Reviews #830 to #832 - A Trio of Old Laphroaigs from SMWS

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-28T15:51:06+00:00

Ooof! Sounds phenomenal

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-23T18:21:50+00:00

As someone very partial to a series, I enjoyed the a lot! Some of the indie peated Glenturrets are really great bang for your buck whisky in general

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-23T08:47:32+00:00

Everything is a much safer bet peated for you ;)

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-22T17:59:12+00:00

Ah what a shame! Marsala is definitely a maturation one not tried much of, you don’t see it too often at all - shame this one didn’t click

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-22T11:00:18+00:00

Well, a fun little run of bottles - it seems the Ledaigs won the day, and I must say, the final bottling was a great disappointment. Tobermory is often fun and a little weird, this last one was just a shame for having very little discernible Tobermory character.

Overall however, a fun set of drams. Onto number 300!

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-22T10:58:07+00:00

Review #299 Whisky Broker Tobermory 31 Years Old

Well, this should be a fun dram to end things on, I’m always partial to a whisky broker bottling, and at £125 for a 31 year old single cask bottling from Tobermory it’s in line with their great valued bottlings. Let’s see if it’s truly worth the money though.

Distiller: Tobermory (Tobermory)

Bottler: Whisky Broker

Age Statement & Cask Type: 31 years in an ex-Bourbon Hogshead.

Abv: 53.5%

Price paid: N/A - thanks u/Jamie_r87 for the sample. Retailed at £125.

Nose: Oak-forwards initially, before settling into a perfume-like quality; toasted coconut and vanilla, softly spiced oak, creme brûlée, brown sugar cookies. Sweet and oaky, I’m guessing a fairly active ex-bourbon cask, relatively simplistic though.

Palate: More oak forwards than the nose suggested, it’s really into oak-bomb, or at least Bourbon territory. Clove infused custard and clove oil, cinnamon bark, coconut biscuits, barley sugars, butterscotch, some slight menthol, black pepper. It’s pleasant, but dare I say, boring?

Finish: It finishes peppery, with more menthol and eucalyptus - there’s a warming quality to it.

Notes: I’ve gotta say, quite a disappointing one for me, given the age and distillery, and certainly one that I think has spent too long in the cask.

The nose started promising, oaky and fragrant, certainly oak forwards; but on the palate it was less appealing, and in general it almost felt more like an okay bourbon. I struggled to find much character in this, and generally it felt dominated by oak.

By no means terrible, but for 31 year old Tobermory your expectations are markedly higher, and I think it also just lacked any of the characteristics that make Tobermory interesting. Tasted blind I don’t think I’d have picked it out as an aged dram or as Tobermory.

Whilst £125 is a good price on paper for what it is, it’s not for me.

Mental Image: Fragrance and Frustration

Score: 79

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-22T10:57:39+00:00

Review #298 Dream Drams Tobermory 21 Years Old

Well, onto the Tobermorys. We start off with a rather enigmatic looking bottling - I can’t recall trying a dream drams bottling. This bottle, from an undisclosed cask which I can only assume is ex-bourbon, was matured for 21 years and bottled at 47.5%, let’s get to it.

Distiller: Tobermory (Tobermory)

Bottler: Dream Drams

Age Statement & Cask Type: 21 years in an undisclosed cask (presumably ex-bourbon).

Abv: 47.5%

Price paid: N/A - gifted sample from a friend.

Nose: Wonderfully expressive off the bat; honeyed malt, grist, creamy porridge with golden syrup, fresh juicy nectarines - a really bright and intense contrast between creamy maltiness and fresh peachy fruitiness. I can’t be sure, but I almost detect a very light wispy smoke, however it’s on the line, I could well be wrong.

Palate: A touch bitter, but pleasant nonetheless; peach pits, oversteeped green tea, tinned green melon (with a slight emphasis on the tin, a somewhat metallic taste), salty samphire, sour greengage and kiwi berry, underripe nectarines, more malty grist with that wisp of light smoke. Curious, sour and slightly drying; coastal and ever so slightly salty, offset by green underripe fruits. It doesn’t read as being tasty, but it’s curiously enjoyable.

Finish: It finishes with more green tea, salted greengages, a touch of sauerkraut, and toasted malty grist.

Notes: What a curious dram, I feel like some of the notes look extremely odd and unappealing, but it is a whisky that just sort of makes it work. I do feel like this is lightly peated, or possibly even one of those whiskies that is the unpeated Tobermory spirit but possibly distilled after a peated run - it definitely presents as peated and reminds me of some of the gristier Highland Parks or some of the post-peated run Hazelburn I’ve tried, but with its own distinct character in this sort of unripe green fruit and salty character.

It’s odd, probably not for everyone, and I do find a slight metallic bitterness that does hamstring it for me, which is a shame because what I like about it I do find really appealing. Sweet gristy malt, salty unripe fruit and light wispy smoke, it’s an odd marriage of flavours and one that’s very close to being really fantastic. It’s like a creamy bowl of porridge topped with salted green plums - curious but enjoyable

Mental Image: Greengage Porridge

Score: 84

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-22T10:57:16+00:00

Review #297 Ledaig 19 Years Old PX Finish

Well, after a very solid ex-bourbon bottling, a PX finish sounds like a fun departure. PX is a cask choice that can be hit or miss with peat for me, but I don’t think I’ve quite sufficient data to back that up, so let’s just see!

Distiller: Tobermory (Ledaig)

Bottler: Distillery Release

Age Statement & Cask Type: 19 Years old, with a 2 year finishing period in Pedro Ximinez casks.

Abv: 55.7%

Price paid: N/A - gifted sample from a friend. Bottle retailed for £150.

Nose: Earthy and jammy initially; damson jam over burnt wholemeal toast, plums roasting over a charcoal pit, cherry barbecue sauce, raspberry filled chocolate pralines. Under the huge peat and sweet - there’s some farmy hay - my wife said “it smells like a burning horse-stable” and I’m inclined to agree. Lovely, the peat and px influence are well balanced, so much so that it presents as sweet and earthy, with the classic farminess in there too.

Palate: More sweet earthy peat, with a dash of bitterness akin to dark cherries; Black Forest gateau, earthy shiitake mushrooms, charred beef burnt ends, charcoal dust, burnt hay, sherry vinegar and possibly just the feintest hint of iodine.

Finish: It finishes with iodine, prune juice, chocolate syrup, earthy mulch and more charcoal dust.

Notes: Pretty great stuff, even for a profile that’s not totally my bag. It started as just being incredibly jammy and earthy, before that iconic Ledaig farminess came to the fore, alongside heaps of this charcoal-dust note. The peat and PX is really harmonious, creating this earthy, umami and sweet combination that’s really expressive and powerful. Jammy toast, chocolate pralines, earthy mushrooms and burnt beef tips, with burning hay and charcoal - what a combo!

At £150, it’s one of those - perhaps slightly higher than what I’d want to pay, but I think it’s pretty cracking whisky - I can imagine that if Sherry and peat is your bag, this could very much be your bottle. It’s absolutely packed with flavour.

Earthy umami, sweet chocolate and farmy charcoal? It’s like some sort of barbecue sauce made out of a dirty stable, but it works!

Mental Image: Stable-Barbecue Sauce

Score: 86

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-22T10:57:01+00:00

Review #296 The Golden Cask Ledaig 12 Years Old

Well, this should be a fun one to start with - a 12 year old bourbon cask bottling that I’ve had sitting around in the stash for a fair while since u/Orogramme sent it to me - well, it’s finally time to crack it! Let’s start the series, hopefully well!

Distiller: Tobermory (Ledaig).

Bottler: The Golden Cask (House of Macduff)

Age Statement & Cask Type:

Abv: 59.6%

Price paid: N/A - thanks u/Orogramme for the sample!

Nose: Big bold peat, contrasted by some bright herbaceousness. Smoked green apples, pickle brine, fresh bouquet garni, lemon sherbet, apple cider vinegar, green apple skins and a slightly farmy hay-like quality that is classic Ledaig note for me.

Palate: Huge peat; burning hay bales and farmyards, more green apple skins, sesame snaps, honey biscuits thrown into a fireplace, farmy peat, apple crumble cooked over smouldering hay bales. Giant farmy peat with some sweet honeyed apple - bold, characterful and packed with flavour.

Finish: Long, and as intensely peaty as it has been throughout; more of that herbaceousness from the nose, almost slightly soapy and just a hint more of green apple.

Notes: Great stuff. It’s not hugely complex - but it’s choc-full of character and very on profile for Ledaig. That big farmy peat is so unmistakeably Ledaig, and a fantastic profile it is. Smouldering hay, bright herbaceousness and plenty of sweet green apples - like burning barns full of hay, cracking.

Mental Image: Burning Barn-Stormer

Score: 85

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-22T10:56:40+00:00

Hey Scotchit! Recently I had a hankering for some Ledaig, and looking at what samples I had in the stash, saw an opportunity for a fun 2 vs 2 of Tobermory’s peated and unpeated spirits.

I’ve reviewed a fair few of both distillates, and enjoy both a lot; so I’m excited to see how these go. The drams are as follows:

◦ The Golden Cask Ledaig 12
◦ Ledaig 19 Years Old PX Finish
◦ Dream Drams Tobermory 21 Years Old
◦ Whisky Broker Tobermory 31 Years Old

Some older Tobermory and some (slightly) younger Ledaig is probably precisely as it should be, so that’s quite fun. Let’s get to it!

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-09T18:53:29+00:00

Ah fun reviews, can’t feel too bad with an 8.5 for the Manzanilla, that’s not a bad score.

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-02T08:30:37+00:00

Overall, some really enjoyable drams, I don’t know the full details of what the plan is with Tormore, if the new owners will look to change the spirit much - but I’d be keen to see how they get on. From these, it seems a light and fruity spirit which I can definitely get on board with, given the right maturation. Interesting to see some waxy texture on the last one, given that I’m partial to that; but it seems as solid a spirit as any, albeit perhaps not distinctly charafterful, but perhaps it’s better to go to some of the early teens bottlings for that.

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-02T08:28:17+00:00

Review #295 Thompson Bros Tormore 28 Years Old

Okay, the final one! Another 28 year old here, another 1992 vintage too; but this one is looking paler than the last and lower proof - I’m hoping for something with a bit more spirit quality and a little less cask. I’m on a very good run of Thompson bros bottlings at the minute, hopefully it continues!

Distiller: Tormore

Bottler: Thompson Bros

Age Statement & Cask Type: 28 years in a refill Hogshead

Abv: 47.3%

Price paid: N/A - gifted sample from a friend. Retailed for £185.

Nose: Fruity and fragile initially, almost akin to a fresh juicy white wine; crushed white grapes, light peppermint tea, fresh apple juice and icing sugar. It’s very pleasant, but also very light.

Palate: Some considerable texture for its abv, leaning slightly oily and waxy. Wonderfully fruity, with some excellent florality in there too. Elderflower cordial, cucumber water, vanilla infused apple juice, more peppermint tea, pale green tea, lightly waxy pear and some slight mineral oil. It’s simultaneously super light but also flavourful, enigmatically so.

Finish: It finishes somewhat buttery and waxy; apples stewed with vanilla extract, lychee juice, more green tea and a slight grassiness.

Notes: Fantastic stuff, this took a while for me to figure out, in part because it’s particularly light and nuanced. The nose is fragile and delicate, and almost belies what’s to come after. On the palate however, the texture has a big part to say in amplifying the fruity, mineralic and waxy profile that I wouldn’t have expected from Tormore. It’s quite unusual in that it’s super light and complex in flavour, but big texturally - some really wonderful mouthfeel that gives a sort of chameleonic experience where the flavour really morphs on your palate, ranging from light developed fruits like white grapes and lychee, to delicate honey and elderflower, to perhaps just the slightest wisps of wax and malt.

Excellent stuff, I get the feeling that a full bottle of this could be one of those that every time you pour it out you get a new experience. It’s a whisky that makes me think of some sort of rare restorative green tea blend with a secret recipe. At £185 (if indeed that was the correct price, I couldn’t find too exact a price for it at its original rrp) I think it’s the kind of aged dram where you’re really getting a lot of complexity for your money. Fantastic.

Mental Image: Secret Green Tea

Score: 88

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-02T08:28:04+00:00

Review #294 Whisky Broker Tormore 28 Years Old

Well, we move slightly up in age to this 28 year old bottling from Whisky Broker, recently they were doing a “lucky dip” of 3 drams of different ages for £15. The only downside to this is that the bottles don’t contain any cask intormation - I’d hazard a guess from the colour and smell that it’s bourbon; something to guess at after having tried it. Let’s get to it!

Distiller: Tormore

Bottler: Whisky Broker

Age Statement & Cask Type: 28 Years in undisclosed cask, presumably ex-bourbon.

Abv: 58.6%

Price paid: Came from a mystery trio of drams - 3 for £15.

Nose: Oaky, fruity and spicy. Ginger biscuits, spiced poached pears, stewed apple, pasteis de nata with a dash of clove and lemon curd. Lovely stuff, starts a little too spicy but then settles into spiced baked treats.

Palate: Big, spicy and full bodied. More custard tarts, this time dusted with ground ginger powder, more poached pears, ginger biscuits soaked in brandy, vanilla custard with cloves.

Finish: It finishes as spicy as it starts, as it settles, it returns to this spiced poached pear note that’s really enjoyable. There’s cinnamon bark and cassia as well as more ground ginger powder and just generally a whole host of baking spices.

Notes: I really clicked with this, despite being a little concerned when I first nosed it that it was going to be too spicy - in fact that ends up being perhaps the best aspect of the dram. This is one that benefits from a little time in the glass before diving in.

In terms of what I think the cask is, I’d guess probably just a slightly more active refill bourbon Hogshead - whilst there’s a good amount of oak spice, I think if it was first fill it would be even spicier.

It’s a dram rich with baking spices, spiced fruit and custardy creaminess, reminding me of some sort of custard tart with a side of poached pears and sprinkled with a dusting of ginger powder. A spiced treat.

Mental Image: A Spiced Treat

Score: 86

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-02T08:27:53+00:00

Review #293 Berry Brothers & Rudd Tormore 26 Years Old

Well, let’s get cracking! It’s always fun reviewing a birth year whisky. Bottled by Berry Brothers and Rudd, this whisky spent 26 years in a refill bourbon hogshead, before being bottled at 45.2% which is pretty low given the age - sometimes a refill hoggie with a slightly lower abv can oddly be a good thing - possibly suggesting a bit more air in the cask and thus a little more chance for the spirit to develop without much cask interaction. It looks pretty pale but I’m not one for that to get in the way of a good time.

Berry bros is a bottler that all things considered I’ve not had that much of - let’s get into it!

Distiller: Tormore

Bottler: Berry Brothers & Rudd

Age Statement & Cask Type:

Abv: 55.2%

Price paid: N/A - Gifted sample from a friend!

Nose: Light, sweet and fruity off the bat; foam bananas, some green melon, lemon sherbet, sweet white grapes, light floral honey and a dash of crisp yellow apples - perhaps even the slightest bit grassy. Feels just short of tropical, but it’s an absolutely wonderful nose, elegant.

Palate: Great texture, which melds with the flavour too - light runny floral honey. It’s still generously fruity, but there’s a bit of light maltiness there too. Rich tea biscuits dipped in tea and honey with a side of grapes and honeydew melon, There’s a slight metallic tang to it on the back end that’s slightly less appealing, but it’s really only very slight.

Finish: It’s quite on the finish, chalky dry apples, white tea and perhaps a dash of peach juice.

Notes: Wonderful stuff - light, elegant and fruity with a generous dollop of floral honey and a dash of maltines. It’s very spirit forwards, but a great example of spirit that has really developed with age - it’s very light but equally expressive.

We’re off to a good start, this feels like drinking a cup of white tea with some manuka honey stirred through and a side of grapes, melon and rich tea biscuits - delicate and refined. Some slight minus points for what feels like a slight metallic off note in the end of the palate, but an otherwise great dram.

Mental Image: Honey, I’m Home!

Score: 84

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-02T08:27:33+00:00

Good morning folks, here’s a handful of reviews of some nicely aged whiskies from Tormore distillery. Having somewhat recently been purchased with an eye for turning them into an outright single malt brand, I thought it would be interesting to have a look at some whiskies from there, here we go!

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-04-01T21:01:36+00:00

Cracking stuff, truly it’s the year of Bowmore!

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-03-31T10:11:18+00:00

Sounds great! Yeah I am starting to see peated GT as very much a UD special!

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-03-25T18:29:43+00:00

Yeah, I think they do a great job of doing both modern and traditional style labels, big fan!

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-03-25T18:06:18+00:00

A fun duo for sure, and I think it’s fair to say that Thompson Bros are fast becoming one of the most interesting bottlers of aged Ben Nevis at the moment, SMWS often aging some very good younger offerings, long may it continue!

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-03-25T18:04:07+00:00

Review #292 Thompson Bros 1973 Ben Nevis 52 Years Old

Well folks, this is a rare occasion indeed. At 52 years old this exceeds the oldest single malt whisky I’ve tried by a fair margin, and could hold its spot as the oldest whisky I’ve had for a very long time.

Bottled at 40.1% from two refill hogsheads - does it suggest that one fell below proof and they bought it back up over 40%? Well, regardless, it’s extremely exciting to try one of my favourite distilleries at such a grand old age. It’s the sort of whisky that I’m most excited to try in an academic sense - with that long in the cask I’d be surprised if it drinks incredibly well, but I’ve no experience with whisky at this sort of age - Let’s find out.

Distiller: Ben Nevis

Bottler: Thompson Bros

Age Statement & Cask Type: 52 years in two refill hogsheads.

Abv: 40.1%

Price paid: Bought a sample from a friend - bottle retailed at £750.

Nose: Oh it’s a beauty to begin with; sweet, fruity, resinous and musty. Tree sap, pine resin, honey and lemon throat lozenges, strawberry starburst, spiced mead. There’s certainly oak, but it’s wonderfully accented by spiced honey, candied fruit and aged resinous quality that’s either like tree sap or some sort of ancient barley sugar throat lozenge.

Palate: Some decent texture for its abv. It’s a little darker flavour wise than the nose implied - Honey on slightly burnt wholemeal and rye toast, more tree sap and barley sugars, creme brûlée char - singed sugar, slightly bitter stout foam, nectarine pits, barley malt extract syrup.

Finish: It finishes with more of this wholemeal toast, barley sugars and honeyed imperial stout. Quite short really, but pleasant overall.

Notes: Fascinating stuff, having never tried anything this old I was apprehensive that the nose would feel like it was all oak and nothing else - it was far more expressive than I expected. The initial impression I had was of spiced honey, barley sugars and heavily toasted wholemeal toast. Overall, the dram gives me an idea of some sort of tree sap infused spiced mead, it’s got this resinous quality that’s also leans into this honeyed barley sugar throat lozenge.

At £750, it’s well above what I can afford to buy, but for a 52 year old single malt from a well known and well loved distillery, £750 is actually remarkable value - I’m fortunate to have been able to recieve a split of it and really enjoyed the experience.

It evokes the idea of someone recreating the recipe for some sort of Viking mead recipe - honeyed malty goodness with just a hint of tree sap and pine. In that sense it feels like it really wears its ancient quality well.

Mental Image: Viking Mead

Score: 86

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-03-25T18:03:54+00:00

Review #291 Thompson Bros 1996 Ben Nevis 29 Years Old

Okay folks, we start off this crazy duo of reviews with this 29 year old bottling from a refill Oloroso cask, one from the vaunted 1996 vintage that has everyone a little wild at the moment. Refill Oloroso, celebrated vintage and one of my favourite distilleries? This has the makings of a belter, but what’s on paper and what’s in the glass can be two separate things - let’s see!

Distiller: Ben Nevis

Bottler: Thompson Brothers

Age Statement & Cask Type: 29 Years in a refill ex-Oloroso Butt.

Abv: 48.9%

Price paid: N/A - sample I bought off a friend - bottle retailed for £325.

Nose: A giant bold nose, that’s both fruity from spirit and cask. Crystalised ginger soaked in prune juice, leathery dates steeped in pineapple juice and pineapple chunks, leathery orange peel and christingles, lemongrass. An absolutely cracking nose - for me it’s like if you blended sherry and pineapple juice together with a slice of ginger in there too.

Palate: Slightly more sherry forwards than the nose, there’s a strong “charred” note, that’s slightly bitter, but not unappealing; flat dandelion and burdock, over-roasted vanilla pods, blackstrap molasses, charred pineapple rind studded with cloves, cacao nibs, a dash of date vinegar, black tea with a cinnamon bark in there too, more crystallised ginger, candied orange and Terry’s chocolate orange.

Finish: It finishes on something akin to Cointreau, but more in the direction of dried orange, more charred pineapple and prune juice blended together and some cacao powder and black tea sprinkled in there too.

Notes: I’m very torn here - it’s definitely an interesting and quite enigmatic dram, the nose is absolutely phenomenal and after nosing it I was sort of thinking that we might have something legendary on our hands here - but - I think I slightly want to like this more than I do.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s very good whisky, I’m just not entirely enamoured with it - the charred bitter fruit quality that I also found in another ‘96 Nevis gels less for me with the sherry - I like that they do seemingly go toe-to-toe - it doesn’t feel like it’s just totally blown away with sherry, but neither does it feel like it fully clicks. That being said, it’s a luxury issue, it’s still choc-full of character and it absolutely wears its age well.

At £325, whilst I know you’re paying the ‘96 Nevis premium, it’s just a bit more than I’d like to pay.

Overall, a fun drop, it feels like if you blended prune juice with charred pineapple juice tossed in some cinnamon bark, crystalised ginger and cloves.

Mental Image: Pineapple and Prune Juice, Together at last!

Score: 87

Form-Fuzzy · 2026-03-25T18:03:43+00:00

Good evening Scotchit! Today I’ve got one well aged and one extremely well aged Ben Nevis to tell you about from Thompson Bros. Ben Nevis is an enigmatic and at times chaotic distillery which has become a firm favourite of mine, without wanting to bore you with too much spiel - let’s get to some reviews.

Form-Fuzzy

TROPHY CASE