In each issue of Whisky Magazine we award the very best whisky from our tastings with the coverted Editors Choice award.
World's best 2018 - Rosebank - Music - Lot 40 - Royal Drams
The Macallan Easter Elchiles Cask Selecttion 12 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 59.60%
8 A sherry bomb but has sweetness.
The Macallan Exceptional Cask IV
Single Malt - Scotland - 57.40%
8 Not so much a winter whisky as a bear-hug. Or do the Grampians have a Mac Yeti?
The Macallan Fifties
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.00%
8 Closest to The Macallan of today, appropriately enough.
The Macallan Forties
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.00%
8 A similar style to 30s but less delicate and more robust.
The Macallan Replica 1874
Single Malt - Scotland - 0.00%
9 A deft re-creation. This version is notably estery.
The Macallan Replica, 1841
Single Malt - Scotland - 41.70%
8 Delicious whisky, of true sophistication and style. Tasted blindfold, it seems a perfect whisky for today, not an evocation of the past. I would re-package it as 2041.
The Macallan Special Reserve
Single Malt - Scotland - 0.00%
9 This is true of several of the older Macallans, suggesting that the sherry casks had contained styles other than dry Oloroso.
The Macallan That Boutique-y Whisky Company
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.90%
8 A well matured sherried malt. A beautiful after dinner dram to enjoy with a praline chocolate. Avoid adding water with this one.
The Macallan Twenties
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.00%
8 Despite a relatively full colour, suggesting plenty of sherry, the Macallan flavours shine through. The driest of these bottlings.
The Macallan Whisky Maker's Edition
Single Malt - Scotland - 42.80%
8 Yet again Macallan on form. Great interplay with oak and spice.
The Tweeddale 16 Years Old Single Lowland Grain
Single Grain - Scotland - 46.00%
8 A pleasant grain with good balance and character. Ideal for exploring grain whiskies.
The Tweeddale Blend 12 Years Old - Batch 2
Blended - Scotland - 46.00%
8 A lovely old-fashioned blend.
The Tweeddale The Last Centennial
Blended Malt - Scotland - 52.20%
8 That's how to use peated malt in a blend! Superb progression.
The Whisky Exchange Bowmore 18 Years Old 1993 The Whisky Exchange Masterpieces
Single Malt - Scotland - 61.60%
8 That whisky needs a dash of water to cut the edges. Clean, big with that wonderful exotic fruit character that some Bowmore proudly display.
The Whisky Exchange Glenfiddich 1974 50th Anniversary of the Queen's Coronation
Single Malt - Scotland - 48.90%
8 Despite the rich descriptors, I found this slightly sharp with some vintage Glenfiddichs.
The Whisky Exchange Highland Park 36 Years Old, Cask 10252
Single Malt - Scotland - 49.70%
8 Enough tannic bite to suggest considerable age, but a remarkably youthful freshness.
The Whisky Exchange Isle of Jura 1999, 5 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 63.00%
8 Why wasn't this done years ago? More please. Captivating.
The Whisky Society Clynelish
- Scotland - 58.50%
8 Great balance . Aperitif or with (sea)food.
Thomas H Handy
Rye - U.S.A. - 64.30%
8 Another fine example of why rye has been undergoing a resurgence.
Thomas H Handy
Rye - U.S.A. - 0.00%
8 Not for the fainthearted.
Timorous Beastie 21 Years Old Sherry Edition
Blended Malt - Scotland - 46.80%
8 Fabulous fruit bumped this up the charts.
Tomatin 1967 40 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 42.90%
8 A fantastic mature dram. A revelation.
Tomatin 30 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 46.00%
8 Elegant, intricate and enticing. Mozart with the depth of Beethoven and the
agile touch of Liszt?
Tomatin 36 Years Old Batch 1
Single Malt - Scotland - 46.00%
9 A magical mix of Bourbon and sherry matured spirit.