Honest whisky reviews without marketing nonsense

With its Huntress Series, the sustainable Highland distillery Nc'Nean keeps putting a single building block of its production into the spotlight. For the Malted Teacake it's the yeast – a strain borrowed from brewing Belgian-style malty ales that gives this whisky its buttery, malty signature. Maturation from 2017 to 2022 in STR Red Wine, Bourbon and Oloroso casks, bottled in January 2026 at 48.5 % ABV.

Independent bottler, single cask, bourbon hogshead with a PX sherry finish: a combination that promises everything on paper. The nose delivers on that promise, but on the palate the fruit gets lost somewhere between wood, spice, and bitterness. A Dalmore off the main roster that polarises more than it convinces.

A Littlemill from January 1991, matured for 25 years in cask no. 113 and bottled in June 2016 by Gordon & Company in their Pearls of Scotland range at a robust 52.8%, limited to just 248 bottles. A closed distillery, a single cask, a quarter-century of patience. What lands in the glass is floral Lowland artistry with an herbal soul and more power than you'd ever expect from a Littlemill.

A 26-year-old Springbank from the 1991 vintage, matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead (cask 455) and bottled in 2018 by Berry Bros. & Rudd at natural cask strength of 44.9%. No sherry, no fireworks, just pure distillate character from Campbeltown, mineral, waxy and with a citrus freshness that's almost impudently well-preserved after 26 years in oak.