WHISKY: Fettercairn 29 year (1995), Signatory Vintage Cask 2824

NOTES: Fruity and bright, the aroma was loaded with stone fruits and orchard fruits: apricots, plums, and apples. Later came bubble gum, something akin to Big League Chew with a bit of cardboard baseball card to it, alongside powdered sugar, lemon tea cookies, and a mellow creaminess like vanilla yogurt. Medium-bodied on the palate with a touch of waxiness to green apples candies, plum liquor, and candied plums. Sweet fruits gave way to more herbal spice as shiso and pepper arrived with tobacco, grass, and some spirited heat. The finish was medium to long with peppery spirit, grassy sugars, and citrus rind.

SCORE: 7 (82)

IMAGE: Baseball Card Trading at the Benevolent Society

THOUGHTS: Delightfully fruity, when I think Fettercairn, I think funk— or at least more of an earthy quality to the spirit. This was clean with a well-structured evolution to various fruity flavors and herbal spice with an underlying grassiness. It was rather spirited for something nearly three decades old and occasionally a touch too sweet more my taste. The fruits were enjoyable, but they sometimes came across as candied and lacked much depth. Overall, a tasty whisky, but I was left wanting a bit more.

WHISKY: Linkwood 30 Year (1993), Hunter Laing

NOTES: Fruity, grassy, and mellow, the aroma was chock full of melon and guava candies, grassy sugars, herbal tea with honey, White Rabbit candies, and fruit punch enjoyed while sitting on a bale of hay. Medium to light-bodied on the palate, the flavors were gentle and restrained with honey and herbal tea, guava and melon candies, White Rabbit candies, and almond float desserts. The finish was long with herbal tea, grass, and honey.

SCORE: 7 (83)

IMAGE: Therapy for a Sore Throat

THOUGHTS: If I could only crank up the volume of this whisky a bit it would hit a new level— the flavors were wonderful and relaxing, but everything was so mellow and light that the whisky felt a bit tired at times. Perhaps it was a restorative tonic, a whisky to match a mood and uplift the weary rather than something to invigorate during a tasting event. I wanted those fruity and tropical notions to pop with more intensity. Otherwise there was much to enjoy here with plenty of typical Linkwood tea vibes and a nice long finish.

WHISKY: Tormore 31 Year (1992), The Whisky Barrel Cask TWB1036

NOTES: Big and loud, the sherry cask was in complete control here with tons of dried fruits, spice, plums, and dark stone fruits. The aroma was a touch waxy and plastic at times, which turned toward the mellow vanilla and chemical quality of Play-Doh. Medium to light-bodied on the palate, the flavors were similar, though with more variety to the fruits as fruit juice, dark stone fruits, plums, grape, and cherries left me thinking poached desserts and Kirsch. Gentle baking spices and a touch of tobacco and cigar box came later on. The Play-Doh element was more restrained, but a few drops off water brought it forward. The finish was medium to long and drying with stewed stone fruit and a kiss of pepper.

SCORE: 6-7 (79)

IMAGE: Fruit Compote on a Play-doh Dish

THOUGHTS: This felt rather younger than three decades as the sherry cask maturation was so loud and dominant that it came across as a bit of a cask monster. However, it was considerably lighter on the palate and more balanced than your standard issue sherry bomb. I appreciated some of the slightly chemical and plastic diversions here— Play-doh was an unusual note but one that I want to find again. Overall, a bit simplistic and bombastic, but certainly a cut above the average sherry bomb.