Batch 48

If whisky were a season, this would be summer. Ripe nectarines and tantalising peach Melba are at the fore, while hints of cedar wood, sultanas and even spotted dick, punctuated by black pepper and cinnamon, provide the bass line. It’s all about that sweet, second-fill Sauternes cask. 

Delicate. Soft and sweet white fleshy fruit, conducted by more of that Sauternes sweetness. Peaches topped with Chantilly cream.

Dry, long and satisfying.

SMWS put this one together to celebrate astronaut Tim Peake’s return to Earth on 18 June, but if he had any inclination that his bespoke dram tasted so good, he would have made for Mission Control much sooner.

A lazy, sun-drenched summer afternoon. Here’s hoping the weather turns about for Tim.

A dollop of strawberry jam with an undercurrent bass line of earthy cassia bark and oak, while fragrant heather and jasmine playfully dance back and forth.

An engulfing wave of thick black treacle hits the front of the tongue but subsides into delicate rose oil and Parma violets. 

Thick and jammy, with a hint of menthol.

Spritely yet mature, with just the right level of influence from a first-fill Sherry butt. It may be young, but this Aultmore is by no means immature.

Listening to 17-year-old cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason play at the Barbican.

Unwrapping the paper of mouth-watering green and orange Opal Fruits (Starburst for those not quite old enough to remember), chewy vanilla toffee and a sprinkling of icing sugar. All the light confected fruit you’d expect from Glen Grant.

Sweet and fresh to start, the Opal Fruits living up to their aromatic promise. It becomes spicier on the mid-palate, before thickening into toffee, vanilla and caramel sauce. 

Slightly dry with a lingering burnt brown sugar note.

A non-chill-filtered and stronger version of Glen Grant’s new 12-year-old (tasted by Dave here), it delivers slightly more weight and texture. One to entice the frequent flyers as a travel retail exclusive.

Weightier than its original, it’s an Alessia Cara cover of Taylor Swift.

Crème pâtissière, almond croissants, vanilla custard: all the sweet delights of a bakery. In time, lemon curd emerges. Glen Grant’s apple character is revealed with water.

Lemon jam and lime zest, before a slight rancio note in the middle (quelled with water), which becomes spicy but eventually gives way to crème brûlée.

A short burst of burnt sugar.

A proper dessert dram.

With coffee and croissants, watching the sun rise behind the Eiffel Tower.

The sugar-crusted pastry lid of a summer fruits pie, hot and buttery, oozing cooked raspberries and cherries.

Cinnamon and baking spice at the fore, building toward the mid-palate but giving way to warm tarte tatin, while a hint of sandalwood lingers behind. Water brings out more of a summer pudding personality.

Spicy.

A pudding of a dram that, despite spending 18 years in a ‘new wood’ hogshead, retains Longmorn’s rich, viscous and fruity character.

Served in the drizzling rain at the close of a quintessential British street party.

An inviting deep amber hue. Polished mahogany furniture, ripe morello cherries atop a rich black forest gâteau mingle with more exotic notes of caramelised pineapple, blood orange flesh and walnut skins. Time allows the oakiness to mellow and fruits to ripen further. In the distance there’s some struck match.

Thick and rich. Caramelised pineapple, dried sultanas and dark, bitter chocolate roll around the palate as some cigar box tobacco wanders into play and unravels a chewy texture. Water disintegrates the flavours. At 43% abv you don’t need it anyway; so don’t add it.

It’s loooong. Those rich, chocolate-covered dried fruits linger and linger, carried by a soft, tannic taste of cigar tobacco.

This dram really is all about the wood, and Gordon & MacPhail has once more demonstrated its meticulous cask management talent.

A dimly lit, smoky jazz club listening to the late, great Amy Winehouse. Sadly, you’ll have to make do with your imagination and this exotic, sexy track.