Highland Park, 12yr Kirkwall (SM) -- Smoky sweetness, heathery, malty, hint of sherry. Exceptionally smooth palate. Succulent, with smoky dryness, heathery-honey sweetness and maltiness. Teasing, heathery, delicious finish.

Johnnie Walker Black Label (B) -- Rich and weighty, with a pleasant sherry influence. Deep and wonderfully complex. Good smokiness and some pepper in there, too. Toffee and croissants. Toasty and creamy with heavily honeyed sherried tones. Apple pie, ice cream, caramel, toffee, blueberries, vanilla or milk and honey-scented hand soap. Smoke and sherry intermingle in the finish that grows a bit stale and watery.

Johnnie Walker Green Label (B) -- From a bottom of oak and humid sea air, whole peppercorns, malt, pecans, pears, to honey on top. Very impressive, confident. Pungent and powerful, but a real ensemble, tough to pick out individual flavours. Some apple and toffee cake, some vapours of cherry wood smoke. Then things kick into bitterness.

Johnnie Walker Red Label (B) -- Very aromatic. Sexily earthy. Peaty, junipery, fruity. Robust malt and grain palate. Very lively. Scenty spiciness. Gingery. Comes on hot and strong with a finish of Island smokiness and saltiness emerging: lingering and insistent.

Glenmorangie 10 yr (SM) -- Delicate yet assertive, sweet yet dry, Flaky oakiness with a complex toastiness to the barley with a hint of smoke. Long finish, drying from the initial sweetness but with flaked almonds amid the oakier notes.

Glenmorangie 12 yr Sherrywood (SM) -- Lightly caramel and winey, cream crackers, soft brine. Fuller, creamy textures, with a long, chocolatey, gently smoky, salty, prickling finale.

Dalwhinnie 15yr (SM) -- Smooth, soft and lasting flavors of heather, honey and vanilla followed by deeper citrus-fruit flavors and hints of malted bread. With a long, surprisingly intense finish that gives way to smoke, peat and malt.

Caol Ila 12yh Isle of Islay (SM) -- A huge mouthfeel, as is typical of the Caol Ila line of malts. A long, lingering finish.

Lagavulin 16 yr (SM) -- Complex. Dry and smoky with a big body. Sweetness at first turning to darker smoke (coal) at the close. Perhaps some saltiness too.

Buchanan’s 12yr (B) -- Rich flowery speyside warmth opens up in time, and a whiff of smoke hovers above honey and bourbon-y vanilla. The various dimensions become more apparent with time spent in the glass, but in such soft delicate balance that it feels rude to pick it apart.

Dewar’s 12yr special reserve (B) -- Balanced oak, heather, honey, mabye a touch of smoke. Medium bodied, smooth. Malt and grain notes come through. Long oaky finish.

Dewar’s ‘white label’ (B) -- There is no actual, written or documented recipe for DEWAR'S White Label. The secret of blending is passed down from one Master Blender to another. There have been just five Dewar's Master Blenders during the 150-year company history.

Clynelish (coastal highland) 14yr (SM) -- A faint floral nose. Wax comes up with water - scented candle wax. Dried flowers on a beach. Later, brown sugar. Firm, light to medium body. Pleasant mouthfeel with a dryish, slightly bitter finish.

Glengoyne 10yr (SM) -- Honeyed maltiness, unbuttered popcorn, light and sweet but with a weighty, oaky core. Luscious mouthfeel. Grassy, grainy, breakfast cereals. A bit of the spice and sour fruit of sherry cask influence. Granny smith apples and cheddar, red licorice, oak and vanilla. Chewy malt finish with more oak.

Macallan 12yr (SM) -- This Scotch is exclusively matured in Sherry oak casks that are imported from Jerez, Spain.  These specially-selected casks give The Macallan 12 year a rich golden color and a very complex taste that includes hints of dried fruits, spice, and chocolate orange.

Oban 14 yr (SM) -- Rich sweetness and fruits - oranges, lemons and pears, with sea-salt and peaty smokiness and a full, rich body. Mouth-filling late autumn fruits - dried figs and honey-sweet spices; followed by a smoky malty dryness and a Long, smooth-sweet finish with oak-wood, dryness and a grain of salt.

J&B (B) -- Very soft flavors in the mouth with a firm grain crispiness. The flavours are quite silent until after swallowing when some oak and spice emerge against the vanilla grains.

Glenlivet 12yr (SM) -- Light and perfumed. Quite complex in spite the light impressions. Incredibly appetizing. Heartier in the mouth, full oak flavours and some gentle spice. This balance of oak and spice sits comfortably for minutes, gently drying late in the game. 

Glenfiddich 12yr (SM) -- Very soft. Lychee. Peaches and cream. Oak, but very juicy, not dry. Vanilla, oak. Soft and straightforward. Pleasing, but extremely short opening up of flavour upon swallowing. The oak becomes bitter and finishes quite dry.

Chivas Regal 12 yr (B) -- Soft and pleasant nose, vanilla, cut grass, sweet and malty. A touch waxy, with lots of fruit, nuts, and tons of oak character. Floral elements juxtaposed with sweet cocoa bean and a nuttiness that's all wrapped up in a soft woody, earthy smoke.

Glenkinchie 10yr (lowland) (SM) -- A light sweet nose with barley-malt, green grass and wisps of autumn smoke. A firm, light body with slightly sweet yet fresh, late summer fruits and harvest fields, young wood and malted barley. A surprising dry finish with a smoky spiciness.

Craggnmore 12 yr Single Speyside Malt -- A complex of sweet floral fragrances with some honey and vanilla. A firm, rounded, light to medium body with a strong malty taste with hints of sweet wood smoke and sandalwood. A long malt-driven finish with light smoke and hints of sweetness.

Laphroaig 10yr Single Islay Malt -- A peaty medicinal veil, but you can sense more behind it. Malty, and yes, peaty. Great oily feel and taste. Long finish of creamy vanilla wrapped up in oak and smoke.

Aberlour 12yr Single Highland malt -- Mellow, sherry-dominant nose. Tobacco leaf, orange pekoe tea, walnut, caramelised fruit. Mint, leather, toffee and butter. In time it gets even sweeter. Sweet and silky palate with well integrated sherry wood overlaying the creamy/minty character. Ripe and soft with a light chocolate and some dried fruit finish.

Talisker 10yr Isle of Skye (SM) -- Peat-smoke with sea-water saltiness, the liquor of fresh oysters, a citrus sweetness. Full bodied with a rich dried-fruit sweetness with clouds of smoke and strong barley-malt flavours. A huge, long, peppery finish with an appetising sweetness.