Tasting sets

Pour & Sip

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've found a tiny number of these down the back of the sofa! There's still time to enjoy an awesome Pour & Sip countdown to Christmas.

The 2024 Advent may have Sold Out, but this one's packed with some of our favourite drams from 2021/late 2020...

Whether you're new around here, or have been part of the club for a while, inside this Advent calendar you’ll find 24 wax-sealed drams, filled with whiskies that our members have enjoyed over a year of flavour exploration. Whether you're revisiting them, or enjoying ones you missed, they’re delicious, tried, and tested. Just solid gold hits for the festive run-in.

Happy Sipsmas!

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It's May! As we enter the month in which Islay holds its annual festival of music and malt, we've once again made the famous whisky island the focus of our set. That doesn't mean everything is peated though, and we've rounded the set off with a curveball from the Highlands aged in casks that previously held a famous Italian wine...

Kilchoman Batch Strength: A new release matured in a combination of re-charred red wine casks, oloroso sherry butts, and bourbon barrels. It’s bottled at 57% ABV for a “colossal” single malt with all the rugged power of the farm’s bull Rory.

Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie - Scottish Barley: Bruichladdich’s flagship unpeated single malt release, made with 100% Scottish barley. It’s bottled at a hearty 50% ABV, which is a chunk higher than equivalent releases from almost any other distillery (usually 40-46%). This bottling strength is said to help bring the barley notes to the fore.

Islay Whisky 8 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company): The very Best Small Batch Islay Single Malt 2024! So say the knowledgeable folk who judge Whisky Magazine’s World Whiskies Awards. Launched at the tail end of 2023, this Islay 8 Year Old is part of their new ‘core range’.

Mac-Talla Mara: An intense cask strength nod to Islay whisky’s maritime ‘from the sea’ character, matured in American oak casks and bottled with neither chill-filtration nor added colour. Mac-Talla reflects the Morrison family’s connection to the island and its whiskies spanning five generations.

Tomatin 12 Year Old 2010 Italian Collection - Barolo Cask: Hold on, this isn’t from Islay! Nope, here’s something entirely different. A limited edition released towards the end of last year as part of a trio of Italian red wine cask finished whiskies. While the Amarone and Marsala releases were intriguing, we couldn’t resist bringing you the Barolo cask.

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St. Patrick’s Day is almost upon us, so a duo of single pot still Irish whiskeys is just the ticket! Still room for three intriguing Highlanders though…

The Dalmore 17 Year Old: Officially released 3 March 2026, this new release couldn’t be hotter off the press! It enjoyed a lengthy finish in a combo of Apostoles, Amoroso, and Matusalem Oloroso sherry casks from the distillery’s exclusive century-long partnership with González Byass. Some of these true bodega casks held quality sherry for 30 years! Not all sherry casks are created equal, folks. Before that, it started life in bourbon casks. It’s like the 15 Year Old’s older brother, in silk slippers.

Green Spot 10 Year Old 100 Year Anniversary Limited Edition: This is single pot still Irish whiskey. A quintessentially Irish style made with both malted and unmalted barley. Green Spot was first advertised in The Irish Times back in 1925, with this limited edition marking its 100th anniversary. It’s aged in bourbon and sherry casks like the regular Green Spot, but where that’s aged between 7-10 years and bottled at 40%, this is aged for at least 10 years and bottled at 46%. Nice.

Boann Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey Madeira Cask: For a new wave Irish distillery, Boann was top of our list: independent, family owned, innovative, award-winning, using local Irish grains and has a sustainability focus. Single pot still is a uniquely Irish style made with a minimum 30% malted barley and a minimum 30% unmalted barley, plus an optional up-to-5%-total other cereals (both oats and rye used here). Boann’s also reproduced ‘heritage mashbills’ with more of these other grains (but can’t label them single pot still… currently.)

GlenWyvis The Drover: GlenWyvis is unique. With nearly 4,000 members, it’s community-owned and run as a not-for-profit Community Benefit Society. It’s not all been plain sailing (the project has long since fallen out with its originator, with whom they’re locked in legal disputes), but the whisky is certainly shaping up nicely. The Drover is a limited release of 3,000 bottles matured in a wonderfully integrated combo of 37% Sauternes wine barrique, 30% Madeira hogshead, 21% first fill bourbon barrel, and 12% first fill oloroso sherry hogshead.

The Ardmore Legacy: Founded in 1898, Ardmore has unusually continued to produce an old fashioned peated style of Highland whisky right through to today. Ardmore’s underrated single malt has both fans who hunt independent bottlings, and those who’ve found this release in particular a perfect gateway to smoky whiskies. Legacy combines 80% (Highland) peated (12-14 PPM), and 20% unpeated malt, for a so-affordable-why-would-you-ever-not-have-a-bottle(?) lightly peated yet fragrant treat.

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Two independent farm distilleries, three female master whisky makers, and even a trip to Japan! We’re starting 2026 in style. Happy New Year!

Filey Bay STR Red Wine Cask: One of two ‘field to bottle’ single estate whiskies this month, Filey Bay single malt is made at the Spirit of Yorkshire distillery in God’s own county. Their Flagship release is matured in bourbon casks, but this new permanent addition to the core range is fully aged in STR (shaved, toasted and re-charred) red wine casks. These are a speciality pioneered by the late, great consultant Jim Swan, who offered vital guidance to Spirit of Yorkshire on the road from concept to reality.

Benriach The Original Ten: Amazingly our first unpeated Benriach! We’ve recently mentioned Benriach alongside Glendronach and former owner/master blender Billy Walker. It was current master blender Dr. Rachel Barrie, however, who completely overhauled Benriach’s range back in 2020. Her CV from over 30 years in the industry is legendary, creating whiskies for Glenmorangie, Bowmore, and Laphroaig. This natural colour 10-year-old brings together 3 cask types: bourbon, sherry & fresh American oak.

Lochlea Orchard & Oak - Single Estate: Lochlea is an independent family owned farm and distillery, making single malt exclusively from the barley they grow and harvest themselves. (Much like Spirit of Yorkshire.) We’ve enjoyed Lochlea’s seasonal releases, but Orchard & Oak – matured in a trio of first-fill bourbon, fresh American oak, and Calvados casks – is part of their first ever core range (alongside the sherry and Port matured Dark Briar, and ex-peated and red wine cask Smoke Without Fire).

The Glenrothes 15 Year Old: Founded in 1878, Glenrothes has long been valued by blenders, and benefits from the unparalleled sherry cask programme of Edrington. Glenrothes’ casks are said to cost 10x the industry average, and they run their tall stills very slowly. The result is an elegant spirit that ages beautifully with rich, smooth, rewarding character. This relatively new 15 Year Old was first released at the end of 2024, using casks personally selected by master whisky maker Laura Rampling.

Nikka Pure Malt Red: It’s been a while since we’ve had a Japanese whisky. Let’s fix that. Nikka was founded back in 1934 by Masataka Taketsuru, the father of Japanese whisky. ‘Pure Malt’ refers to what we would now call a blended malt, here meaning a combination of single malts from Yoichi, and Miyagikyo. Of the three in this particular range, which also includes White and Black editions, the Red is the one that predominantly comes from Miyagikyo. What does that mean? It means it’s the fruity one!

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As this set came together, we couldn’t help but think “Cor, this is a bit good!” Huge Islay peat. Sherried Islanders. Campbeltown modern classic. Blended malt from the hottest bottlers around. Enjoy!

Jura 19 Year Old The Paps: Jura is an island with few people (around 200) and one road. It’s largely wild, full of deer, and has a landscape that’s dominated by three mountains known as the Paps of Jura. Matured for an impressive 19 years, the whisky started off in American oak bourbon barrels, before being finished in sherry casks of extraordinary quality, having previously held fine 40 year old Pedro Ximénez sherry. This is the pinnacle of Jura’s Sherry Cask Collection, previously only available in global travel retail.

Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength - Batch 016: Laphroaig is at once one of the best selling single malts in the world, and a cult whisky that happily plays up to its Marmite-esque ‘love it or hate it’ reputation. The distillery still runs traditional malting floors (four of them!), providing an impressive 20% of their not insignificant requirements rather than solely relying on specialist maltsters. This is also natural cask strength i.e. the whisky hasn’t been diluted at all after coming out of the cask (bourbon barrels here).

Isle of Harris - The Hearach First Fill Oloroso Cask Matured: The Hearach is the name of the lightly peated (12-15 PPM) single malt from the Isle of Harris distillery, and we’re big fans. It’s a project rooted in community, employing dozens on an island with a population of fewer than 2,000, with locals trained up to be distillers. Like many exciting younger distilleries, they pride themselves on longer fermentations (about 60% of their wash is fermented for 120 hours), manual distillation with a ‘human touch’, and transparency.

Glen Scotia 12 Year Old: When you see a whisky with a straightforward age statement name like this, from a 19th century distillery, you’d be forgiven for assuming it had always been around. This new (fantastic value) 12 Year Old, however, was only released in Aug 2025! No nonsense, 100% first fill bourbon, fruity, maritime Campbeltown goodness. After intermittent production and closure during the 1990s, Glen Scotia has really gone from strength to strength in the last decade, becoming essential and truly beloved by whisky geeks.

The Heart Cut x Barley Named Independent Bottler of the Year at Whisky Mag’s Icons of Whisky two years running (2024 & 2025), The Heart Cut has now bottled over 20 eclectic whiskies from some of the coolest distilleries around the world, always dealing with distilleries direct. No brokers or middle people. Plus, they’ve created this new ‘house’ blended malt. Truly extraordinary even before you hear that it’s a wife and husband duo, and that they started the business just a couple of years ago around the same time that their twins were born!

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As we were putting your set together this month, two of the featured whiskies hadn’t even been released yet! We have two intriguingly beer-influenced drams, and the oldest whisky to ever feature in Pour & Sip too! Enjoy.

Meikle Tòir The Original 5 Year Old: Meikle Tòir (“mee-kuhl tor”) is a peated single malt from the usually unpeated GlenAllachie distillery. Celebrated master distiller Billy Walker began making the first peated whiskies at GlenAllachie (for just 6 weeks a year) back in 2018, shortly after he acquired the distillery. Meikle Tòir uses mainland peat (35 PPM here), with a lengthy 160-hour fermentation to retaian a sweeter side. The Original is aged in a combination of first-fill bourbon barrels, fresh American oak casks, and rye barrels.

Girvan 40 Year Old 1985 (Master of Malt 40th Anniversary Bottling): 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. 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). A batch of just 473 bottles, matured in refill sherry butts.

Berry Bros. & Rudd 12 Year Old Speyside Sherry Cask - The Classic Range: 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. 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. Classic Speyside stuff, while also being an absolutely perfect everyday sipper.

Nc'nean Quiet Rebels Simon: We love this organic, certified 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. Still unreleased at the time of writing, Simon here means distiller Simon Hewitt, whose very own Nc’nean single malt started life in shaved, toasted and re-charred (STR) red wine casks, but was finished in stout casks from famed Scottish brewery Innis & Gunn.

Timorous Beastie x WEST Brewery Beer Cask Finish: Douglas Laing's long been one of our fave indie bottlers. From their ‘Remarkable Regional Malts’ range, Timorous Beastie's a blended malt exclusively containing Highland malts such as Glen Garioch, Dalmore & Glengoyne. There’s a twist, however, as this one's been finished in casks that previously held WESTWERK03 – a rich, strong (8.4%) malt-forward limited edition Doppelbock, which was itself barrel-aged for 80 days in former Timorous Beastie whisky casks!

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We have Springbank this month, a huge coup! Plus another 100% floor malted gem, and a
dram with an entirely different coastal influence... We also rejoin the Strathearn story.

Springbank 10 Year Old: Springbank’s a cult whisky – it's unique, beloved, and production is limited by old school methods. They proudly malt, distil, mature and bottle everything on site. They malt 100% of the barley for their whiskies using their traditional floor maltings. Nobody else in Scotland can claim these things. Founded in 1828, it’s still independently owned. Funky, coastal, very Campbeltown.

Old Perth Manzanilla Limited Edition: Old Perth’s history dates back to 1908, brought back as a 100% sherry matured blended malt by the Morrison family in 2014. Unusually, that means a vatting of 11 handpicked manzanilla sherry casks here. Manzanilla’s essentially a type of dry, slightly salty (think sea spray) fino sherry that must be made around coastal Sanlúcar de Barrameda that can still be fresh and zesty in character.

Stauning HØST: Stauning’s whiskies are made from 100% floor-malted local rye and/or barley, and are double distilled in small direct-fired pot stills. It’s rare to malt rye, while double pot distillation is more like Scotch than classic rye except direct-fired stills (and their Maillard reactions) are now extremely rare in Scotland. HØST blends single malt and malted rye(!), matured mostly in American oak casks, but also using some Port barriques.

SPEY Chairman’s Choice PX Edition: Despite work starting in 1962, Speyside didn't produce spirit until 1990! In 2012 Harvey’s of Edinburgh took the reins. Their family’s SPEY brand (a cask of which is said to have been gifted to King George III by Lord Byron) thus became ‘SPEY from Speyside Distillery’. With their lease now ending they’re moving all the distillery’s equipment to a new site nearer the River Spey. So enjoy single malt from a newly ‘lost’ distillery! Matured in Pedro Ximénez sherry and bourbon casks.

Strathearn Single Malt Batch 02: Strathearn was founded in 2013, earlier than most ‘craft’ minded young distilleries, helping to blaze the trail. Douglas Laing then purchased the distillery in 2019 and doubled down on the use of heritage varieties of barley and long fermentations (144 hours). Their “inaugural” release was drawn from (bourbon, fresh oak, and sherry) casks laid down by both Douglas Laing and the previous owners, with Batch 02 featuring more bourbon and less fresh oak for a more naturally creamy and fresh dram.

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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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Three different styles of Irish whiskey this month, Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Plus two single malts from longstanding Scotch distilleries both still drawing inspiration from their storied pasts.

Ballechin 13 Year Old Batch 1 - Cask Strength Edition: All tiny distilleries celebrating more traditional methods owe a debt to Edradour. ‘Scotland's Little Gem’ is a surviving farm-scale distillery dating back to 1837, purchased by top independent bottler Signatory in 2002. In 2006 the first peated malt from Edradour was release under the Ballechin name. This excellent cask strength edition was aged in oloroso and bourbon casks.

Glen Garioch 12 Year Old: Founded in 1797, Glen Garioch (pronounced ‘Glen Geery’) is one of Scotland's oldest distilleries. The stills have the country's steepest descending lyne arms, reducing reflux for a hearty, robust Highland malt. Fruitiness comes from clear wort and increased fermentation times in more recent years. This bourbon and sherry cask matured 12yo from their core range is nonetheless bottled at a generous 48% and non-chill filtered.

Saints & Sinners & Rebels & Rogues 18 Year Old: &Whisky is all about no nonsense, tasty, peerless value whisk(e)y. This Irish blend is no exception. It’s made with well-aged malt and grain whiskeys from across the whole isle of Ireland (we can’t say any more…), and is described as “dancing whiskey” by Dave Worthington! Its age almost belies its quaffable every day drinker credentials. Delicious, fruity, and creamy, classically Irish.

Glendalough Pot Still Irish Oak Finish: Glendalough (pronounced ‘Glen da-Loch’) are craft distillers who also release whiskeys sourced elsewhere (like this one). Pot still Irish whiskey is a quintessentially Irish style (in this case made with a 1:2 ratio of malted and unmalted Irish barley). Here it's unusually finished in fresh Irish oak casks from trees in the Wicklow mountains selected under a Continuous Cover Forest Management System.

Temris 5 Year Old P.X. Sherry Cask Finish: A new Irish single malt whiskey here, completing three different styles of Irish whiskey in this box. ‘Temris’ is an ancient (Proto-Celtic) word meaning ‘sanctuary’ or ‘sacred place’, which they liken to their goal of creating a “haven of flavour”. It’s natural colour and non-chill filtered, initially aged in bourbon casks then finished in casks that previously held rich, sticky Pedro Ximénez sherry.

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Selecting 3x Lowland whiskies this month (and 5x between Dec & Jan) wasn’t done on purpose by the way! They were chosen on merit and it's just worked out that way. It does highlight however, how very good – and varied – things are happening in a whisky region that not so long ago only contained two active distilleries.

Daftmill 2011 Winter Batch Release 12 Year Old: It’s incredibly exciting to be able to bring you this. Daftmill’s one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland, and grows all the barley on their own farm. Early releases sold out instantly! This is a slightly larger release, but production on the sixth generation family farm remains tiny, only making whisky during a few short months when farmwork is quieter, filling as few as 100 casks a year.

Tomintoul 10 Year Old: “The gentle dram” tells you something about what they’re going for. Founded in 1965, their classic and multi-award-winning 10 Year Old was launched in 2002, a couple of years after current owners Angus Dundee bought the distillery. We haven’t featured a Tomintoul since early 2021, and this malty, floral, softly fruity whisky is a wonderful way to ease ourselves into the new year.

Holyrood Ambir: Truly one of Scotland's new wave of innovative distillers, this fruity, buttery beauty is the distillery’s third release. Established in 2019 in Edinburgh’s historic old town, they take influence from the city’s rich brewing history. That’s certainly the case with Ambir, which features 4 speciality malts, and 10(!) different yeasts. Maturation is largely in first and second fill bourbon casks, with just over 10% in oloroso casks.

Ardnahoe Infinite Loch: A new Islay distillery! Well, it was founded in 2017, but its inaugural release only appeared in May 2024, followed by this (their first core release) in Sep. The distillery was built by top independent bottler and blender Hunter Laing who worked with Jim McEwan (legendary former Bowmore and Bruichladdich master distiller) to build the distillery and perfect their craft. A classic peated (40PPM), fruity Islay spirit.

Lindores Thiron 2024: Fans of whisky and history may recognise Lindores Abbey in relation to the first recorded mention of Scotch whisky (or at least distilled malt spirit). 523 years later – Drew & Helen McKenzie Smith returned distilling to the site, and hit the history books again fir this release. Lindores was a Tironensian abbey, and this whisky uses new French oak casks from trees grown in Thiron-Gardais.

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This month things are getting fruity, but in five quite different ways, from impressively aged Scotch single malts to a taste of Canadian 100% corn whisky!

Scapa 10 Year Old: Founded in 1885, Scapa had intermittent production from the mid 90s into the 21st century. This contributed to a decade-long wait for the return of age statement releases. Thankfully, the reborn range is here! All American oak barrel matured, bright, luscious, and tropical in tone, leaning into the Scapa’s historic long fermentations, juicy new make spirit, and fruity character. Uniquely, the wash still is an old Lomond still with the plates removed, and a purifier on the way to the condenser.

Canadian Corn Whisky 6 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company): Part of the indie bottler and blender's ‘core range’, each of which has a deer on the front label of the 70cl bottles. Except this one. Which has a moose. Because Canada. Yes, this is something a little different. We usually see corn in bourbon (which must be at least 51% corn). This is corn whisky (Canada uses the spelling ‘whisky’, as opposed to ‘whiskey’ most common in America). 95% corn and, unusually, 100% oloroso sherry cask!

Glen Moray Forbidden Fruit: Something brand new (released Feb 2026) that comes complete with some tongue in cheek humour. Back in 2018 Glen Moray accidentally got themselves in hot water over a cider cask release that fell foul of the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) regulations. Don’t worry for them here though. Forbidden Fruit was instead finished in casks that previously held yummy Calvados, in this case distilled from just apples (as opposed to pears). Super fruity - one for highballs in the sun.

Tobermory 21 Year Old: The distillery today distills and sells more of their Ledaig peated single malt than their eponymous unpeated single malt. Founded way back in 1798(!), it was only in 1996 that the clear delineation was thankfully established though! Tobermory, with higher cut points, is slightly oily, maritime, and green. Aged for an extraordinary 21 years, this whisky started in refill casks, before a long secondary maturation in oloroso sherry casks said to create flavours of foraged fruits from the Isle of Mull.

Deanston 15 Year Old Tequila Cask Finish: An experimental limited edition here, from a distillery founded in 1965 but housed in an 18th century cotton mill on the banks of the River Teith. The house style of spirit is said to be waxy, a rare and prized quality for blenders and malt lovers alike. As touched on above, not all casks are permissible for Scotch whisky, but since 2019 Tequila casks have been on the approved list. This will be the third we’ve featured in as many years (one of the others coming from Glen Moray).

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A huge end to the year here - Merry Christmas!

Benromach Contrasts: High Enzyme 2012: Time to get geeky with this Speyside distillery’s latest experiment! High enzyme barley – or ‘High Diastatic Power (HDP) Malt’ – is usually reserved for grain whisky production, where the enzymes (amylases) from a small proportion of malted barley are still necessary to convert the starch in the corn or wheat into fermentable sugars. “But what would happen if you used 100% high enzyme malted barley to produce a single malt”, you say? Benromach is here to answer that question.

Penderyn Bad Wolf (Icons of Wales): In Aug we mentioned Penderyn’s unique Faraday stills (a cross between a pot and column still), which have been at the heart of the distillery’s light style ever since it was founded in 2000. Except that The Headliner was actually entirely distilled in their traditional ‘lantern-shaped’ pot stills, installed in 2014! This whisky, by contrast, is 65% Faraday still spirit and 35% pot still spirit. Fully matured in suitably festive Tawny Port pipes (which previously held Port for around 60 years).

Scallywag The Winter Edition - Orange Wine Cask Finish: Scallywag is the Speyside blended malt in Douglas Laing’s family of ‘Remarkable Regional Malts’, made up of whiskies from the likes of Mortlach, Macallan and Glenrothes among others. Usually matured predominantly in sherry casks, this limited edition was finished in rare Spanish orange wine casks. Picture “a snowy mountainside retreat” and “après-ski relaxation”. It’s also bottled at natural cask strength!

Bruichladdich 18 Year Old - Re/Define: “The epitome of Bruichladdich's signature unpeated house style”, is how they describe this 18-year-old single malt. Like the Classic Laddie, the 18 Year Old is bottled at a hearty 50% ABV, and is made with 100% Scottish barley. Head Distiller Adam Hannett brings together a cask recipe of predominantly bourbon casks, combined with deftly employed wine casks. Founded 1881, resurrected 2001, and forging an agriculture focused, fully traceable, B Corp certified path ever since.

GlenAllachie 20 Year Old 2005 (cask 5391) - PX Sherry Hogshead: “Specially bottled to celebrate 40 years of Master of Malt”. And what a whisky to celebrate with! One of the oldest single malts to ever feature in Pour & Sip, this exclusive single cask release (just 353 bottles) spent two decades maturing in a Pedro Ximénez sherry hogshead before being bottled in September 2025. GlenAllachie itself was founded in 1967, but was scarcely ever seen as a single malt before master distiller Billy Walker bought the distillery in 2017.

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This month’s pack runs the gamut from fun cask, to souped up American classic, to rarely seen. Plus something well-aged and truly timeless...

Highland Park 17 Year Old 2007 (cask 5358) - Connoisseurs Choice (Gordon & MacPhail): Legends collide. We’ve rightly featured Highland Park several times over the years, including at cask strength, but never this old, and never as an independent bottling. Established in 1895 G&M have been filling different distilleries’ new make into their own casks, and aging them in their own warehouse for four generations. This Highland Park was aged for 17 years in a first fill sherry butt, and celebrates 130 years of G&M.

Maker's Mark 46: A household name whisky, but this one has a twist. All Maker’s is made with the same wheated mashbill (70% corn, 16% soft winter wheat and 14% malted barley) producing an approachable, ‘milder’ style of bourbon, but Bill Samuels Jr. – son of founders Bill and Margie – has created his own signature edition by fitting 10 seared French oak staves inside each barrel and maturing it further. Bigger. Bolder. Still smooth. No rye? No problem.

Glen Moray 2014 Tequila Finish - Warehouse 1: Glen Moray, founded in 1897, is a well-respected classic fruity, ‘toffeed’ Speyside single malt from Elgin with an always affordable and more than solid core range. They also release special and sometimes experimental treats in their Warehouse 1 collection. Distilled in 2014, this whisky spent 8 years in bourbon barrels before being moved into Tequila casks. (It was only in 2019 that these casks were actually permitted by the Scotch Whisky Association!)

Clydebuilt Anchorsmith: With their Ardgowan distillery now up and running, the award-winning Clydebuilt blended malt series is coming to an end. Anchorsmith one of the final two bottlings, created by master whisky maker Max McFarlane (previously lead whisky maker at Edrington, working on whiskies like Highland Park). It’s a blend of six single malt whiskies from the Highlands, Lowlands, and Speyside, all fully matured in first-fill oloroso sherry casks.

Roseisle 12 Year Old (Special Release 2024): Only the second whisky ever released from Roseisle distillery! Dubbed ‘Origami Kite II’, it's matured in a combination of first-fill bourbon and refill casks. The distillery was founded in 2009, and showed what a modern, energy efficient distillery built by the big boys could look like. Both a workhorse (for blends), and a chameleon, it’s able to produce various styles. Integrated and inviting, we’re told this release is a “marriage of three spirit streams”.

Pour & Sip

Pour & Sip is 5 years old this month! Discover a couple of very different Highlanders, some Islay peat, pre-prohibition style rye, and a honeyed/zesty treat from the Compass Box aces. Plus we've chucked a smart Pour & Sip tumbler in too!

Ardnahoe Bholsa: 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. Stewart Laing and his sons Andrew & Scott are producing classic peated (40PPM), fruity Islay spirit. This is the second core release. The sherry influence is dialed up, with this non-chill filtered, natural colour single malt matured predominantly in oloroso sherry casks.

Balblair 10 Year Old Single Malt - Living Souls: An independent bottling of Balblair, a ditillery we haven’t featured since 2021. Founded in 1790, long fermentations and small stumpy stills now produce a fruity, meaty spirit. The distillery also features in the Ken Loach movie ‘Angels’ Share’. This 10 year old is non-chill filtered, natural colour, and was finished in Limousin Oak XO octaves (i.e. small casks that previously held Cognac). Living Souls say that it’s “Ideal for enjoying a classic book while relaxing by a cozy open fire.”

Dad's Hat 6 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company): 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. This natural cask strength limited (289 bottles) indie release comes via That Boutique-y Whisky Company's baseball card themed USA Series.

Compass Box Nectarosity: Compass Box have been vital and inspirational blenders and whiskymakers for over twenty years, championing transparency in whiskymaking (and occasionally getting into trouble for it!). That’s why we can tell you Nectarosity is 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.

The Glendronach - Ode to the Valley: Glendronach, founded in 1826, has become synonymous with rich, sherried goodness, now overseen by master blender Dr. Rachel Barrie. She tells us that “Ode to the Valley sings of an abundance of ripe fruit, it is the landscape of The Glendronach Distillery in full glory”. Here, their usual signature high quality Spanish sherry casks are joined by fruity Ruby Port casks from the Duoro Valley in Portugal. It’s part of The Master’s Anthology, a new trilogy of malts worth seeking out.

Pour & Sip

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.

Pour & Sip

This July we’re celebrating the spirit of independence (American or otherwise) throughout the box, from perhaps the most famously independent of classic Scotch distilleries to a cracking old indie bottling.

Leiper's Fork Bottled in Bond Tennessee Whiskey: Founder Lee Kennedy and others successfully campaigned to overturn laws restricting distillation to just 3 counties in Tennessee, opening the door for a new wave in a further 41 Tennessee counties! Since 2016, Leiper’s Fork’s been on a mission to resurrect the small-batch, pot-distilled whiskeys that once flourished in Middle Tennessee before Prohibition. Made the slow way – with a sweet mash rather than sour, and lower barrel entry strengths, this one's 4-5 years old.

Blended Grain 37 Year Old 1987 (Master of Malt): One of the Independent Bottlers of the Year  at the Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky 2023, Master of Malt just gave their range a bit of a relaunch with handsome new labels and new releases. Selected by (also award-winning) Head of Whisky Sam Simmons, this extraordinarily well aged grain whisky was distilled in Dec 1987 and is comfortably the oldest whisky to ever feature in Pour & Sip!

Stowloch Ozark Highlands Whisky: Codified in Missouri law in 2022, Ozark Highlands spirits must be fermented, distilled, aged, and bottled in the Ozarks; use pure, chemical-free limestone-filtered Ozark Highland water; and if aged must be aged for a min of 4 years in Missouri-made oak barrels. Stowloch's made with heirloom, non-GMO grains, long fermentation, and a rye-less mashbill (like a wheated bourbon).

Torabhaig Sound of Sleat - The Legacy Series: The smoky breadcrumb trail to Torabhaig's first 10 year old continues with Sound of Sleat. Their island style revolves around “well-tempered” peat. 78 PPM is high (higher than most heavily peated Islay whiskies), but the peat used and crucially the tight cut points during distillation (only selecting the aromatics they desire) makes Torabhaig an entirely different experience..

Glenfarclas 15 Year Old Cheltenham Festival Edition: Although we featured a Glenfarclas of this age (and strength) back in 2021, when the opportunity to include this limited edition vatting presented itself we didn’t have to think about it very long. Sherry matured, mid-teen, 46% Glenfarclas has always been a sweet spot in the range, with this bottling marking 15 years of the distillery sponsoring Cheltenham’s famous cross country steeplechase.

Pour & Sip

May brings a celebration of Islay single malts coinciding with the isle’s festival of music and malt – plus a curve ball or two…

Bunnahabhain Toiteach a Dhà: The first peated Bunnahabhain (their whiskies are usually unpeated) we’ve featured in Pour & Sip. Toiteach a Dhà (pronounced ‘Toch-ach ah-ghaa’) is Gaelic for "Smoky Two", being the follow up to one of their previous smoky releases named simply Toiteach. Matured in bourbon and sherry casks, this second version has a higher proportion of sherry casks.

Kilchoman Sanaig Cask Strength 2024 Edition: Kilchoman's 20th anniversary is this year! Peated to a hearty 50 PPM (phenol parts per million), yet distilled to preserve some lighter floral and citrus notes, this one of their richer offerings. A much anticipated limited edition cask strength version of Sanaig, their predominantly sherry matured style (either finished or fully matured in American oak oloroso sherry hogsheads from Bodegas José y Miguel Martín).

Bowmore 12 Year Old Sherry Oak: Not the classic Bowmore 12 Year Old here, but rather a brand new 12yo whisky from their brand new Sherry Oak Collection! This particular release is aged in oloroso sherry and bourbon casks, with an additional oloroso cask finish. Bowmore distillery was founded way back in 1779, making it one of the very oldest distilleries in Scotland and the oldest on Islay, with a peat level of 25-30 PPM.

SRV5 8 Year Old Blended Malt (Thompson Bros.): Really very affordable whisky lovingly put together by whisky geeks (off of the brilliant Dornoch Castle Hotel and the celebrated Dornoch distillery), for whisky geeks. 'Station Road Vat 5' is the 1k litre European oak ‘solera’ vat (never emptied to less than a third) where this non-chill filtered, natural colour blended malt (North Highland, Islay & Speyside single malts) slowly integrated over many months.

Godawan Series 02 - Fruit and Spice: An Indian whisky that takes its name from the endangered Great Indian Bustard (contributing to their preservation). It's matured in bourbon barrels and finished in cherry wood casks. In Scotland, only oak casks are allowed, but in other countries woods such as cherry offer opportunities for innovation. The north Indian climate plays a big role too, with temperatures often reaching 50°C!