Honest whisky reviews without marketing nonsense

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.

Raisin D'etre: the name says it all. Thirty-one years in a sherry butt have turned this 1987-vintage Bunnahabhain into a raisin dream, bottled by Wemyss Malts in 2019 in a limited run of 568 bottles. Natural drinking strength of 44.7%, no bitterness, no tannin escapades. Just perfectly balanced maturation where subtractive and additive processes work in harmony.

Distilled in 1953 at the old, coal-fired Talisker distillery – seven years before a devastating fire destroyed it in 1960. Back then, they still used their own floor maltings, which weren't retired until 1972. Gordon & MacPhail bottled this 24-year-old from a sherry cask as part of their Connoisseurs Choice range, and what lands in the glass is more than a whisky. It's a window into a bygone era of Scottish whisky production.