Leather armchairs and old wardrobes 

Cask No. 16.32                                  $95

Highlands, Eastern Highlands

The nose was certainly savoury (salty bacon, roast parsnips, beef in red wine reduction) but also sweet (buttery croissants, marmalade, toffee) with hints of coke embers, engine rooms, tobacco, struck match, floral notes and ‘old wardrobes’. The palate was rich and substantial, oozing unctuous sweetness, but with balancing spiciness – maple syrup, treacle and a Jamaican Christmas cake. The reduced nose offered zesty citric peel, candied fruits, salty toffee, leather armchairs and coffee. The reduced palate was an amazing dessert, combining lemon meringue pie, sticky toffee pudding and icing sugar-dusted biscotti dipped in espresso. The distillery houses the Famous Grouse Experience.

Drinking tip: A kitchen table dram – perfect reward for all that cooking and baking

Colour: Light, orangey gold                                  Date distilled: March 2001

Cask: Refill port pipe                                             Alcohol: 57.2%

Age: 10 years                                               USA allocation: 120 Bottles 

Poire et poivre 

Cask No. 25.63                                  $145

Lowlands, Central Lowlands

The nose suggested fermenting beer – still life on the lid of a washback – green apples, a pear, a peach, some lemon puffs, a stone bowl containing sweet pipe tobacco and a bunch of fresh spring flowers. Pears again on the palate (riper now), also some fizzy fruit (sherbet lemons), more flowers (this time from high summer) and definite peppery spice (‘poire et poivre’). The second nosing had mild liquorice (sherbet dib-dabs) tobacco leaf and pear and nettle sorbet. The reduced palate gave light, pleasant flavours of bergamot and floral perfumes; a mild tingly finish. From Falkirk’s sadly now defunct distillery.

Drinking tip: Summer-time dram – perhaps to accompany tea in the garden

Colour: Winter moonbeams                                 Date distilled: November 1990

Cask: Refill hogshead                                           Alcohol: 59.8%

Age: 21 years                                               USA allocation: 108 Bottles 

Bottled essence of summer 

Cask No. 106.18                               $175

Highlands, Speyside

Our noses found poignant floral perfumes, shrubberies and pine tree freshness. We also detected ripe fruits (apple, mango), candles, cinnamon, clove and honey on buttered toast. The palate was chewy and delicious; fragrant wood, flowers and tropical fruits (lychee, apricot, passion fruit) mingled with sweet toffee flavours to draw sighs of contentment from the panel. The reduced nose, with tutti-frutti ice-cream, lime, sawn wood and aromatherapy oils made us think of warm summer nights. The palate now carried rose and lemon-flavoured Turkish Delight with stem ginger spicy warmth in the tail-flick. The distillery houses the spiritual home of Johnnie Walker.

Drinking tip: Perfect dram for the first day of your holiday

Colour: Yellowish amber                                    Date distilled: November 1984

Cask: Refill hogshead                                           Alcohol: 52.6%

Age: 27 years                                               USA allocation: 78 Bottles 

Chestnut puree and new hiking boots 

Cask No. 128.3                                  $85

Welsh

The nose was sweet and fruity – macerated raspberries, Kirsch, cherry jam, Dr. Peppers, chocolate-coated cranberries and Haribo mix, but with fudge, toffee, hints of swimming pools and ‘brake pedals in an ambulance’. The palate held something deeply rewarding but hard to describe – sweet woodiness; hot, but also smooth – sumptuous flavours of vanilla slice, banana ice lollies (right to the stick) and milk chews. The reduced nose had evident vanilla, Berwick Cockles, prunes, plums, peaches, chestnut purée and new hiking boots. The palate now delivered exotic fruits (passion fruit, star-fruit) like some long-matured single malts. From the only distillery in Wales.

Drinking tip: A bit of a surprise dram – use it to create a stir

Colour: Vibrant yellow gold                                  Date distilled: October 2006

Cask: First-fill barrel                                               Alcohol: 61.3%

Age: 5 years                                                USA allocation: 78 Bottles 

A Smoky, Peachy, Yoghurt of Loveliness 

Cask No. 129.1                                  $85

Islay

Your speed boat rockets out of Leith; you’re heading for 60 knots; the city disappears behind; the clouds part. The noise of traffic dies down; the hubbub and stress are left behind; your mind floats to aromas of barley fields and eucalyptus in rainforests; the only sound is the ticking of the engine; the dominant flavours are the Arbroath smoky, butter beans and tzatziki on the sandwiches you packed. Think of incense, forget the rat race, cut the engine… and enjoy the finish of the smoky, peachy yoghurt of loveliness as you float into open water.

Drinking tip: Day or night; come rain or shine; with friends or alone

Colour: Olympic gold                                       Date distilled: June 2006

Cask: First-fill barrel                                               Alcohol: 60.2%

Age: 5 years                                                USA allocation: 114 Bottles

Please visit the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America at http://www.smwsa.com/ for further information on their single cask bottlings.