You’ll always remember your first dram of whisky. Maybe it was with your old man at Christmas in front of an open fire. Perhaps it was with your best mate wetting his first born’s head. Or maybe it was a Ring of Fire forfeit during your first year at Uni. (No comment.)
Regardless of the experience, for many it will start a life-long love of whisky.
But whether you’re a seasoned connoisseur or you're new to the spirit, we’re here to help you curate a drinks cabinet you can be proud of, with a range or different whiskies for every taste.
As the Scots would say, Slàinte Mhath!
Glen Scotia
Victoriana
When Square Mile joined The Whisky Exchange for its annual press dinner, head buyer Dawn Davies MW listed off a handful of her favourite whisky launches from the last decade. The first that came to her mind? Glen Scotia Victoriana.
She’s not the only one to rate it: it was winner of the ‘Best in Class’ award at the 2022 World Spirits Competition, too.
Glen Scotia Victoriana is a modern interpretation of a classic Victorian style Campbeltown malt whisky. Campbeltown is Scotland’s smallest whisky producing region – and Glen Scotia is a distillery steeped in history where much of the original design dates back to the 1830s.
Matured in a combination of first and second fill bourbon barrels and finished in a combination of Pedro Ximénez and heavily charred oak casks, it is a delicious drink to enjoy over the festive period and winter months with a comforting and indulgent nose of crème brûlée, melted sugars, caramelised fruits and oak, roasted sugars, blackcurrants and spice on the palate and a finish of cocoa, dark chocolate and dark fruits.
£74.25; personalised engraving is also available for an additional £10; thewhiskyexchange.com
Bladnoch
16 Year Old
Scotland’s most southerly distillery may have been through some tough times in the past, but since it was purchased by Australian businessman and whisky connoisseur David Prior in 2015, it's never been in safer hands.
The Bladnoch 16 Year Old is a perfect example of the mightily impressive whiskies being produced here now. A new addition to its esteemed portfolio of single malts, it forms part of the brand's newly unveiled Heritage Collection.
Matured in Oloroso sherry casks, Bladnoch 16 Year Old is bottled at 46.7% ABV and offers hints of wood spices, rich raisins, sultanas and orange peel on the nose, with a palate of raisins, dried fruits and rich fruit cake with sweet cinnamon and chocolate.
We’d happily drink it all year round, but there’s no doubt it hits different come Christmas time.
£110, bladnoch.com
Highland Park
18 Year Old
Highland Park was founded 226 years ago in Orkney, an archipelago that seems to be purpose built for whisky making. Renowned for its craft heritage, Orkney also benefits from the warming waters of the Gulf Stream which help create a temperate climate ideal for the long aging of whisky.
Trees find it difficult to grow in Orkney’s windy weather, meaning the islands’ peat is infused with floral heather, rather than woody roots. This peat is used to create a distinctive whisky with a subtle hint of aromatic smoke.
The 18-Year-Old is our favourite from Highland Park’s current line-up – and we’re not alone: this intensely fruity expression is the distillers’ most highly awarded whisky.
The satisfying depth of the 18-year-old comes from a higher proportion of whiskies matured in first-fill, sherry-seasoned European oak casks, which deliver intense notes of fruit and spice that linger on the palate. These flavours are rounded out with the addition of sherry-seasoned American oak casks and refill casks.
£140, thewhiskyexchange.com
Lagavulin
16 Year Old
For lovers of peated whisky (or those new to the style who want to discover what it’s all about), it doesn’t get much better than this iconic single malt from Islay, which remains a gateway core-range whisky for drinkers around the world.
Coastal character and a signature smoky flavour is there in spades, but alongside the more serious side, there’s plenty of toffee and tropical fruit notes to enjoy as the whisky opens up.
46%, £79.95, thewhiskyexchange.com
Redbreast
18 Year Old
While Scotch and Japanese whiskies have had the lion’s share of the limelight over the past couple of decades, a new generation of drinkers are also turning to Ireland for delicious drams.
While single malt exists in Ireland, the most in-demand is single pot still whiskey – an increasingly popular style made with both malted and unmalted barley, with a distinctive creamy and fruity character.
The new addition to the Redbreast range, this 18 Year Old exemplifies what people love about this type of whiskey – bold in flavour, and with a rich, earthy undertone.
46%, £185, thewhiskyexchange.com
Kanosuke
Single Malt
It’s no secret even to those uninitiated into the whisky world that Japan has produced some of the world’s most collectable and sought-after single malts and blends over the last decade or so – particularly under the Yamazaki, Hibiki and Chichibu labels – and their current prices reflect as much.
At a more affordable price point, though, a superb single malt that exemplifies the craft and quality of Japanese distilling comes from relative newcomer Kanosuke, a distillery built recently by a family known for making the fabled Mellowed Kozuru shochu, and which uses a mixture of bourbon, sherry and shochu casks to create an exceptional and genuinely unique whisky.
48%, £89.95, thewhiskyexchange.com
