Batch 182: Game of Thrones Single Malts

Classic Cardhu: soft toffee sweetness and crumbly red apples with a touch of poached pear. Soft baking spices and lightly toasted oak add some gravitas to an otherwise subtle nose, alongside a hint of crunchy malt.

Soft and very delicate. More red apples and hard caramel, like those shards you get on a fancy dessert. Delicate spices – cinnamon, cardamom – build along the sides of the tongue, creating a little dryness.

Dry, a touch of spice, and short.

An easy-drinker, but lacking in substance. Best put it in a Highball or (especially at this time of year) a Toddy. With winter coming, you’re going to need to warm up.

Poor Daenerys. The Mother of Dragons asked for fire and her Gorgeous Beasts can barely manage a whimper.

There’s initially an overwhelming sense of furniture polish and beeswax, but leave it a few moments to settle in the glass and it relaxes into dried, leathery papaya and juicy guava and mango. After more time it becomes meatier still, accented by creamy vanilla and the gentle sour aroma of a freshly-baked chewy brown loaf, although the sting of astringent polish lurks in the corner.

Chewy and viscous, and not at all as spicy as the abv would suggest – the highest of the collection. Those tropical fruits roll onto the palate, accompanied by the salty, leathery pull of cured Spanish ham. Water loosens the fruits and things become juicier.

Dry, and mouth-wateringly zingy.

Hearty, robust and bold, much like the Tyrell women.

Lady Olenna finally reveals her secret, a deviously revengeful parting Message for Cersei.

That classic, clean Dalwhinnie combination of sweet honey and delicate fruits. Dried hay and crunchy malt give substance from the off, before set heather honey and fresh citrus fruits – grapefruit, blood orange juice – add lift. There’s vanilla caramel sweetness and a generous bowl of (still crunchy) Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. A real ‘breakfast dram’.

Sweet, crunchy malt and some nuttiness. Lemon sherbets and green apple lift things up as a touch of black pepper spice sets the tongue buzzing. But there it reaches its limit; things remain pretty two-dimensional from here on, aside from the warming effect of sucking on barley sugars and cough candies.

Some Robinsons lemon barley water and hard caramel. Pretty short.

Light, inoffensive and a friend to all – much like the Starks before the Lannister fall-out.

A final family breakfast at Winterfell. They won’t be coming Home for a while.

The first whiff is all peat smoke and sea salt, but it quickly reveals luscious juicy blackcurrants and fresh mint, raspberry leaf tea and mouthwatering stone fruits. The most alluring nose of the Game of Thrones Collection.

Grilled, almost blackened bananas, blackcurrant coulis and soft gingerbread biscuits. Heavy vanilla cream and crispy marshmallows with deliciously gooey centres, toasted over a beachside bonfire. It’s a tight palate, each element assuming its place in harmony with the next.

Dry but long, with a moreish flavour of salted, almost burnt, caramel.

For a nine-year-old it’s remarkably mature, a beautiful balance between distillery character and cask. It’s best enjoyed neat as it appears to fall apart with water. Apparently a whisky that ‘recalls the Lannisters’ riches’, but it’s far better to share the wealth (and give over the throne, eh Cersei?)

Recovering the Spoils of War with a devilish glee.

That’s funky. The (not unpleasant) aroma of goat’s cheese and stale hay is striking, but calms into bitter cocoa powder and densely syrupy black morello cherries, accompanied by a waft of mentholic Vaporub and waxy petroleum jelly.

The waxiness continues onto the palate, where dark berry pie, with blackcurrants, liquorice and cocoa nibs, dominates. Toasted oak spice prickles the sides of the tongue, while dried citrus peel, cloves and cinnamon add some lift.

Dark fruits and a smidge of that funky goat’s cheese.

Oban has a dark side. Highly recommended.

The Winds of Winter whip around the Wall as the Night’s Watch gather their strength for the impending battle.

Vibrant and engaging, all lemon zest and fragrant olive oil. Toasted oak and vanilla-rich cream toffees provide the sweetness, with floral/herbal notes of lemon verbena and cherry blossoms.

Light and lemony-fresh with some zesty spice, but weighted by toasted oak, caramel and earthy liquorice. That viscous olive oil really coats the palate. Although a light, creamy toffee dessert emerges towards the finish, things remain citrus-accented throughout.

Uplifting, refreshing and moreish, though just a hint of bitter furniture polish lingers.

A whisky fit for royalty, although perhaps a tad delicate for the brutish Baratheons, least of all the sadistic Joffrey.

The House of Baratheon lies Before the Old Gods now.

Top notes of green apples, with a richer, underlying sweetness of sticky blood orange spiked with cloves and currants. Crushed milk chocolate digestives and melting vanilla ice cream.

Softer than the nose would suggest, diving straight into a pot of vanilla custard and melting chocolate chips. The dessert moves into baked orchard fruits and Belvita biscuits, with soft spices adding some grip and warming heat along the sides.

Slightly dry. Toasted oak and roasted apples with a touch of char.

A solid representation of Glendullan’s house style, and good value for money.

Accepting the fall of Riverrun, Edmure starts to See What Matters.

Soft cooked orchard fruits with a hint of coastal salt and bonfire smoke. Give it a moment to open the glass for notes of dark chocolate, crystallised ginger and freshly diced red chilli.

Initially there’s an overriding sweetness of warm toffee sauce, before a waft of salty smoke delivers the unmistakable zing of Szechuan pepper. Despite the spice it retains a creamy consistency throughout, the dark chocolate becoming milkier and joined by dried fruits, brown sugar and Jamaican ginger cake.

Zingy still, but softer, slowly fading.

A classic, though youthful, coastal Talisker that’ll be a hit among spice fans.

The Ironborn’s fleet take to the Narrow Sea to lay siege to King’s Landing.