Warm their winter with a Highland masterpiece

Crafted in the rugged beauty of Highland Perthshire, Strathearn Batch 02 is a whisky built for fireside stories and slow December nights. Enhanced by richer Bourbon-cask influence, this rounded, creamy, beautifully balanced release delivers festive flavours of honey, orange zest, dark fruits, and toasted nuts.

Made to be savoured long after Christmas.

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Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 587: Yamazaki 12 Year Old

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries a staple Japanese whisky. He says ‘I can hardly imagine it, but I’ve tasted this classic Japanese whisky about five times, yet I haven’t written decent tasting notes for the Yamazaki 12 years old. Imagine that! My American friend John K. noticed it too, and without hesitation, he brought a bottle from Japan and travelled to Gentbrugge. What a guy, right?’ https://youtu.be/7ymI8tIm56A

Rhubarb, custard and Highland smoke: Cù Bòcan’s new Creation #7 whisky marks 20 years of peat at Tomatin

Cù Bòcan, the experimental single malt crafted at Tomatin Distillery in the Scottish Highlands each winter, has launched its boldest release yet – Creation #7 – celebrating two decades of peated whisky production at the distillery.

Inspired by the lightly-peated spirit historically produced at Tomatin more than a century ago, Cù Bòcan uses unusual cask combinations to craft exceptional whiskies which push the boundaries of flavour and challenge the ordinary in whisky maturation.

Creation #7 – the anticipated seventh edition in the Creations series – has matured in rare Pineau des Charentes Rouge and American virgin oak casks, resulting in a distinctive flavour profile of rhubarb, custard, heather smoke and sweet oak spice.

Drawing on Tomatin’s experience in using fortified wine casks, including in the recent French Collection, blender and global brand ambassador Scott Adamson selected the Pineau des Charentes Rouge casks to add a new dimension to the Cù Bòcan range.

He said: “Creation #7 is Cù Bòcan’s most limited Creations release to date and is more than a whisky but an invitation to explore. The Pineau des Charentes Rouge casks are rarely used in Scotch whisky maturation and influence the lightly peated spirit to unlock nostalgic and unexpected flavours.”

Cù Bòcan Creation #7 marks 20 years of peated spirit production at Tomatin, a seasonal ritual that has closed the distillery’s calendar since 2005. Cù Bòcan’s distillation coincides with incredibly low water temperatures, allowing for faster distillate condensation and resulting in a slightly oilier mouthfeel in the new make spirit.

The new release is presented in Cù Bòcan’s bespoke bottle, housed in a vivid pink and yellow carton — a visual nod to the dram’s rhubarb and custard profile. Its engraved contours echo the wisp of Cù Bòcan’s signature smoke and the staves of the casks that shaped it.

Natural in colour and non-chill filtered, Cù Bòcan Creation #7 is bottled at 46% ABV and is available from today (24 November 2025) on Tomatin Distillery’s online shop and in specialist whisky retailers throughout the UK and worldwide, priced at £45 RRP. Only 3,000 bottles are available worldwide, 1,400 of which are in the UK. For more information, visit https://tomatin.com/cu-bocan.

Cù Bòcan Creation #7 tasting notes

Nose: Rhubarb crumble with custard, ginger and cinnamon. Almond croissants with apple and toffee. Heather smoke and musk.

Palate: Whisp of smoke followed by toasted brioche, butter shortbread, strawberry and raspberry.

Finish: Long with a mineral edge.

About Cù Bòcan

Cù Bòcan is a Highland single malt distilled, matured, and produced at the Tomatin Distillery near Inverness, renowned for its portfolio of brands including Tomatin Highland single malt, The Antiquary, Talisman and Big T.

Peat has been part of Tomatin’s story since its founding in 1897, when the distillery drew on local supplies to fire its stills. Though production shifted to an unpeated style mid-century, Tomatin revived peated runs in 2005 — sparking the birth of Cù Bòcan.

In 2005, the decision was made to produce a peated single malt and for the last week of production that year a batch of optic barley peated to 15ppm was used to produce about 60,000 litres of lightly peated spirit which was filled into a variety of different cask types.

Then, on September 3rd 2013, this lightly peated whisky produced at Tomatin was released as Cù Bòcan – a single malt at 15ppm matured in a combination of bourbon, sherry, and virgin oak casks. Since then, the Cù Bòcan brand has grown with a number of vintage releases as part of the brand’s limited-edition collection.

Cù Bòcan – ‘ghost dog’ in Gaelic – is named after a spirit thought to haunt the distillery’s hometown of Tomatin.

Cù Bòcan rebranded in August 2019. It is an experimental Highland single malt that explores innovative maturation to create whiskies full of intrigue and surprise. It is made with lightly peated Scottish barley, distilled every winter in limited batches and matured in a variety of interesting casks to unlock unusual flavours.

A silky-smooth melody including an overture of croissants meets antique polished oak, roses, walnuts, confit melon and marzipan in Fruit Utopia. But there’s another waltz to be had, in the amaretto-infused mince pie notes of Skooshy Stroopwafel, a dreamy sipper with apricots, oranges and pears next to toasted almonds on brioche.

FRUIT UTOPIA

Age: 25 years

Cask: Bourbon & French Oak Hogsheads, Barrels & Barriques

For this unique small batch single malt release, our spirits team took inspiration from maturation techniques they encountered on their travels in the Cognac region. A more hands on approach, shaping the flavours through cask management and constant monitoring of the maturation. At twenty years of age, we combined selected bourbon hogsheads of Speyside single malt and filled the whisky back into custom toasted French oak barriques from Seguin Moreau cooperage. Following three months of intense maturation in these highly active casks, we combined the spirit again and filled into 2nd fill bourbon barrels, just freshly emptied of Speyside malts. The whisky was closely monitored every six months for a further five years to develop a silk-like texture and wonderful layers of fruity complexity.

On the nose, a prelude of bananas ripening in a room filled with Cognacs and Armagnacs on French-polished oak furniture. Hints of camphor, tobacco, dried apricots, peaches and pears lend a je-ne-sais-quoi of gravitas to the otherwise silky-smooth mood. The flavour was a smooth overture of croissants, red berries then a cornucopia of exotic fruits, dried apricots, an antique white wine and tobacco with a mentholic timeless classiness. Water flowed in like a melody bringing more delicious elderberry jam on freshly baked shortbread, antique polished oak, roses, waltnuts, confit melon and marzipan with a drizzle of blueberry sauce and melted butter. A grand finale on the palate offered a highly elegant assortment of lemon sponge cake covered in crème patissière, honey, lychee, clementine slices, desiccated coconuts and the soothing whispers of oak and age.

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SKOOSHY STROOPWAFEL

Age: 11 years

Cask: Bourbon
& European Oak PX

For this special small-batch single malt, we sourced some top-notch European oak sherry butts from our friends at Tonelería Juan Pino in the south of Spain. The butts were seasoned in the sherry triangle for 13 months with syrupy sweet PX wine, before coming to Scotland to be filled with a wonderfully fruity Speyside single malt, which we are now proud to present to you.

We were reminded of popping the cork of an orange muscat wine bottle, with those typical aromas of apricots, oranges and pears next to toasted almonds on brioche and fragrant exotic wood. At first on the palate we found tingling spicy fruit flavours before we had a sip of very pleasing hot mulled white wine made with fresh orange juice, star anise, honey and cinnamon. Following reduction, we opened a tin of amaretto-infused mince pies – sweet, spicy and tart yet perfectly balanced, with mellow almond notes emanating from the liqueur. To taste, this was like a pumpkin-spiced iced coffee and “skooshy” (a very ‘technical’ Scottish term for cream in a can) cream on a stroopwafel.

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The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ

Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information

This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video

At Wolfburn, peat isn’t just an ingredient – it’s a connection to our past. For three months each year, we use peated malt to make our whisky as a nod to the past. The result is a trio of expressions that each carry a different whisper of smoke: Northland and our 12 Year Old, both very lightly peated at around 5ppm, and Morven, gently lifted to 10ppm. Think of them as three steps into the world of peat – subtle, refined, and wonderfully approachable. Confused about ppm and what it all means? Phenol parts per million is a measurement of the smoky, peaty flavour compounds in the malted barley before it’s distilled from lightly peated (under 20 PPM) to heavily peated (30-100+ PPM).

Historically, whether a distillery used peated or unpeated malt came down to something surprisingly simple: fuel. Before efficient transport existed, distillers relied on whatever they could source locally to kiln their malt. If a railway ran past your door, affordable coal was the obvious choice. But if you were remote, island-based, or far from industrial routes, peat from nearby bogs became your lifeline and with it came that evocative smoky character we now associate with whisky.

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An Irish Whiskey Christmas!

Share the Spirit this Christmas with an array of amazing Irish whiskey gifts for your friends and loved ones! Explore our array of Irish whiskeys with some of the most revered whiskey brands in the emerald isle.  Pick from Bushmills, Teeling, Redbreast plus loads more to excite the taste buds of your friends and loved ones this Christmas.

IRISH WHISKEY CHRISTMAS GIFTS❯

Free Next Day Delivery for 12 Months For just £14.95 you can enjoy free next day delivery on all your orders for a whole year! Geographic restrictions apply, see full T&Cs. Find out more ❯

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 586: Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master’s Select

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries a lovely blend from the Land of the Rising Sun. This Hibiki is, in fact, a blend of more than ten single malts and grains, including – how could it be otherwise? – Yamazaki, Hakushu, and Chita, aged in five types of barrels. This Japanese Harmony first appeared in 2015. The bottle has 24 facets representing the 24 seasons of the Japanese lunar calendar. https://youtu.be/fkUR1puaS6A

Harrison Ford Delivers Glenmorangie Festive Message

December 2025: Harrison Ford – clad in a Santa hat and kilt – puts a fresh spin on holiday campaigns, in a festive message celebrating Glenmorangie Highland single malt Scotch whisky.

The spot, which is now live on social media, builds on his irreverent performance in Once Upon a Time in Scotland, the campaign directed by Joel Edgerton which launched in January 2025. Its twelve episodes told the story of Ford reluctantly shooting an advertisement for Glenmorangie, before being won over by its craft, people and whisky.

Fans can watch the Christmas message on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook @Glenmorangie and by visiting glenmorangie.com

Follow Glenmorangie on:

Instagram and Facebook: @Glenmorangie

For exclusive access to new releases, news and events, join Glenmorangie’s Online Community

@glenmorangie #glenmorangie glenmorangie.com

THE ORIGINAL

Creamy with vanilla and a rush of citrus, The Original is Glenmorangie’s source code – the single malt where all its whisky-making adventures begin. First released by Glenmorangie’s founders more than 180 years ago, the original Glenmorangie was known for its mellow tones and delicacy of flavour. All these years later, The Original remains at the heart of everything Glenmorangie does.

To give The Original its go-anywhere finesse, Glenmorangie’s whisky creators craft its spirit in Scotland’s tallest stills. Then they age it 12 years in bourbon casks where it absorbs all manner of delectable flavours. The result is a whisky which welcomes you with luscious layers of orange and honey, vanilla and bursts of peach. A smooth single malt, swirling with a kaleidoscope of taste. 

TASTING NOTES

Glenmorangie Original is bottled at 40% ABV

Colour: Bright gold.

Aroma: Citrus and ripening peaches are balanced by vanilla softness.

Taste: Vanilla emerges, then gives way to a burst of flowery fruitiness.

About Glenmorangie:

Glenmorangie’s whisky makers use endless imagination and five key ingredients – wood, water, barley, yeast and time – to dream up delicious single malt whiskies. They’ve been honing their craft for 180 years. They create a delicate and fruity spirit in stills as tall as a giraffe to allow for more taste and aroma. Led by Director of Whisky Creation Dr Bill Lumsden, this crackerjack crew are on a mission to bring new flavours and possibilities to the world of single malt.