Yoichi 10 Years Old, Single Cask
Single Malt - Japan - 59.90% 9 A terrific whisky, beautifully rounded, with lots of everything.

Hakushu 12 Years Old Pure Malt
Single Malt - Japan - 43.00% 8 A beautifully structured, appetising, whisky. Captivating.

Kingsbury Islay 1973, 27 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 47.40% 8 Has this cask slept so long that it cannot completely wake up?

Longrow 10 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 46.00% 8 A beautifully composed whisky. Classic intense, Scottish flavours.

Longrow 10 Years Old, Sherrywood
Single Malt - Scotland - 46.00% 8 Many blenders feel that second-fill sherry casks give a more balanced result than first-fill. This whisky is a lesson in that technique.

The Macallan 1926, 60 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 0.00% 8 A privilege to taste such an old whisky but I just cannot handle such woody astringency.

The Macallan 1937, 36 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 8 Blindfold, I am not sure I would not recognise this as a Macallan until that familiar finish.

The Macallan 1940, 35 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 0.00% 8 Not quite the complexity of the 1946 and 1948. Oaky woodiness begins to intrude.

The Macallan 1946, 52 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 0.00% 9 A whisky of seductive charm.

The Macallan 1977, 25 Years Old, Christopher's Queen's Jubilee Magnum
Single Malt - Scotland - 0.00% 9 Lighter-bodied and drier than the others. I found it a little thin in the middle.

The Macallan 50 Years Old, Millennium Decanter
Single Malt - Scotland - 0.00% 9 This is on the woody side. A little too woody for me in its late astringency, but it is always a privilege to taste such old whiskies.

The Macallan Replica 1874
Single Malt - Scotland - 0.00% 9 A deft re-creation. This version is notably estery.

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.

Yoichi 10 Years Old
Single Malt - Japan - 43.00% 8 This is a wonderful whisky at 10 Years Old. I love the almost shocking hit of heavy peating.

Yoichi 15 Years Old
Single Malt - Japan - 45.00% 8 Creamier than the 10 Years Old, but that softens the peatiness. Between these two, I preferred the peatier ten.

Adelphi Bruichladdich 30 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 49.40% 7 It is more substantial than people think, as this bottling shows.

Adelphi Highland Park 12 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 60.90% 8 I like the richness but lacks the balance, roundness and complexity of a great Highland Park.

Eagle Rare 17 Years Old, Single Barrel
Bourbon - U.S.A. - 45.00% 8 A clean, easily drinkable, well-made Bourbon. Straight-ahead, rather than quirky. A certain mature restraint, but is that sufficient pay-off?

Glenfiddich 30 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.00% 8 Luxurious, but in a restrained, understated way.

Hibiki 21 Years Old
Blended - Japan - 43.00% 8 Leaner, drier, less estery and more oaky than the version that has no age statement. I like each equally, in its own right.

Hibiki Suntory
Blended - Japan - 43.00% 7 Very easily drinkable. Well matured, as the label suggests. Enjoyable. Appetising. Slightly drier with a splash of water, but not too much. Too good for a mizuwari.

Isle of Jura 16 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.00% 7 For an islander Jura is often thought to be something of a lightweight, but it has hidden depths.

Kingsbury Glencadam 1971, 28 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 55.60% 7 Lacks roundness, structure, balance. I was sorry to hear that this distillery has been closed. Temporarily?

Nikka 34 Years Old
Blended - Japan - 43.00% 8 Big and complex. Slightly drying but avoids excessive woodiness.

Nikka All Malt 1989
Blended - Japan - 43.00% 7 An interesting idea, and it produces for Nikka a much sweeter style of whisky.

Nikka Super
Blended - Japan - 43.00% 8 Easily drinkable. Very pleasant. Refreshing. Not especially complex.

Sendai 12 Years Old
Single Malt - Japan - 45.00% 8 A totally different style from Yoichi malts. A very enjoyable, sweet, pick me up. After a round of golf?

Springbank 1992, 7 Years Old, Da Mhile Organic
Single Malt - Scotland - 46.00% 7 Lively and refreshing, but the flavours have not combined and fleshed out as probably they will in another six or seven years.

The Balvenie 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 46.90% 8 A very sophisticated malt. Beautifully combined flavours.

The Macallan 1948, 51 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 0.00% 9 Drink it and travel back in time. It is one of the finest malts I have ever tasted.

Tsuru
Single Malt - Japan - 43.00% 8

W.L. Weller 19 Years Old
Bourbon - U.S.A. - 45.00% 8 A bourbon of some presence and elegance. With dessert, or after dinner?

Yamazaki 12 Years Old
Single Malt - Japan - 43.00% 7 This was a pioneering malt in Japan, for which Suntory deserve great credit.

Yamazaki 18 Years Old
Single Malt - Japan - 43.00% 7 Big flavours, and a lot happening, but could be rounder.