A beautiful distillery to visit, sat in the middle of its own farm and growing their own barley. A carefully crafted spirit, yet they have not been afraid to continue to work on it. I am excited to see how Lochlea develops and what releases they come out with next.

Finished a few bottles, both with some sentimental value. However, I found a gem of a bottle as well. This Clynelish will be sorely missed with its typical waxiness, honeycomb and some beautiful earthy notes. The Benriach is like smoky bacon and maple syrup a deliciously rich dram.

Working through some truly outstanding whiskies tonight. The first four are all single cask samples.

I started this years spirit of speyside festival by visiting the often overlooked Dailuaine. A fascinating distillery due to its versatility and quirkiness as a site. Producing multiple spirit styles depending on supply needs, yet all of them having great quality.

Some beautiful drams this evening. The Knockando spirit is exceptional and still holds through despite its time in sherry and the Macallan has a beautiful array of floral and fruity notes.

All wonderful in their own ways. The Dalwhinnie is one of the best I’ve had, sweet aromatic smoke, distinct notes of clove and nutmeg, fruit punch followed notes of cut grass and ash. The Benrinnes is full of liquorice, icing sugar and green apples, with a lingering earthiness.

I’ve uploaded a new post onto my blog about the intricacies of mashing in malt whisky. Check it out at distilling-wisdom.com

Comparing two major distilleries within Japan. These take very different approaches with the Hakushu showing off their fruity yet funky spirit with this release, whilst the Yamazaki plays with various cask types to create depth.