Glen Moray 12 Year (SMWS 35.266 "Traditional Butterscotch Fudge")

At the same Scotch tasting where I had my beloved Tomintoul, I also had a delightful 9 year Glen Moray that was my girlfriend's favorite - full of waxy oranges and delicious tea notes. So I was delighted to find that the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) featured several offerings from Glen Moray. I chose the one coded 35.266, named "Traditional Butterscotch Fudge," and aged for 12 years in first-fill bourbon barrel. No coloring, no filtering. Bottled at 57.4% ABV.

Tomintoul 10 Year (Exclusive Malts, Second Review)

 

At the fabled Impex Scotch tasting that changed my opinion of independent bottlings (and several distilleries, particularly), my favorite was a 10 year Tomintoul, which positively dripped with honey and marshmallow. Over the years I've sourced a couple more bottles, and I think it's time to revisit this hallowed dram and see if my memory actually aligns with the liquid. After all, it came in the middle of a series of cask strength samples... for example, this is 56.2% ABV. 

Glenfarclas 17 Year

 

I'm a big fan of Glenfarclas 105, the cask strength no-age-statement version of their whisky, which is matured in oloroso sherry casks. This results in an unusually rich and quirky spirit, almost funky, and one that I took a shine to. Lately I've been diving deep in the world of independent bottles, so I thought I would take a breath of air from the world of official bottlings, and explore Glenfarclas a bit more.

Tomintoul 7 Year (SMWS 89.11 "A Kraftwerk Orange")

 

One of my favorite drams of all time was a Tomintoul - an independent bottling (Exclusive Malts, RIP) that I sampled at a tasting in Washington DC. That Tomintoul, a 10 year, oozed honey and marshmallow for days, and was outrageously tasty. 

Battle Axe 8 Year Islay Blend (SMWS)

 

This is another Scotch Malt Whisky Society offering - this time an 8 year Islay blend. No information on what constitutes the blend, unfortunately. Bottled at 50% ABV, no coloring, no filtering. 

Caol Ila 12 Year (SMWS 53.338 "The Quay to Success")

 

I am a long-time fan of Caol Ila, the largest (by far) distillery on Islay. Although much of Caol Ila's output is unpeated and sent to the blender, they do release a nice little 12 Year official bottling, along with a few other official releases I've never actually seen in the wild. 

Ledaig 10 Year

 

Ledaig is the heavily peated imprint from Tobermory, the distillery on the Isle of Mull.  I've actually never had Tobermory itself, but have always heard good things about Ledaig - namely "it's a very unusual kind of peated whisky." Well, aged for 10 years in bourbon barrels, non-chill-filtered, and presented at 46.3% ABV, let's see how unusual it is...