Aberfeldy 12 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.00% 8 Refreshing and light-hearted. Almost too playful to take seriously.

Aberlour 1976
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 8 A little more roundness would have been appreciated.

The Century of Malts Blended Scotch Whisky
Blended - Scotland - 40.00% 4 Gentle, smooth and delicately balanced, but with some underlying muscle. Complex and sophisticated. More of a James Bond than a Braveheart.

Glenkinchie 10 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 7 I always enjoy this whisky, even though it is not the most typical of Lowlanders.

Auchentoshan 10 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.00% 8 Very expressive when young – as might be expected from a classic Lowlander.

Cadenhead's Rosebank 1989, 9 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 8 All of the characteristic floweriness of Rosebank, but with some roundness.

Black Bush
Blended - Ireland - 43.00% 8 Long one of my great favourites. In composition, it is the the simplest of blends, yet it demonstrates how malt can someimes be enhanced by a leavening of grain.

Glen Moray Chardonnay Finish
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.00% 7 Pale and soft, but textured.

Glenfiddich Special Reserve
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.00% 7 Lean, smooth and appetising.

Tobermory
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.00% 7 A surprising degree of continuity from the earlier vatted Tobermory, though this version has more individuality.

Talisker 1986, The Distiller's Edition
Single Malt - Scotland - 45.80% 7 Not for Talisker purists, but a highly distinctive interplay of whisky and sherry.

Gordon & MacPhail Scapa 1987
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 7 A complex, delicate, well-balanced vintage.

Jameson Limited Edition, 15 Years Old
Blended - Ireland - 40.00% 8 Distinctive. A very full pot-still Irish.

Glenfarclas 40 Years Old, Millennium Edition
Single Malt - Scotland - 54.70% 9 Some of the voluptuousness has sagged with age.

Highland (Dalmore)
- Scotland - 46.00% 7 Not firing fully yet

Gordon & MacPhail Ardmore 1985
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.00% 7 I have always thought of Ardmore as having a rather bluff character, but on this occasion I found it both welcoming and comforting.

Ardbeg 10 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 46.00% 8 Not from a particularly peaty period, but packed with Ardbeg's other flavours. Wonderfully distinctive.

Cutty Sark Original Scots
Blended - Scotland - 40.00% 6 The flavours are tightly combined. I imagine exploring them late at night in a vaguely disreputable bar in the tropics. Perhaps it's the name.

J & B Rare
Blended - Scotland - 40.00% 6 Some very enjoyable flavours, but lacking in dimension for me. I'll try it again at bedtime.

Adelphi Linkwood 17 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 64.20% 8 Linkwood always evokes thoughts of sweetmeats, sometimes delicate, on other occasions more robust. This is in the latter mood: down-to-earth sweetness.

Bennachie 17 Years Old
Blended Malt - Scotland - 40.00% 6 Light but pleasant, with some delicacy and complexity.

Cadenhead's Bourbon 5 Years Old
Bourbon - U.S.A. - 63.00% 6 Just too woody for me, though a good splash of water brings out the other flavours.

Evan Williams 1990, Single Barrel
Bourbon - U.S.A. - 43.30% 8 Very different in style. Liqueur-ish.

Glen Kirk 8 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.00% 7 Flavours do not combine. Lack roundness.