Whisky Magazine Editors Choice - Gold Award

Monkey Shoulder Batch 27
Blended Malt - Scotland - 40.00% 7 An elegant dram, dominated by orange and spices. For a Christmas treat? Water is not needed.

Murray McDavid Mission Glenlivet 1974
Single Malt - Scotland - 46.00% 8 The most feminine Glenlivet I have encountered.

Old & Rare Highland Park 29 Years Old 1978
Single Malt - Scotland - 56.70% 8 Old, slightly grumbly but fascinating. Highly recommended.

Old Malt Cask Banff 32 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 50.00% 8 What a lovely wee dram! Gentle, fragrant,open and lively. So comforting.

Old Malt Cask Brora 18 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 50.00% 8 More Islay-like than its Clynelish brothers. Was this some of the last made with highly peated malt?

Old Pulteney 17 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 46.00% 8 An absolute cracker. Delicate, elegant. More than a golden promise. A gem delivery !

Old Rip Van Winkle's 15 Years Old, Family Reserve
Bourbon - U.S.A. - 53.50% 8 Big . Rich. Hearty. Robust.

Parker's Heritage Collection Golden Anniversary
Bourbon - U.S.A. - 50.00% 8 Another big whisky from Heaven Hill. A delight as the nights start to drawn in.

Penderyn Grand Slam
Single Malt - Wales - 46.00% 8 A well structured whisky. Oak frames the aromatic palette without overpowering. Quite a complex dram.

Port Ellen 25 Years Old, Special Release 2005
Single Malt - Scotland - 57.40% 8 Old, intense and busting for an olifactory fight. Complex and grizzly, like Clint Eastwood in The Unforgiven.

Private Collection Balblair 1973
Single Malt - Scotland - 45.00% 8 Elegant and uncomplicated. Refreshing and appetising. Hides its 50% ABV very well.

Private Collection Caol Ila 1990 Port Wood Finish
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.00% 8 No contest, the Inner Hebrides quickly overwhelms the Duoro.

Rare Malts Brora 21 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 56.90% 8 A good example of Brora as a distinctive maritime malt. Very appetising indeed, but quite different from Talisker, for example.

Rare Malts Port Ellen 20 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 60.90% 9 Bring on the caeser salad.

Rare Malts Rosebank 20 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 62.30% 8 This is how Lowlanders used to be: drier, more herbal, more complex. Buy now, while stocks last.

Redbreast 12 Years Old
Blended - Ireland - 40.00% 9 Delicious, soothing, contemplative. A great whiskey. Makes me want to get on a plane to Dublin immediately.

Redbreast 12 Years Old
Pot Still - Ireland - 40.00% 9 This is what real pure pot still whiskey is all about, a glorious contradiction of soft fruit and firm grain, oily seeds and sweet wood. World beating stuff.

Redbreast Cask Strength
Pot Still - Republic of Ireland - 57.70% 9 Redbreast is one of the world's great whiskeys. Delicious!

Rosebank
- Scotland - 61.40% 8 Fuller than you normally get from Rosebank,but no worse for that. Highly recommended.

Royal Mile Whiskies Bowmore 1999, Young Peaty Islay
Single Malt - Scotland - 61.50% 8 Bring on the kippers.

Royal Salute 21 Years Old
Blended - Scotland - 40.00% 8 After dinner, I would usually think of a malt, but have long enjoyed the unashamed luxuriousness of this blend. This example seems fractionally less voluptuous than I remember, but my memories may be ...

Royal Salute 50 Years Old
Blended - Scotland - 40.00% 8 A work of craftsmanship, elegance and its own style.

Sazerac 18 Years Old
Single Grain - U.S.A. - 45.00% 9 A superb bourbon. As neat and perfectly dressed and combed as Richard Paterson!

Sazerac 18 Years Old Straight Rye
Rye - U.S.A. - 45.00% 8 A trifle sophisticated for my tastes, but a very fine rye whiskey.

Scott's Selection Highland Park 20 Years Old 1981
Single Malt - Scotland - 48.50% 8 What a great dram! Complex and beaming. I like it better neat.