Batch 77

Cod liver oil from a pewter spoon, then tidal aromas of fresh fish and high water mark, followed by coal tar, cigar ash, and a little lanolin backed with sooty smoke. All the notes you get from old Ardbeg in a relaxed cask, in other words.

A burst of oils on the tongue allows this to become surprisingly unctuous. Sure, there are massive phenols (that coal tar element continues), but there’s also a mix of agave and prickly pear, light bog myrtle, violet and fresh tobacco. Fragments a little with water. 

Old copper coins.

If you like your Ardbegs oily then this is for you, but keep it neat. 

Ullapool on a winter’s night. Fish boxes sliding over the pier.

I’m not long finished hosting a wild (in both senses) agave tasting, and this smells of Bacanora (which is no bad thing). The smoke is subtle, with touches of slightly green wood, then some empty pipe bowl and a just-dying kiln. Green pepper lies behind, alongside charred broad bean, a little acetone, and almond oil. With water, there’s lime and dry smoke.

Slightly oaty at the start, smoky too, and fairly (not surprisingly) hot; but there is balance here. The peatiness is more overt now, but there’s just sufficient sweetness to balance, along with a light menthol note. Water dries things.

Smoky bite.

I’d have this long as a Highball or in a smoky Martini. Restorative and a lot of fun. 

Big Peat and Bad Santa roll out of a cantina on January 6.

Fresh to start with when neat, with light touches of dry grass, cashew, then light, juicy fruits – pears and sweet apples especially. All of this is given a dry edge by cereal and crisp oak. In time, there’s a touch of white pepper and some citric edges, while the cask influence edges forward – all coconut and char. Becomes sweeter with water. Balanced.

Soft and gentle, with rhubarb fool, dried peels, sultana loaf. That peppery edge comes back, as does the creamy coconut. Rounded, soft and rather delicious; with water there’s more spring-like elements.

Cereal bar: maple syrup sweetness, fruit, crunch.

Good neat, but at its best long or mixed – Old Fashioned etc. An absolute belter for the price. 

Ok, it’s about a kettle rather than a dog, but there’s an illicit whisky link – and it’s Gillian Welch singing, so don’t moan!

Shows pleasant, mature notes and an immediate balanced elegance. Soft and lightly fruity, with some green grape and Victoria plum jam. Linkwood’s apple orchard taken to Calvados levels, with an added scented element akin to jasmine and cooking medlars. In the background there’s a touch of ginger. Water makes it a little more vinous.

Pure fruit to start, then the distillery character comes through, alongside cooked orange and roasted quince in the clinging, ripe centre. A little stewed pineapple in time. At its best neat.

Light ginger and cinnamon.

The first of a trio bottled by Berry Bros for a Ukrainian bottler, finished for 18 months in a selection of Ukrainian oak casks which had held local wines, in this case the dessert wine Troyanda Zakarpattya. Yes, it’s a first for me as well – and I love it.

A heady summer dream.

Again, mature and quite deep. The Muscat has the upper hand here, adding quite solid, sturdy weight to the distillery’s existing light fruitiness. There’s some slightly dusty oak in time, and with water it blooms into a rather lovely oiliness. Becomes considerably more aromatic as well. 

As with the nose, this is quite cask-forward with considerable spicy elements, some chocolate and some green notes underneath (chilli pepper/sour apple). Thicker with water, where you pick up more of the mace-like spiciness. Lightly structured, with some char.

Orange Pekoe tea.

This grape grows on the banks of the Dnieper river, close to the Black Sea. Again, ageing was for 18 months. The oak is also Ukrainian. Decent enough balance here, but slightly wine-heavy. 

It’s late. The wine flows gently into late-night drams. 

Soft and deep with an instant savoury element that’s mixed with cooked black cherry, sour plum and damson jam. There’s a whiff of asafoetida and horseradish leaf, and then polished oak and a little walnut. Mortlach is there, but has been gently moulded into a new shape. Water ups the exotic elements without any loss of depth or character.

A mix of meatiness with red and black fruits, pomegranate, molasses and roasted pepper. Thick, caramelised sweetness with almost jellied fruits. Rich, unusual and complex. Again, I’d keep this neat. 

Long and densely fruited. Savoury. 

This grape is a Cabernet Sauvignon/Alicante Bouschet cross, which grows on the northern coast of the Black Sea. The finish was 18 months, this time in French oak. All of these are sensitively handled and offer a really exciting development. Not in the UK – but surely it’s only a matter of time. 

Eating roast venison with a cherry and plum sauce.