Alberta Premium Canadian Rye 25 Years Old
Rye - Canada - 40.00% 8 Aha! it's Canadian. That explains its amenable nature. A different style.

Ardbeg Lord of the Isles, 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 46.00% 8 Lots of flavour development, complexity and refinement. Very elegant, but where is the clamour of battle?

Ardbeg Lord of the Isles, 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 46.00% 8 Becomes more complex with age. I admire its style, but hanker for the bravado of the younger Ardbegs.

BenRiach Authenticus 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 46.00% 8 A long, complex and harmonious run of flavour. Excellent.

Blue Hanger 25 Years Old, Second Release
Blended - Scotland - 45.60% 8 The nose suggests a winter warmer, but the palate performs as a summer refresher.

Bowmore Surf, 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 7 A light, smooth, Bowmore that might attract younger drinkers.

Brora 1981 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 56.50% 7 Lacks balance.

Brora 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 56.30% 8 A big boy. But if you give it time,you'll tame it. The fruity notes display is really scrumptious.

Cadenhead's Glenglassaugh 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 45.20% 7 Glenglassaugh can be malty, and this one is. It stands up very well for it's age. In this bottling, with an apricot colour that suggests sherry, very much a dessert whisky.

Campbeltown Loch 25 Years Old
Blended - Scotland - 40.00% 7 Easily drinkable but with a distinct regional character and plenty of flavour. This could become one of my favourite blends.

Caol Ila 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 8 Great nose but a little dry on the tongue.

Cattos 25 Years Old
Blended - Scotland - 40.00% 8 What a surprising whisky. The nose is so shy that you expect a bland palate. And here you are, with a lovely array of fruity flavours. You definitely can't tell a sausage by the skin (one of my favour...

Chivas Regal 25 Years old
- Scotland - 40.00% 8 Great blending,but it would be even better if bottled at a slightly higher strength.

Cutty Sark 25 Years Old
Blended - Scotland - 45.70% 8 The extra years serve Cutty well. It is confident, expressive, expansive.

Cutty Sark Tam O'Shanter
Blended - Scotland - 46.50% 8 A bigger Cutty than you might expect but the purity of character links it to the family. Weel (sic) done!

Dalwhinnie Dalwhinnie 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 52.10% 7 A decent well balanced dram.

Dewar Rattray 1982 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 62.50% 7 Perfect balance. An extremely good Caol Ila. Recommended.

Dewar Rattray Caperdonich 1980 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 53.10% 7 A shy little furry woodland creature peeking out, then hiding again.

Dimension Dimensions Linkwood 1986 25 years old
Single Malt - Scotland - 47.20% 8 A good example of Bourbon cask maturation (a refill ?). There is a constant bitterness but it is quite refreshing, like a grapefruit. A few drops of water bring out a sweet note.

Douglas Laing Caol Ila 1979 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 50.00% 8 An attractive character. Phenolic but with much more.

Douglas Laing Port Ellen 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 50.00% 8 Forget your herbal tea. Go for this fantastic Islay potion!

Duncan Taylor 1982 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 55.40% 7 Very strange. The nose and palate are miles apart.

Glen Garioch 25 Years Old, 1986
Single Malt - Scotland - 54.60% 8 More well-chosen wood.

Glenfarclas The Family Casks 1986 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 58.40% 7 You have got to like woody whiskies to appreciate this one. The sweetness cannot balance the astringency.

Glenmorangie 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 8 A confident, handsome whisky.

Glenmorangie Malaga Wood Finish, 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 8 Reminiscent of the port finish but slightly gutsier and less sophisticated. I would love to try it, tapas-style, with Manchego, or perhaps Grazelema, cheese.

Glenmorangie Quarter Century
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 8 Fantastic dram,but why oh why put it in such a horrible bottle?

Gordon & MacPhail Bowmore 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 1 Old age has completely integrated peat and smoke. Oak overpowers the marine character. A splash of water does not help.

Gordon & MacPhail Linkwood 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 7 A dour character which lifts up on the nose but not on the palate.

Grant's 25 Years Old
Blended - Scotland - 40.00% 7 A delicate and enticing whisky which would have benefited from a higher strength. When you want to try a little tenderness.

Grant's 25 Years Old
Blended - Scotland - 43.00% More lifted than the 12 and 18. The perfumed note is rather dominant.

Hart Brothers Highland Park 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 8 Needs water to open it and release some of the drier flavours. A gentle expression of Highland Park. I missed the bigger dimensions of the distillery bottlings.

Highland Park 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 48.10% 9 Have this one with dessert.

Knockando 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 8 Manages to retain its delicacy despite the big sherry notes.

Laphroaig 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 40.00% 6 All the aromas are working against each other and it's incredibly muted. Why bottle this at 40%?

Laphroaig 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 56.30% 7 The key here is balance.

Master of Malt Glenglassaugh 25 Years Old 1984
Single Malt - Scotland - 54.70% 7 Another oak and oak only whisky. I must have an oak-(over)sensitive palate!

Old Malt Cask Port Ellen Sherry 1982 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 50.00% 7 A phenolic fellow. Tough on the nose, sweet on the palate. But the aromatic profile is not exciting.

Port Ellen 1979, 25 Years Old, 5th Release
Single Malt - Scotland - 57.40% 8 A very good balance between nose and palate. An island character with a pleasant earthy background.

Port Ellen 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 60.40% 8 A superb Port Ellen,more sophisticated than the Diageo one. Two styles. This one is more an indoor dram. Toeach his own.

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.

Rare Auld Cragganmore 1985 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 48.30% 8 The nose is pure confectionary, while the palate introduces a more masculine note.

Rare Malts Cardhu 1973, 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 60.50% 7 For teatime – more fun than Darjeeling.

Rare Malts Millburn 1975, 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 61.90% 7 A grizzled old character, but gains points for resilience.

Rittenhouse Very Rare 25 Years Old
Rye - U.S.A. - 50.00% 8 A great example of an old rye. One to savour.

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

Royal Brackla 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 8 More typical of the unusual hot, dry, cleansing character of this distinctive whisky.

Scott's Selection Glenrothes 1986 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 51.70% 7 A little underwhelming.

Signatory Silent Stills Imperial 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 59.20% 7 A little less eccentric, and more rounded than other bottlings I have tried recently.

Special Release Caol Ila 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 58.40% 7 Not instantly welcoming, this takes time to get to know...but it is worth the effort. Subtle complexities at work.

Springbank 25 Years Old, Frank McHardy Bottling
Single Malt - Scotland - 46.00% 8 Springbank can sound like a fruit salad, but the whisky has a lot of authority.

Talisker 1975, 25 Years Old, Cask Strength
Single Malt - Scotland - 59.90% 9 Less instantly explosive than the regular 10. The flavours in the 25 are more tightly combined and take longer to unfold. You pays your money...

Talisker 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 57.80% 8 Rich and luscious. Needs a dash of water to cut spirit harshness. The marine influence is overwhelmed by wood but in a charming way.

Talisker 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 56.90% 8 Bold, subtle, sweet yet smoky. Class.

Talisker 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 54.20% 8 Anenticing combination of sweet and warm.AnHebridean welcome dram. Would also workas a wakeup call. Very more-ish.

Talisker 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 54.80% 3 Lacks expression when neat. Water tones the bitterness down and releases a refreshing minty whiff.

Talisker 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 45.80% 9 A drop in strength from the Special Release expressions but a massive upping in complexity. An instant classic.

Talisker 25 Years Old, Special Release 2005
Single Malt - Scotland - 57.20% 7 Excellent, although I was slightly put off by the fishiness. I think all fish are stinking, slimey creatures however, so I am admittedly biased.

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

The Balvenie 25 Years Old, Single Barrel
Single Malt - Scotland - 46.90% 8 Seemed a little lighter all round than I remember.

The Glenlivet XXV
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 8 Just needs a little more in the middle.

The Glenrothes 25 Years Old
- Scotland - 43.00% 9 Slow,elegant and complex.

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 25 Years Old, Fine Oak
Single Malt - Scotland - 0.00% 8 No further, I think.

The Whisky Fair Port Ellen Sherry 1982 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 59.60% 7 Anenticing nose,a gentle feel but the alcohol spoils the pleasure. It needs a good dash of water to be drinkable but then loses some aromatic impact.

Tomatin 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Scotland - 43.00% 8 Reminds of an Irish whiskey! So much exotic fruit and flowering currant. A big character. Not on the sweet side. Which is not a defect.

William Grant's 25 Years Old
Blended - Scotland - 43.00% 8 A long maturation for a blend, but this has emerged with confidence, style and sophistication.

Yamazaki 25 Years Old
Single Malt - Japan - 43.00% 6 A PX sherry first fill? Fine if you like oak infusion. Clings on your palate for ages. Too oaky to be OK.