Eight of our choices this Yule Tide are from Scotland’s burgeoning whisky scene: but discerning aficionados should also have an eye on Ireland and Japan.
Whisky exports from Scotland topped £5.6bn in 2023; “ghost”, or “silent”, distilleries are being resuscitated at a rate of knots; the global Irish whiskey market size is expected to grow at more than seven percent between now and 2030; Japanese whisky is making its way steadily to the pinnacle of sophistication for connoisseurs.
The amber nectar Bernard Shaw called whisky ‘liquid sunshine’ is on a vertiginous rise: and here are our picks for Christmas 2024.
Glen Scotia Campbeltown No.2
The second expression from the Kintyre Peninsula-based distillery’s Icons of Campbeltown series – the name is a toast to the town it calls home – is, like the others in the series, based on monikers inscribed on the former royal burgh medieval Market Cross: Saint Michael in this case.
Expect, from a 14 Year Old medium-peated single malt, a smoky expression, replete with notes of red candied fruits and berries and followed by a long, dry finish – these being Master Blender Michael Henry’s favoured nuances – combined with a maritime salinity that’s in keeping with Glen Scotia’s long-standing signature style.
Price: Around €110, buy direct from distillery HERE
Johnnie Walker 52 Year Old Blended
Only 200 bottles produced have been produced of this, an expression which taps into whisky lovers’ newfound appreciation of blended whiskies: a formerly maligned option amongst the Scotch intelligentsia. Vanilla, butterscotch and hints of tea leaves are all in the mix, along with menthol layers and fruit-forward notes of raisins, currants and orange peel, balanced by wood spice and tropical fruit.
Dr Emma Walker, Johnnie Walker’s Master Blender, calls it a “deceptively simple cask combination”, adding: “The rare aromas, flavours, and character in this blend, combined with their shared age and small number, make this super-limited edition a testament to the art of whisky blending.”
Indeed, it’s guaranteed to dispel any lingering snobbery tasters may harbour about combined expressions.
Price: Around €24,000; contact Diageo’s private client team HERE
The Torridon ‘Taurus’ 22 Year Old
Dan Bristow (the owner of The Torridon, a premium hotel in Scotland’s northwest) teamed up with Hamish Martin (the owner of Edinburgh’s Secret Herb Garden and a seasoned connoisseur of quality spirits) and sampled nearly 20 different barrel types, before deciding to blend a two-grain whisky with a single malt to achieve their idea of perfect whisky harmony.
The resulting expression, the pair say, reflects the “rugged yet refined spirit of the Highlands”, with its hints of stone fruit and vanilla palate, followed by a lavish burst of coconut and rich vanilla (smooth oak and a touch of light spice are also part of a harmonious finish).
Our recommendation: visit the hotel bar, and ask for a ‘Highland Rob Roy’ (which sees this extraordinarily nuanced liquid join forces with Vermouth and a dash of bitters), and whilst there insist on checking out The Torridon’s Arcturus Gin: a moreish drop, crafted using botanicals plucked straight from the kitchen garden.
Price: Around €125, buy from the hotel’s own retail outlet HERE
Midleton Very Rare Forêt de Tronçais Edition 2
We’ve picked our Irish representative for this line-up based on, as well as the characterful excellence of its taste profile, some Gallic input into its creation. Master Distiller Kevin O’Gorman has selected grain and single pot still whiskeys, each matured over decades in American bourbon barrels, before a conclusive maturation in T5 oak casks from Forêt de Tronçais: a national forest comprising 10,600 hectares in the Allier department of central France.
Further aging for four years has resulted in a whiskey with a succulent texture and decadent notes of white chocolate and fruit, plus a subtle, lingering spicy aftermath. Presentation, when it comes to serving post-prandial Christmas Day drinks, is crucial for many: and this expression comes in a gorgeous hand-finished glass bottle in duck egg blue, itself housed in a wooden cabinet created by Manufacture Jacquemin: an artisanal carpenter based in the French Jura Mountains using Forêt de Tronçais oak.
Price: Around €5,000, BUY HERE
The Macallan ‘A Night in Earth in Jerez de la Frontera’
Inspired by end-of-year celebrations in Spain – specifically, Jerez de la Frontera, where the Craigellachie-based distillery’s all-important casks are crafted and sherry seasoned – the third release in The Macallan’s A Night on Earth Series is a single malt Scotch whisky matured in European and American sherry seasoned oak casks.
The rich, sweet notes on the palate – and other elements of a taste profile which includes notes of pastry, grapes and anise – are inspired by the Spanish custom of eating twelve grapes before the start of the New Year and also the traditional Jerez pastry, Pestiños (a fried dough flavoured with sugar and aniseed or honey).
The elegant visuals on the packaging – a vivid sunset over sherry vineyards – comes courtesy of a collaboration with artist María Melero, a Jerez native.
Price: Around €125, BUY HERE
Littlemill Vanguard Chapter 2 Jane MacGregor
The Littlemill Distillery in Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, closed in 1994 and was destroyed by fire in 2004: but various whisky pioneers and trailblazers are drawing on the distillery’s oldest remaining reserves, and creating incredible expressions such as this – the second chapter in a four-part series, and one which raises a toast to former distillery manager Jane Macgregor (Chapter One paid homage to the holder of the first Littlemill distillery licence, Robert Muir).
Macgregor was probably the first woman in history to hold a license for a distillery of scale, back in 1823: the liquid created in her honour was distilled in October 1976 and matured in refill bourbon barrels before being re-casked in American oak in 1996, then left to age for a further 27 years. Elderflower, summer hedgerow, honey, apples, honeysuckle and spices are all resonant voices in a stunning chorus of flavour.
Glass artist Bethany Wood is behind the stoppers found atop each of the 250 bottles, created using tools from Macgregor’s era.
Price: Around €15,000, buy from the distillery HERE
Bowmore 21-Year-Old Sherry Oak Cask
The oldest of four expressions created to showcase the role European oak Sherry casks play in furnishing expressions with complex layers of depth and flavour, this release has also been aged in former Bourbon casks before Oloroso sherry and first-fill Pedro Ximenez Sherry casks took over the job.
The result? The distillery’s own tasting notes, when it comes to this autumnal-hued drop, refer to “a complex tapestry of tobacco leaves and heather, sweetened by rich toffee treacle and beeswax”, and there are also delectable notes of honeycomb, maple syrup, hazelnuts, leather and peat in the mix.
Price: Around €350, BUY HERE
The Dalmore Luminary No2 2024 Edition
This peated 16 Year Old spirit was matured in Bourbon casks and finished in a blend of Graham’s Tawny Port pipes and Apostoles sherry casks (with a modicum of input from ex-refill Bourbon casks), to create a flavour profile with distinctly herbal wood smoke notes, layered over a nose of Manuka honey, crème brûlée, antique leather and subtle tropical tones.
Ripe figs, oranges, forest fruits and brioche unfold on the palate shortly after. “This was a true meeting of minds,” says the house’s Master Whisky Maker Gregg Glass – referring to creative input from Master Distiller Richard Paterson OBE and the visionary behind the packaging, Melodie Leung. “While crafting our two new whiskies, we used the technique of time – nurtured carefully to transform through blending – to elevate The Dalmore to a new level. Flavour, colour and form meet together in a holistic sensory experience with swirls of texture, depth, complexity and nuance.”
Price: Around €330, BUY HERE
Hibiki 40 Years Old
This amber hued drop from a nation whose distilling style is often compared to Scotland’s over other whisk(e)y producing nations is a blend of Japanese malt and grain whiskies from Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita, presented in the brand’s signature 24-faceted bottle representing the Japanese seasons.
One taster on whose expertise Robb Report Monaco & Côte d’Azur often draws on described this expression – with its rose, lychee, rosemary, mature woodiness and sandalwood on the nose, and citrus-y and white chocolate-y assault the palate – as one of the finest whiskies he’d tasted in years.
Long-standing scotch aficionados considering exploring what Japan is doing in the field might consider starting here.
Price: Around €90, BUY HERE
Longmorn 30 Year Old
Returning, for our final entry, to the land where whisky is referred to as “Uisge Beatha (“water of life”): Longmorn refers to itself, jauntily, as “every Speyside Master Distiller’s favourite after their own” – and this extraordinary expression will have discerning whisky lovers nodding in agreement.
Produced in 1993, a century after the founding of the distillery, then matured for thirty years in a second-fill hogshead, the expression also has a gentle oak influence from a refill cask making for a fruity chorus: think stewed apples and apricot jam. Aromas of coco butter and Mille-feuille follow, with notes of plum, pear and honeycomb then creeping across the palate.
Price: Around €1,500, BUY HERE
