tessendier (master blender & cellar master respectively), who’ve also been distilling whisky since 2019 in tribute to their whisky-loving mother. Given Cognac has to be distilled between around Nov and the end of Mar, it’s a great use of the stills in between! Made with traceable two-row spring barley from northern France, mashing and fermentation take place in Jarnac, before distillation in the family’s traditional Charentais copper stills (worth googling if you can’t picture these - quite different to normal whisky stills), and maturation in classic Cognac cellars close to the banks of the Charente river.

‘Original’ is their flagship malt, aged for over 3 years in new American oak and bourbon barrels. They encourage you to try it with ice, ginger ale, or in cocktails.

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Living Souls is an independent bottler releasing “flavour led, small batch whisky to be opened and enjoyed”. Amen to that. We haven’t had a Balblair in Pour & Sip since 2021. Founded in 1790, it’s one of just 9 working Scotch whisky distilleries founded all the way back in the 18th century (if you don’t count Rosebank), although Balblair distillery was moved half a mile up the road in 1872 and was also closed between 1911 and 1949. Long fermentations and small stumpy stills produce a fruity, meaty spirit. The distillery also features in the Ken Loach movie ‘Angels’ Share’.

This 10 year old bottling from Living Souls is non-chill filtered, natural colour, and was finished in Limousin Oak XO octaves (i.e. small casks that previously held Cognac). They say –  in keeping with the tasting notes – that it’s “Ideal for enjoying a classic book while relaxing by a cozy open fire.”

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Not simply one of the oldest wine merchants in the world, Berry Bros. & Rudd – founded in 1698(!) at 3 St James's Street, London – also bottles some incredible whiskies. (They were also the creators of Cutty Sark whisky, which was within the business until 2010.) BBR’s previous Classic Range of blended malts was replaced last year by new single malts including this age statement Speysider matured in oloroso sherry butts selected and married in small batches by Spirit Curator Felix Dear.

Generalisations about the character of whisky from each region are only of so much use (just look at the heavily peated Speyside malt Meikle Tòir in this month's set!), but Speyside has always brought to mind fruity drams, with lighter styles, as well as heavier spirits perfect for sherry maturation both traditional. Obviously this sits in the latter, while also being a perfect everyday sipper.

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With over 20 years in the industry in his own right, Alistair Walker is also the son of Billy Walker (master distiller and owner of GlenAllachie, formerly of Benriach, Glendronach and more). Having previously worked at Burn Stewart and BenRiach Distillery Co., Infrequent Flyers is very much Alistair’s own baby. An independent bottler releasing quality single cask whiskies, often (as the name suggests) from lesser known distilleries. As ‘chief cook and bottle washer’, Alistair selects all the casks and can be particular about what (and when) he buys and bottles. He also recasks some whiskies, leaning on his previous experience.

For example, this whisky was finished in an oloroso sherry puncheon, yielding 653 bottles. Braeval certainly fits the bill for ‘lesser known’. Built in 1973 and mothballed for six years in the early 2000s, it’s rarely seen as a single malt even from indie bottlers.

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It’s the year 2000. Enter John Glaser (once labelled the ‘enfant terrible of the Scotch whisky world’ by legendary beer and whisky writer Michael Jackson) and his blending house Compass Box, with the modest ambition of challenging conventions and redefining whisky enjoyment. Their first release was a grain whisky, Hedonism. A curveball that got people talking (and drinking) in new ways. They’ve been vital and inspirational ever since, championing transparency in whiskymaking (and occasionally getting into trouble for it!).

That’s why we can tell you Nectarosity is made up of 34.4% Linkwood (22.6% first-fill Palo Cortado sherry cask + 11.8% refill sherry puncheon), 22.8% Clynelish (10.7% second-fill fresh oak + 12.1% first-fill bourbon), and 7.1% Balmenach (first-fill bourbon) malts, plus 15.9% Girvan, and 19.8% Cameronbridge grains.

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Founded in 2011, Dad’s Hat creates an ‘old-school’ pre-prohibition Pennsylvania style Rye - 80% grain, 20% malt (15% barley, 5% rye malt), no corn, and a sweet mash. They use local farms for their grains, temperature controlled fermenters, and perform five to seven day low-and-slow ferments to develop a complex flavour. Their mission is to bring the style back to prominence, or at least to some discerning glasses.

This natural cask strength limited (289 bottles) indie release comes via That Boutique-y Whisky Company, whose illustrated labels have been adding some colour to the whisky world since 2012. It’s part of their baseball card themed USA Series, with the full bottle’s label featuring Dad’s Hat founder and distiller Herman Mihalich as the ‘Pitcher’, wearing – of course – his dad’s hat (a Stetson fedora, itself handcrafted in Pennsylvania).

£29.95 per box

It’s never been easier to give the gift of whisky, because you can now delight your fellow whisky enthusiast with our wonderful gift cards! 

It’s simple: once you’ve chosen which subscription you’d like to give, you send it to the lucky recipient and they can redeem it. We know that gifts are all about making someone feel special, so you can personalise your message inside for that extra touch.

If the special occasion isn’t for a while, no worries – you can choose the exact date that the gift will fly into their inbox, so you’ll never be too early (or late!). If you’re more of a paper person, you have the option to print it off, too. 

Along with the gift card, we’ll send over all the details on how to redeem it (which they can do right here), so all you have to do is sit back and watch the joy unfold*!

PLEASE NOTE: Gift subscriptions must be redeemed within 3 calendar months of the date of purchase.

Pour & Sip

In July we had a Master of Malt bottling of 37yo blended grain – the oldest whisky in Pour & Sip’s five year history. Well how about a 40 year old single grain?! This whisky celebrates 40 years of Master of Malt. The award-winning online retailer behind Pour & Sip began life as a mail order independent bottler way back in 1985!

Girvan, meanwhile, was founded in 1963 in the town of the same name. Hendrick's Gin is also made there. It’s owned by William Grant & Sons (the family owned company off of Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Ailsa Bay single malt distilleries, the latter on the same site as Girvan). This whisky would have been distilled shortly after Girvan switched to wheat, using the original ‘No.1 Apps’ (apparatus), a nonetheless vast two-column copper still decommissioned in 2016. A batch of just 473 bottles, matured in refill sherry butts.

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A crystal glass that's simply perfect for getting the most out of all the amazing whiskies Pour & Sip members get to explore and enjoy! Its tapered tulip shape captures and helps direct all the subtle and complex aromas, while its base is both sturdy and easy to hold. The Glencairn tasting glass is the classic choice of whisky lovers for good reason.

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Meikle Tòir (pronounced “mee-kuhl tor”, meaning ‘big pursuit’) is a still fairly new peated single malt brand from the usually unpeated GlenAllachie distillery. It’s the pursuit of celebrated master distiller Billy Walker, whose whisky career spans over 50 years, making his name at Glendronach and Benriach especially. He began making the first peated whiskies at GlenAllachie (for just six weeks of the year) back in 2018, shortly after he acquired the distillery. A lesser spotted peated Speyside malt, Meikle Tòir uses mainland peat from St. Fergus (35 PPM here), while a lengthy 160-hour fermentation ensures the sweeter side of the spirit isn’t lost.

Almost two years ago we featured the Chinqapin oak finish edition, but this ‘Original’ variant is aged in a combination of first-fill bourbon barrels, fresh American oak casks, and rye barrels.

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We love this organic, certified (with extremely high score) B Corp distillery, powered by 100% renewable energy. We also love their Quiet Rebels series, celebrating the humans behind the whisky with releases selected by, and named after, members of the team in the order in which they joined. Still unreleased at the time of writing, it’s now the turn of Simon (alongside a non-whisky Sarah, an oat-based whisky cream liqueur).

Simon here means distiller Simon Hewitt, who trained as a chef, has walked the length of New Zealand and North America, has dabbled in bee-keeping, and is a self-proclaimed beer fanatic. The final fact is the important one, as his very own Nc’nean single malt – distilled between 2017-2020 – started life in shaved, toasted and re-charred (STR) red wine casks, but was finished in stout casks from famed Scottish brewery Innis & Gunn.

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As old as the town it’s named after (or older), John & Hugh Stevenson built a brewery in 1793, with distillation recorded from 1794. The distillery’s current buildings date back to around the 1880/90s though, and after briefly closing in the 1960s, the current stillhouse was built in 1972. Located both by the sea and on a high street, it’s a small distillery with a single pair of stills. It’s also another (along with Talisker) of the small number to use traditional worm tub condensers. Usually this leads to a heavier, meatier spirit, but by running their worm tub warmer at Oban, they prolong copper contact for a lighter result (Glen Elgin and Royal Lochnagar distilleries operate in a similar way).

Here their light, fruity, coastal spirit has been finished in Caribbean pot still rum casks for a Diageo Special Release dubbed ‘The Soul of Calypso’! It’s bottled at natural cask strength.

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THIS IS A BASE PRODUCT THAT SHOULDN'T BE SOLD, PLEASE LEAVE DISABLED

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The ninth release in Penderyn’s Icons of Wales series honours the great social reformer and only Welsh Prime Minister of the UK, David Lloyd George. What you may not know, however, is that he quite inadvertently established whisky as the premium spirit we know and love today. The wartime Immature Spirits (Restriction) Act of 1915 legislated for the first time that spirits such as whisky had to be matured in oak casks for a minimum of three years.

Since 2000, it’s been Penderyn who’ve had the biggest Welsh influence in the world of whisky, helping to establish a Welsh single malt Geographical Indication (GI) and expanding to three sites (Brecon Beacons, Llandudno & Swansea). The distillery is unusually equipped with Faraday stills (a cross between a pot and column still) to achieve a light spirit, but they weren't used for this release. Instead, small pot stills that were added in 2014 were used, with this single malt matured in a combination of Jamaican rum & Ruby Port casks, and non-chill filtered.

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Spring has sprung, and we're getting ready to enjoy five new whiskies from Scotland, Kentucky, and even Bristol. Prepare to discover new grain types, yeast strains, and lesser-spotted cask finishes! 

Ledaig 12 Year Old 2008 Amarone Cask Finish: A peated Ledaig single malt, limited to just 2,753 bottles available either only at the distillery itself or on Master of Malt (which powers Pour & Sip!). The final year of its 12 years of maturation was spent finishing in amarone wine casks, adding a dose of rich, spicy tannins to the sweet, smoky, and distinctly maritime whisky

Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old: One of Diageo’s six ‘Classic Malts’, Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old is a great introduction to the gentle, yet complex whisky from the Highland distillery, known for a honeyed sweetness.

Circumstance Single Grain Estate Whisky: The first core whisky release from the Bristol-based distillery, created from four different types of organic grain (malted barley, unmalted barley, malted rye, and malted wheat), three different brewing yeasts, and matured in three different types of casks (bourbon, new European oak, and oloroso sherry).

Aberfeldy 15 Year Old - Cadillac White Wine Cask Finish: A limited-edition Aberfeldy, finished for six months in Cadillac white wine casks, known for its sweet, aromatic wines for a rich, sweet, fruity whisky here.

Angel's Envy: A fantastic Kentucky bourbon finished in Port casks, with the rich fruit notes of the cask finish working wonders with the sweet, vanilla-forward notes of the bourbon itself.

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We're revisiting some old faves this month (with more sherry in two cases), plus a household name from America whose premium releases you may have overlooked…

High Coast Silent Mills Collection - #2 Sandö: High Coast produces both unpeated and peated spirit. The Silent Mills editions all build on the same peated, bourbon cask matured base as Timmer from their Origin range but introduce other cask types into the mix. For the second release, Sandö, that means 22% of the final whisky has been aged in oloroso sherry casks for added dried fruit tang and roundness. The peat level is around 45 PPM.

Ardnamurchan AD/ Sherry Cask Release: Ardnamurchan also makes both peated (30-35PPM) and unpeated spirit. Both are used in this release, just as they are in the excellent core AD/ release. The difference? The Sherry Cask Release is 100% sherry cask matured. Full maturation in a mix of oloroso and Pedro Ximénez butts. As Chris in our curation team noted recently, “Ardnamurchan is slowly taking over my everyday drinkers shelf at home!”

Glasgow 1770 - The Original: In 2015 whisky distilling returned to the city of Glasgow for the first time in a century. Like others in this set, Glasgow Distillery produce both peated and unpeated spirit. The Original is unpeated. Their fresh and fruity flagship whisky is matured in first-fill bourbon casks, then finished in fresh American oak casks that have had no prior contents. It’s non-chill filtered and natural colour.

Aberlour 12 Year Old Double Cask Matured: A classic Speyside name, Aberlour is known to work well with sherry casks, with maturation here taking place in both bourbon and sherry casks as the name implies. Compared to the 14-year-old, this 12-year-old offers a crisper, more citrussy take from the popular distillery. A little more of the new make’s green apple is on show (alongside trademark leafy blackcurrant character).

Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Select: Jack Daniel’s is world famous. You know most people enjoy ‘JD’ with cola. But let’s be clear: within the slightly more premium offerings is good stuff. Their single barrels are excellent, as are their bottled-in-bond releases. The difference between bourbon and Tennessee whiskey? The Lincoln County Process. Tennessee whiskeys are filtered through maple charcoal prior to ageing for smoothness.

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Five single malts this month, three from Scotland including two of Diageo’s ‘Classic Malts’, and two that have reached for the rum casks!

Talisker Distillers Edition: Talisker’s dates back to 1830, when the isle was the definition of remote. Fortunately since 1995 it’s been linked to the mainland by a bridge making it much easier to visit. Deft use of peat is the name of the game once again, but Talisker’s malt has a lower initial peat level than neighbours Torabhaig (~75% peated malt [20-25 PPM] mixed with 25% unpeated). This excellent Distillers Edition is finished in Amoroso (a rich, sweetened sherry) casks.

Braeval 14 Year Old 2010 (cask 127) - Infrequent Flyers: With over 20 years in the industry, Alistair Walker's also the son of Billy Walker (master distiller and owner of GlenAllachie). Infrequent Flyers is very much Alistair’s own baby. An independent bottler, often (as the name suggests) featuring lesser known distilleries. For example, this Braeval finished in an oloroso sherry puncheon, yielding 653 bottles. Built in 1973 and mothballed for six years in the early 2000s, it’s rarely seen even from indie bottlers!

Oban 11 Year Old (Special Release 2023): John & Hugh Stevenson built a brewery in 1793, with distillation recorded from 1794. Oban's a small distillery, and another (along with Talisker) of the small number to use traditional worm tub condensers. By running it warmer at Oban, they prolong copper contact for a lighter result. Here their light, fruity, coastal spirit has been finished in Caribbean pot still rum casks for a Diageo Special Release dubbed ‘The Soul of Calypso’! It’s bottled at natural cask strength.

Penderyn The Headliner (Icons of Wales): The ninth release in Penderyn’s Icons of Wales series honours the great social reformer and only Welsh Prime Minister of the UK, David Lloyd George. Since 2000 Penderyn have helped establish Welsh single malt, which now has its own Geographical Indication (GI). Made with their small pot stills, as opposed to their usual (unusual) Faraday stills, this single malt was matured in a combination of Jamaican rum & Ruby Port casks, and non-chill filtered.

Arlett Single Malt - Original : Distillerie Tessendier, founded in 1880, is a celebrated Cognac producer. Today it’s run by brothers Jérôme & Lilian (master blender & cellar master), who’ve also been distilling whisky since 2019 in tribute to their whisky-loving mother. Made with traceable two-row spring barley and the family’s traditional Charentais copper stills, maturation takes place in classic Cognac cellars close to the banks of the Charente river. They encourage you to try this with ice, ginger ale, or in cocktails.