Some master what others can't see. Glenfiddich's Malt Master, Brian Kinsman, returns for a second release in the Aston Martin Formula One™ Team partnership — a whisky built the way a race-winning car is built: through relentless refinement, layer by layer.
This 16 Year Old expression is a marriage of whiskies matured in first-fill bourbon barrels and fine wine and fortified wine casks, then finished in sequence across four further cask types — Port pipes, Oloroso sherry casks, wine casks, and a final, delicate rest in Fino Sherry butts. Where last year's Release No. 1 was shaped by American oak wine casks and second-fill bourbon, this new edition adds a fourth layer of cask influence — deeper, richer, and more complex still.
On the nose, rich stewed fruits unfold alongside marzipan and polished leather. On the palate, mellow toffee sweetness meets caramelised cane sugar, balanced by dry oak tannin. The finish is long, oaky, and quietly assured.
Bottled at 43% ABV, this is Glenfiddich at its most awarded — with more accolades since 2000 than any other single malt Scotch whisky across the IWSC and ISC, two of the industry's most prestigious competitions.
Tasting Note by Glenfiddich:Nose: Rich stewed fruits with a beautiful array of floral top notes. Hints of marzipan and polished leather. A drop of water accentuates the fresh, ripe fruits.Palate: Mellow and silky smooth with a creamy buttery toffee sweetness. Caramelized cane sugar with a lovely counterbalance of dry oak tannin.Finish: Long lasting oaky sweetness
Established in 1824 on the Easter Elchies Estate in Speyside, The Macallan has long defined its house style through an unwavering commitment to exceptional oak cask selection. The distillery's Master of Wood sources, crafts, toasts and seasons each cask to precise specifications before filling, ensuring the wood imparts the full measure of its character to the maturing spirit.
The Sherry Oak 18 Year Old 2024 Release is matured exclusively in hand-picked sherry seasoned oak casks sourced from Jerez, Spain. Eighteen years of undisturbed maturation in this single cask type produces the deep, natural mahogany colour and layered complexity for which this expression is celebrated annually. Each year's release marks a distinct moment in The Macallan's Sherry Oak Collection, making the 2024 edition a worthy addition to any serious collection and an exceptional gift for those with a discerning palate.
Tasting Note by The Macallan:Nose: Treacle tart with stem ginger, soaked raisins and sultanas with a hint of orange and ground cinnamon.Palate: Soft and rich, with flavours of dark chocolate coated ginger with dates and dried apricots, balanced with oak and the sweetness of vanilla.Finish: Lingering with dried fruits, ginger and oak.
Crafted in Glasgow since 1823, Auchentoshan is one of Scotland's few remaining Lowland distilleries and the only one to triple distil every drop of its spirit. This process, carried out through three copper pot stills, produces a characteristically smooth and delicate new make that serves as the foundation for every expression in the range.
The 24 Year Old was released to mark the distillery's 200th anniversary and represents the highest-aged expression in the current Auchentoshan range. Distilled on 22 June 1998, it has been matured through a marriage of American bourbon casks and European oak sherry casks, with carefully curated refill casks completing the vatting. Twenty-four years of maturation have produced a whisky of considerable depth and refinement, presented in a premium gift box that makes it an exceptional choice for collectors and celebratory occasions alike.
Tasting Note by Auchentoshan:Nose: Mint leaves, menthol, beeswax, juicy green grapes, warm autumnal fruits and citrus.Palate: Candied citrus peel, creamy vanilla, moist raisins and chocolate coated almonds.Finish: Long and fruity, with citrus and soft spices.
Founded in 1892 by William Grant in Dufftown, at the heart of Speyside, The Balvenie is one of Scotland's most craft-focused distilleries, maintaining its own floor maltings, cooperage and coppersmith team on site. It is a place where traditional methods have been preserved not as a point of heritage but as a genuine commitment to quality, and that philosophy runs through every expression in the range. The distillery's Malt Master lineage is among the most celebrated in the industry, with David C. Stewart MBE spending over five decades shaping its character before passing the role to Kelsey McKechnie.
DoubleWood 12 was launched in 1993, built on a wood finishing technique pioneered by David C. Stewart in 1982 that has since become widely adopted across the industry. The whisky first matures in traditional whisky oak casks before being transferred to European oak sherry casks for a further period of maturation, adding fruity, honeyed depth and greater complexity. The whiskies are then married for three to four months in large oak tuns before bottling. This limited edition presents the expression in exclusive narrative-led packaging by award-winning illustrator Victo Ngai, making it a particularly distinctive gift.
Tasting Note by Balvenie:Nose: Sweet fruit and Oloroso sherry notes, layered with honey and vanilla.Palate: Smooth and mellow with beautifully combined flavours ~ nutty sweetness, cinnamon spiciness and a delicately proportioned layer of sherry.Finish: Long and Warming.
Founded in 1892 by William Grant in Dufftown, at the heart of Speyside, The Balvenie is one of Scotland's most craft-focused distilleries, maintaining its own floor maltings, cooperage and coppersmith team on site. Traditional methods are preserved here not as a point of heritage but as a genuine commitment to quality, a philosophy that runs through every expression in the range.
The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 Year Old begins its maturation in traditional oak casks before being transferred to casks previously prepared by Malt Master David C. Stewart MBE with a blend of West Indian rums. Once the rum is removed, the aged whisky is introduced to the wood, allowing the cask to impart its final characteristics of tropical fruit sweetness and gentle warmth. This limited edition presents the expression in exclusive narrative-led packaging by award-winning illustrator Victo Ngai, making it a particularly distinctive gift for those drawn to sweeter, fruit-led expressions.
Tasting Note by Balvenie:Nose: Rich, sweet and creamy toffee on the nose combines with fresh fruit notes.Palate: Rounded with vanilla and sweet oak notes, with a fruity character that develops with time.Finish: Soft and lingering.
Established in 1923 in Shimamoto, Osaka Prefecture, Yamazaki is Japan's first and oldest malt whisky distillery and the foundation of Suntory's whisky heritage. The distillery's mastery of Mizunara oak, a rare and characterful Japanese timber notoriously difficult to season and cooperage, is among the most distinctive aspects of its craft, and one that sets Yamazaki apart from any other whisky producer in the world.
The 18 Year Old Mizunara 2024 Edition is the product of years of experimentation by Yamazaki's blending team, who discovered that the true potential of Mizunara casks is unlocked only through extended maturation. Eighteen years in this exceptional Japanese oak imparts an unmistakeable spiciness alongside notes of sandalwood and aloe, producing a whisky of rare complexity where fruit, spice and wood notes engage in a rich and elegant harmony. It is an expression for the serious collector and a gift of genuine distinction.
Tasting Note by Yamazaki:Nose: Rich and elegant with dark cherry, ripe peach and hints of cinnamon and nutmeg.Palate: Subtly spiced organette with undernotes of Japanese incense.Finish: Long and lingering, accentuated with clove, sandalwood and hints of dried coconut.
Made from 100% hand-picked estate-grown grapes, this blend brims with finesse, featuring aromas of citrus and garrigue. Light and delicate on the palate, its minerality provides a distinctive freshness, enhanced by the terroir's characteristic salinity.
Tasting Note by Christophe Mongeot:Nose: Aromas of citrus and wild herbs abound.Palate: On the palate, expect an impression of lightness with a minerality that leads to a distinctive freshness, enhanced by salinity.
Situated on the Highland Line just north of Glasgow, Glengoyne has distilled without peat since 1833, allowing the quality of its slow-distilled spirit and the influence of oak to define every expression. The distillery is known for the longest distillation time in Scotland, a process that strips away harsher notes and produces a characteristically smooth and fruity new make spirit.
Batch 11 is matured in a combination of sherry, bourbon and refill casks, bottled at natural colour and without chill filtration at 60.5% ABV. The absence of peat places the full weight of character on the spirit itself and the European oak, producing a release of considerable intensity and aromatic clarity. As a limited-edition cask strength bottling, it represents Glengoyne at its most unguarded and is a compelling addition to any serious collection.Tasting Note by Glengoyne:Nose: Ripe orchard fruits, red berries and marzipan with lemon sherbet and digestive biscuit.Palate: Rich and full-bodied with dark chocolate, stewed fruits, warming winter spice and a prickle of pepper.Finish: Long and warming with lingering spice and the smooth, slow-distilled character for which Glengoyne is renowned.
Distilled on the southern shore of Islay, Laphroaig has been producing one of Scotland's most distinctive single malts since 1815. The distillery's character is shaped by its own floor maltings, peat cut from the Islay bog, and the brackish coastal air of the Kildalton coast, producing a spirit of deep, unmistakable smokiness that has defined the house style for over two centuries.
This 14 Year Old limited edition was personally selected by actor and Friend of Laphroaig Willem Dafoe alongside Senior Whisky Blender Sarah Dowling, chosen entirely on instinct and without formal tasting notes. Finished in Oloroso sherry casks, the expression brings a layer of soft sweetness and depth to Laphroaig's signature peat-driven character. With no formal notes from the distillery, the bottle is designed to provoke personal interpretation rather than guided expectation, making it a singular collector's piece and a gift unlike any other in the current Laphroaig range.
Tasting Note by JPHA:Nose: Deep, unmistakable peat smoke with a coastal edge and the quiet richness of Oloroso sherry.Palate: Sea salt, warming spice and soft sweetness, with layers that shift and evolve in the glass.Finish: Long, smoky and mouthwatering, with a lingering complexity that resists easy definition.
Produced at James B. Beam Distilling Co. in Clermont, Kentucky, Booker's is an uncut, unfiltered small batch bourbon created by the late Booker Noe, grandson of Jim Beam and one of the most influential figures in American whiskey. Each batch is drawn from a select number of barrels chosen for their exceptional quality, bottled straight from the cask at natural proof with no chill filtration and no water added.
The Big Easy Batch, the first release of the 2026 Collection, is composed of five separate production dates drawn from five different warehouse locations across the Jim Beam campus, each floor and warehouse position contributing its own influence on the maturing spirit. Aged for 7 years, 2 months and 15 days in new charred white oak barrels and bottled at 61.9% ABV, this is a bourbon of considerable power and character, named in tribute to Booker Noe's lifelong affection for New Orleans.
Tasting Note by Booker's:Nose: Aromas of vanilla, spices.Palate: Big and bold, and unmistakably Booker's Bourbon.Finish: Long and delightful.
Distilled on the Orkney Islands at one of Scotland's most storied distilleries, Highland Park has crafted whisky on its Kirkwall site since 1798. Under Master Whisky Maker Gordon Motion, each release is built around the precise marriage of hand-selected casks, with the distillery's signature lightly peated Orcadian heather malt underpinning every expression.
The 25 Year Old 2023 Release is drawn from just 22 casks: ten first-fill sherry seasoned European oak hogsheads, two first-fill sherry seasoned American oak hogsheads, four first-fill sherry seasoned American oak butts, five refill hogsheads and one refill butt. Each cask was selected by Gordon Motion for its marrying potential, depth of flavour and complex character, producing a whisky of natural deep copper colour and considerable aged richness. At this level of maturation and rarity, it is as much a collector's piece as it is a drinking whisky, and presents exceptionally well as a landmark gift.
Tasting Note by Highland Park:Honeyed peaches, sweet satsumas, pistachio biscotti, crushed coriander seed, aromatic oregano, crème brûlée, citrus zest and heathered peat smoke.
Patrón El Alto is produced in the Atotonilco El Alto region of Jalisco, Mexico, where 100% Blue Weber Agave is cultivated at high altitude, a growing environment that concentrates natural sugars in the piña and lends the spirit its distinctively sweet agave character. The name itself is a direct reference to this elevated terroir, which Patrón regards as the foundation of the expression's quality.
The liquid is a blend of three maturation tiers: Extra Añejo aged for four years, alongside Añejo and Reposado tequilas, each contributing a different layer of oak development and agave complexity. The agave is ground using ancient volcanic stone and baked in clay ovens before distillation, preserving traditional Jalisco production techniques within what is an impressively refined and collectible expression.
Tasting Note by Patrón: Soft, sweet aromas of agave, dried fruit and toasted wood. Bright flavours of apricot, vanilla, almonds and cooked agave on the palate, with a smooth, subtly sweet finish.
