Nose: Rich and aromatic with notes of dried fruits, honey, and vanilla.

Taste: Smooth and full-bodied, with flavors of caramel, toffee, and a hint of spice.

Palate: Complex and well-balanced, with a creamy texture and a long, warming finish.

This addition to the Port Askaig range is presented with natural color, without chill filtration, and matured in refill American oak casks. The nose presents light peat, ozone, and faint medicinal notes, becoming saltier and spicier with time. Bracing. Woodsmoke, kippers, grapefruit, and lime on the palate. The finish is sweet, with receding smoke.

Nose: Rich and sweet with notes of dried fruits, raisins, and figs. Hints of toffee and caramel.

Taste: Smooth and velvety on the palate. Flavors of dark chocolate, orange peel, and Christmas cake. Slight nuttiness and a touch of spice.

Palate: Full-bodied and luscious. The sherry influence is prominent, bringing forth flavors of dried fruits, cinnamon, and cloves. A long and warming finish with a lingering sweetness.

This is a non-chill filtered bottling. Initially, it’s perfume-centric with highly floral notes until a grain neutralizer sets in, with hints of caramel and vanilla. Cornbread, honey, and slight hints of pepper, herbs, and tobacco. Finishes short with a mouthful of lovely sweet corn pudding.

A new, no age statement addition to the Laphroaig family that blends together Quarter Cask, PX, Triple Wood, and 10 year old. The nose is reminiscent of freshly-treated decking, before some classic iodine creeps in. Water brings out geranium, pollen, and damp leather. The palate is simple, clean, and mild (and smoky), with bay leaf, light dried fruit, and that oily wood. Undoubtedly there's a lot going on, but it’s not married, and 40% means it lacks the necessary wallop.

Initially aged in first-fill bourbon barrels, then finished in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. On the nose, ripe peaches, apricots, vanilla, caramel, and mildly smoky sherry surface. The slightly viscous palate offers more sherry, wood spices, cinnamon, salted caramel, oak, peanuts, and a hint of salt. The finish is medium in length, herbal, and drying, with sea salt.

Inspired by Dublin’s Victorian heritage, we present this wonderfully gentle yet robust Irish malt. Delicate well-balanced nose, soft spice and fine sweetness with Malt Barley always present, distinct long finish with great sherry notes makes for a smooth and flavoursome Irish whiskey that simply tastes like more.

Nose: Rich and fruity with notes of ripe apples, pears, and a hint of citrus. Subtle hints of vanilla and oak.

Taste: Smooth and well-balanced. Sweet flavors of caramel and toffee, followed by a gentle spiciness of cinnamon and nutmeg. Slight undertones of dried fruits and a touch of honey.

Palate: Creamy and velvety texture. The flavors of vanilla and oak are more pronounced, accompanied by a delicate smokiness. A long and warming finish with a lingering sweetness.

Expect a burnished gold hue and fresh apple scent. The palate opens distinctly sweet, with salted caramel, rum raisin and baked-apple tones, but finishes gently with ginger spice and vanilla.

Nose: Rich and fruity with notes of ripe red berries, dried fruits, and a hint of citrus zest. There are also hints of vanilla, toffee, and a subtle smokiness.

Taste: The palate is full-bodied and complex, with flavors of juicy plums, black cherries, and dark chocolate. There is a gentle spiciness, with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg, as well as a touch of oak.

Palate: The finish is long and warming, with lingering notes of dried fruits, toasted almonds, and a touch of smoky peat.

The final cornerstone of Douglas Laing’s Remarkable Regional Malts range, this blended malt celebrates the best from the Islands. The peat smoke finds harmony with the nose of pine, lemon curd, dewy lawns, and vanilla fudge. This is gloriously full-flavored; the peatiness certainly delivers, but there is a pleasant nip of saltiness too. The black pepper finish leads to a long lasting salty smack on the lips. Make this your hipflask essential for bracing excursions along the shoreline.

White rose petals, sandalwood, and powdered sugar emanate from the glass. The sharp yet elegant palate is filled with zesty citrus, white chocolate, and a hint of clove. A velvety texture coats the mouth, leading to a long, satisfying finish of dried fruits and warm spices.

The sweet vanilla aroma is echoed on the palate, where it's accompanied by perky pops of allspice, ginger and clove heat, gliding into a smooth finish tinged with almond. This is a blend of bourbons aged between three and six years. Kara Newman

The tastiest of their Signature range, this boasts a dry oak and spice nose with fudge, rye bread, and banana interwoven with French oak influences of nutmeg, cinnamon, and ground ginger. As the gentle orange, malt, pear, and apple settle down, little spicy explosions of ginger and pepper detonate, leaving an aftermath of spiced malt, coffee cake, milk chocolate, and cocoa. Such a wonderful flavor trajectory to behold.

The nose offers antiseptics, Band-Aids, caramel, lemon peel, grassy smoke, and aniseed balls. As it unfurls, the smoke combines with notes of rich chocolate brownie and earthy peat. Honeyed, with sweet smoke on the palate, juicy citrus notes, sherbet, vanilla, ice cream wafers, clementine, and a bright finish of tangy citrus and sherbet. Dangerously drinkable, and one you’ll want to keep within easy reach for a second pour.

Heavy wood notes come through the glass, such as sawdust and freshly ignited fire wood. The peat dominates the front of the palate and moves to a more briny nature in the mid palate with more wood notes. The finish is more delicate and sweet.

From Huber’s Orchard, Winery & Vineyards in Indiana comes this well-made whiskey with elements of originality and surprise. Hickory wood spice, cinnamon candy, and coffee cake on the nose. The palate is full of spice with some tropical fruit—mango and guava—plus good balance and body. These notes shine brighter without water. Guava carries over to the palate where it’s joined by mint, more cinnamon, and oak. This is one to keep an eye on as stocks mature. (Best Value)

This wee, sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie is a blended malt of Highland whiskies from Douglas Laing, the latest of their regional recipes to join Scallywag and Big Peat. Perfumed soaps in muslin bags, dried sprigs of heather, beeswax, and Edinburgh rock give this an intriguing bouquet. Juicy: mandarins glow with green plums and Granny Smith apples. Ripe, yellow fruits and spices mid-palate conclude with sweet malt and fading creaminess sweeping around the gums. Distinctive and laudable.

A solid presence in the range, the strength and malt content continue to mark these out over their contemporaries. Grapefruit peels, sliced juicy orange, and lemon butter icing on the nose. The palate is thinner than others in the range, with crystallized orange, fudge, plus cardamom and mild pepper. The finish of sugared satsumas is boosted by a long lasting trail of spices.

What's in the bottle is a mix of four-year-old rye blended with a small portion (22%, to be exact) of rum sourced from the Caribbean and South America. The end result is distinctly sweet orange-peel and orange-blossom fragrances, and a spice cake-like flavor. Traces of maple and brown sugar wind into oak and allspice. Meant for mixing. Kara Newman

A limited edition from Hiberia Distillers and finished in Sherry casks.

This light-hued bourbon is bright and airy, with tropical fruit aromas of papaya and lychee, vanilla, and sweet lemon curd. While not especially bourbon-like it’s interesting and super-likeable for its Bit-O-Honey candy and pleasingly nutty notes. Last reviewed in 2011.