Lucky dip @ the Kempsford Village Fete
Learn more about your chosen dram from the lucky dip at the Kempsford Village fete - including where you can buy a full bottle to take home (if you can!).
Glen Scotia 12 Year Old
Campbeltown Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 46%
Age: 12 years
Region: Campbeltown, Scotland
What's in the bottle?
Glen Scotia 12 is a fruit-forward Campbeltown single malt, matured entirely in first-fill bourbon casks. Glen Scotia uses Scottish barley, long fermentation and slow distillation; here that produces big tropical flavours alongside the slightly salty, maritime character associated with Campbeltown. Expect pineapple and citrus, honeyed vanilla and caramelised sugar, with toasted oak and warming cinnamon and nutmeg on the finish.
It's also bottled at 46%, non-chill filtered and at natural colour.
We drank it at…
CWC #9: Lessons from the Experts — 15 May 2026
We discovered this one almost by accident during a tasting at Loch Lomond's visitor centre in Luss. After admitting that Glen Scotia 15's famously funky character wasn't entirely to our taste, the barman persuaded us to try the 12, promising it was completely different. He was right — and a bottle promptly came home with us for the club!
The 12 kicked off our Lessons from the Experts tasting, featuring bottles and discoveries from our whisky travels around Scotland.
CWC average: 74/100
Favourite of the night: 2 votes
Fancy a bottle?
From around £44 The Whisky Exchange currently has the 70cl bottle at £43.95; Master of Malt also stocks it at around £46–47. Buy Glen Scotia 12 at The Whisky Exchange
Talisker Port Ruighe
Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 45.8%
Region: Isle of Skye, Scotland
Age: No age statement
What's in the bottle?
A sweeter, fruitier twist on Talisker's famously maritime style. Port Ruighe — pronounced Portree — takes Talisker's smoky, peppery Skye single malt and double-matures it with port casks, adding rich berry and plum flavours to the coastal smoke.
The name uses the Gaelic spelling of Portree and nods to the historic Scottish merchants who traded whisky for port wine. Expect dark fruit, pepper, smoke and a cocoa-rich finish.
We drank it at…
CWC Back Lane Tavern Whisky Dinner — 26 April 2026
We paired this with a burger: Talisker's salt and smoke worked with the beef and smoked cheddar, while the sweeter port influence cut through the richer flavours.
CWC average: 73/100
Favourite of the night: 4 votes
Fancy a bottle?
From around £57 Buy Talisker Port Ruighe via Master of Malt
Green Spot
Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
ABV: 40%
Origin: County Cork, Ireland
Age: No age statement
What's in the bottle?
Green Spot is a classic example of Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, made with both malted and unmalted barley and triple distilled at Midleton.
Its unusual name comes from Dublin wine merchants Mitchell & Son, who historically marked maturing whiskey casks with spots of coloured paint to indicate their age. Green Spot became the survivor — and today it's known for orchard fruit, creamy texture, peppery pot-still spice and toasted oak.
We drank it at…
CWC: Whisky With an “E” — 20 March 2026
We discovered Green Spot at the Whisky Show, where Luke had been dispatched on a very specific research mission to learn more about Irish whiskey. This was one of the bottles good enough to come home with him.
CWC average: 72/100
Favourite of the night: 3 votes
Fancy a bottle?
From around £46 Buy Green Spot at The Whisky Exchange
Big Peat Hameldaeme Edition
Islay Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 48%
Region: Islay, Scotland
Age: No age statement
What's in the bottle?
This blended whisky is made entirely from Islay single malts, bringing together spirit from Caol Ila, Bowmore, Ardbeg and Port Ellen.
The Hameldaeme edition was limited to just 420 bottles and finished in White Port casks. That adds spiced fruit, honey, vanilla and almond sweetness to the big Islay peat smoke. “Hameldaeme” is Douglas Laing's playful rendering of home will do me.
We drank it at…
CWC: Bring the Smoke — 20 February 2026
We wanted to show that blended malt could be every bit as interesting as single malt — and a tiny-run marriage of Islay whiskies finished in White Port was far too intriguing to leave out of a smoke-themed tasting.
CWC average: 72/100
Favourite of the night: 0 votes - but a go-to bottle for Molly thereafter!
Fancy a bottle?
Limited edition — now difficult to find
This was only a 420-bottle release, however if you liked your dram, check out the full range of Big Peat editions from Douglas Laing.
Nc'nean Quiet Rebels: Simon
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 48.5%
Region: Morvern, Scottish Highlands
Age: No age statement
What's in the bottle?
This limited-edition Nc'nean was created around distiller Simon's love of beer and casks. The whisky begins life in shaved, toasted and re-charred red-wine casks before being finished entirely in Innis & Gunn stout casks. Think chocolate brioche, coffee fudge cake and cherry jam.
There's a brilliant full-circle detail: the distillery also sent barrels had that had previously held Nc'nean whisky to the brewery to make a whisky-cask-aged-beer.
We drank it at…
CWC Back Lane Tavern Whisky Dinner — 26 April 2026
We'd first tasted this at Nc'nean itself and knew immediately that we wanted to bring it home for the club. Its rich, chocolatey stout-cask character made it our closing whisky at the dinner.
CWC average: 81/100
Favourite of the night: 5 votes
Fancy a bottle?
Kilkerran Heavily Peated — Batch 11
Campbeltown Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 57.9%
Region: Campbeltown, Scotland
Age: No age statement
What's in the bottle?
Kilkerran comes from Glengyle Distillery, one of just a handful of working distilleries in Campbeltown. The Heavily Peated series turns up the smoke considerably compared with Kilkerran's usual style and is released at cask strength.
Our Batch 11 comes in at a formidable 57.9% — but underneath the peat there's the oily, maritime, slightly funky character that makes Campbeltown whisky so distinctive.
We drank it at…
CWC: Bring the Smoke — 20 February 2026
There was really no way we could hold a smoke-themed tasting without Kilkerran. The whisky also gave us an excuse to tell a great favourite Campbeltown stories: Glengyle was originally founded after a falling-out between brothers William and John Mitchell of Springbank fame.
CWC average: 74/100
Favourite of the night: 3 votes
Fancy a bottle?
From around £52 Batch 11 is becoming harder to find as later batches replace it. Kilkerran Heavily Peated Batch 11 at Hedonism Wines
Teeling Small Batch Rum Cask
Blended Irish Whiskey
ABV: 46%
Origin: Dublin, Ireland
Age: No age statement
What's in the bottle?
Teeling's flagship Small Batch combines malt and grain whiskey initially matured in ex-bourbon barrels, before being married in Central American rum casks for up to 12 months.
That unusual finish gives a traditional Irish whiskey profile a distinctly tropical twist: vanilla, rum-raisin, apricot, dried fruit and warming spice. It's bottled at 46% without chill filtration.
We drank it at…
CWC: Whisky With an “E” — 20 March 2026
It wouldn't be a CWC tasting without something slightly unconventional. Teeling's modern Dublin distillery is built around exactly that idea, so its rum-finished flagship was an obvious way to explore the newer, more experimental side of Irish whiskey.
CWC average: 76/100
Favourite of the night: 3 votes
Fancy a bottle?
From around £38 Buy Teeling Small Batch at The Whisky Exchange
Jura 18
Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 44%
Age: 18 years
Region: Isle of Jura, Scotland
What's in the bottle?
Jura 18 spends its long maturation in bourbon casks before being finished in red-wine casks.
The result combines Jura's gentle smoke with considerably richer fruit: orchard fruit, dried fruit, chocolate, citrus and spice, with the red-wine finish adding weight and sweetness without overwhelming the spirit.
We drank it at…
CWC: Island Hopping — 6 June 2025
Our Island Hopping tasting explored how Scotland's island distilleries develop very different personalities despite sharing dramatic maritime surroundings. Jura 18 brought an older, richer red-wine-finished expression into that line-up.
CWC average: 75/100
Favourite of the night: 4 votes
Fancy a bottle?
From around £78 Buy Jura 18 at The Whisky Exchange
Glendalough Double Barrel
Single Grain Irish Whiskey
ABV: 42%
Origin: County Wicklow, Ireland
Age: No age statement
What's in the bottle?
Glendalough Double Barrel starts in flame-charred ex-bourbon American oak before being finished in first-fill Oloroso casks from Montilla in Spain.
That gives this single-grain whiskey layers of butterscotch and honey alongside cherry, raisin, fig, brown sugar and warming ginger spice.
We drank it at…
CWC: Whisky With an “E” — 20 March 2026 and later at our Back Lane Tavern Whisky Dinner
We used Glendalough as an example of the newer generation of Irish whiskey producers: smaller, experimental businesses helping to push the category beyond the familiar household names.
CWC average: 73/100
Favourite votes across its CWC appearances: recorded in our club leaderboard
Fancy a bottle?
From around £34 Buy Glendalough Double Barrel at The Whisky Exchange
Living Souls Ninety-Nine & One
Blended Scotch Whisky
ABV: 46.3%
Origin: Scotland
Age: Predominantly 18-year-old whisky
What's in the bottle?
Possibly the best accident we've ever put on a CWC table.
Ninety-Nine & One is essentially an 18-year-old heavily peated Island malt with a tiny amount of grain whisky — enough that it legally had to be labelled a blended Scotch rather than a single malt.
Living Souls leaned into the mistake and released the whisky rather than hiding it, creating one of 2025's more entertaining whisky stories. Expect mature peat, citrus, pepper, oak and maritime character.
We drank it at…
CWC: Bring the Smoke — 20 February 2026
We deliberately finished our smoke tasting with a blend — because this bottle is a perfect demonstration of why the word blended tells you almost nothing about the quality of what's actually in the glass.
CWC average: 76/100
Favourite of the night: 2½ votes
Fancy a bottle?
From around £55 This was a limited release, so availability may vary.
Ichiro's Malt & Grain World Blended Whisky
World Blended Whisky
ABV: 46.5%
Blended in: Japan
Age: No age statement
What's in the bottle?
Created by Ichiro Akuto, founder of Chichibu Distillery, this is whisky blending on a genuinely international scale.
Malt and grain whiskies from Japan are combined with whisky from countries including Scotland, Ireland, the USA and Canada before being brought together under Ichiro's direction. The result is fruity and approachable, with malt, honey, apple, pear, vanilla and gentle spice.
We drank it at…
CWC #4: The Whisky Show — 24 October 2025
We'd encountered Chichibu during our heroic attempt to taste our way around the Whisky Show — 44 whiskies later, we had plenty to bring home to the club.
Ichiro's was our opening dram because it let us challenge another whisky misconception: that “blend” automatically means inferior. This is blending as craft rather than cost-cutting.
CWC average: 71/100
Favourite of the night: 0 votes
Fancy a bottle?
From around £47 Buy Ichiro's Malt & Grain at The Whisky Exchange
Dalmunach 6 Year Old — The Wulver
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 60%
Age: 6 years
Region: Speyside, Scotland
What's in the bottle?
The Wulver is an unusually accessible glimpse of Dalmunach, a huge modern Speyside distillery whose whisky normally disappears into Chivas blends rather than appearing under its own name.
This six-year-old was matured in American oak and bottled at a whopping 60% ABV. It was the first official Dalmunach bottling available outside the distillery and part of The Whisky Exchange's Scottish Mythical Creatures series.
We drank it at…
CWC #6: Best Bargains — 9 January 2026
This was our wildcard. It technically broke our sub-£35 rule — but we'd found it reduced from £59.95 to £39.95 and decided £20 off a rare 60% Dalmunach was sufficiently within the spirit of a bargain tasting.
It subsequently did rather well.
CWC average: 76/100
Favourite of the night: 7½ votes
Fancy a bottle?
From around £60 Buy Dalmunach The Wulver at The Whisky Exchange
Benrinnes 12 Year Old — Douglas Laing Premier Barrel
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 46%
Age: 12 years
Region: Speyside, Scotland
What's in the bottle?
A single-cask Benrinnes selected by independent bottler Douglas Laing for its wonderfully eccentric Premier Barrel range — complete with distinctive ceramic decanter.
Only 617 bottles were produced. It's rich and festive, with malt, raisins, cinnamon, orange peel and vanilla giving way to dried fruit, winter spices, honeyed biscuits, dark chocolate and warming wood notes. The bottling is presented without chill filtration or added colour.
We drank it at…
CWC Merry Christmas Tasting Kit
This was one of the special bottles selected for our festive take-home tasting kit: indulgent, flavoursome and unapologetically Christmassy.
CWC score: Not scored — this was a take-home tasting kit.
Fancy a bottle?
From around £50 It's currently substantially reduced from its original £85 price. Buy Benrinnes 12 Premier Barrel direct from Douglas Laing
Arran 10 Year Old
Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 46%
Age: 10 years
Region: Isle of Arran, Scotland
What's in the bottle?
Arran 10 is the flagship single malt from Lochranza Distillery and a particularly good introduction to its bright, fruity house style.
It's bottled at 46% without chill filtration or added colouring. Think citrus and orchard fruit, sweet malt and vanilla, followed by cinnamon and a slightly bitter edge that keeps all that fruitiness in check.
We drank it at…
CWC Merry Christmas Tasting Kit
We chose this because it's an easy-drinking whisky that really shows what Arran does well — and, rather less objectively, because it's a favourite in our house.
The expression first appeared in 2006 and has become one of those dependable bottles we happily come back to.
CWC score: Not scored — this was a take-home tasting kit.
Fancy a bottle?
From around £45 Buy Arran 10 at The Whisky Exchange
Kilchoman Sanaig
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 46%
Age: No age statement
Region: Islay, Scotland
What's in the bottle?
Sanaig is Kilchoman's sherry-led take on heavily peated Islay whisky. It's made from malt peated to around 50ppm, with roughly 70% Oloroso sherry cask influence and 30% bourbon, bringing dried fruit and spice into Kilchoman's characteristic citrus and peat smoke.
Expect raisins, plums and cherries alongside toffee, dark chocolate and rich barbecue smoke, finishing with caramel, cinnamon, clove and lingering peat
We drank it at…
CWC #5: We Wish You a Sherry Christmas — 28 November 2025
Our Christmas tasting was all about the influence sherry casks can have on whisky — but we didn't want our resident peat lovers (or, as Luke likes to call them, “Phenol-Philes”) to feel left out.
Luke went looking for an example that properly combined those two worlds, and his research kept bringing him back to Sanaig: rich sherry influence without losing the smoke that makes an Islay whisky unmistakably Islay.
CWC average: 74/100
Interestingly, this one divided the room more than some of our other bottles — our individual scores went as high as 97/100.
Fancy a bottle?
From around £58 Buy Kilchoman Sanaig direct from Kilchoman
Kilchoman Sanaig Cask Strength
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 57.8%
Age: No age statement
Region: Islay, Scotland
What's in the bottle?
Released as a limited edition in 2024, Sanaig Cask Strength uses the same cask recipe as regular Sanaig, combining bourbon and predominantly Oloroso sherry casks, but is bottled at its natural 57.8% cask strength rather than reduced to 46%.
The result turns everything to 11: rich cooked and dark fruits, cinnamon, chocolate and sweetness alongside substantial Kilchoman peat smoke.
We drank it at…
CWC Merry Christmas Tasting Kit
We already knew regular Sanaig from our We Wish You a Sherry Christmas tasting. This limited-edition version takes the same idea — Kilchoman's heavily peated spirit with a strong Oloroso sherry influence — but bottles it at its natural strength. It made a natural addition to our special festive take-home tasting kit: familiar Sanaig, but considerably turned up.
CWC score: Not scored — this was a take-home tasting kit.
Fancy a bottle?
From around £79 It's a limited release, so availability will become patchier over time. Buy Kilchoman Sanaig Cask Strength at Master of Malt
Above the Line — Thompson Bros
Blended Highland Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 46%
Region: Highlands, Scotland
Age: At least 8 years
What's in the bottle?
This is exactly the sort of bottle we love finding for CWC.
Above the Line is a collaboration between independent bottler Thompson Bros and the Highland Liquor Company in Fort William. Rather than coming from one distillery, it brings together Highland single malts from Clynelish, Singleton and Teaninich, all produced north of the Great Glen fault line. The youngest whisky in the blend is eight years old.
It's fruity and easy-going, with apricot, orange peel and peach followed by white pepper and gentle floral notes.
We drank it at…
CWC Back Lane Tavern Whisky Dinner — 26 April 2026
One of our favourite things about running CWC is bringing bottles to the table that you simply won't find on the shelves locally.
This one came from one of our favourite sources for unusual whisky, the Highland Liquor Company in Fort William. Their manager Rachel worked with Thompson Bros to create the recipe specifically for the shop.
We used it with our charcuterie starter — but it also gave us an opportunity to bust one of our favourite whisky myths: “blended” doesn't mean inferior. With a good independent bottler, blending can be about curating great casks and creating something that couldn't exist as a single malt. This one was certainly more interesting to us as a story and pairing than as a club-scoring champion!
CWC average: 59/100
Fancy a bottle?
Exclusive/limited availability. To try this, you'll need to get above the Great Glen fault line in person - we recommend the Highland Liquor Company
Ardnamurchan Madeira Cask
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 52%
Region: Ardnamurchan, Scottish Highlands
Age: No age statement — bottled just short of 7 years
What's in the bottle?
One of our favourite distilleries, given a seriously fruity twist.
For this 2025 release, Ardnamurchan took bourbon-cask whisky distilled in 2018 — roughly 60% unpeated and 40% peated spirit — and re-racked it into Madeira casks for just over two years.
The result combines Ardnamurchan's coastal character with stewed plums, sugared almonds, bread-and-butter pudding, redcurrants, cinnamon, chocolate and black pepper. It's bottled at 52%, naturally coloured and without chill filtration. Fewer than 19,000 bottles were produced.
We drank it at…
CWC Back Lane Tavern Whisky Dinner — 26 April 2026
Full disclosure: we love Ardnamurchan. Getting there involves one of the wildest drives we've ever made — single-track roads, mountains, sheer drops towards the coast, deer and the occasional enormous forestry lorry.
But the distillery's importance to that remote community is part of why we love it. When Ardnamurchan opened in 2014, the area was struggling to retain families and employment. The distillery has since created local jobs and supported training and opportunities for young people through the Ardnamurchan Trust. And fortunately, they also make excellent whisky.
We tasted this Madeira release at the distillery and immediately knew we wanted it for our cheese-course pairing at Back Lane Tavern.
CWC average: 83/100
Favourite of the night: 2½ votes
Fancy a bottle?
From around £68 It's a limited 2025 release, so availability varies. Read about the Madeira Cask Release at Ardnamurchan Distillery
Auchentoshan 12 Year Old
Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 40%
Age: 12 years
Region: Lowlands, Scotland
What's in the bottle?
Auchentoshan is unusual in Scotch whisky because it triple distils all of its spirit, taking the distiller's beer from around 8% ABV to an unusually high-strength new make spirit of around 81%. The distillery says this helps create the light, fruity and citrus-led character for which its whisky is known.
The 12 Year Old spends more than 12 years in ex-bourbon and sherry casks. It's an easy-going, delicate dram, with almonds, vanilla and crème brûlée on the nose, citrus and sweetness in the mouth, and a slightly spicy, nutty finish.
We drank it at…
CWC #6: Best Bargains
Auchentoshan has a small but important place in the story of CWC. We visited the distillery years ago, and during the tasting there Luke had one of those lightbulb moments with their Three Wood. The host described the flavours we should expect from each of its different casks — and then, remarkably, they appeared exactly as described.
It was the first time he'd really understood whisky as more than something that simply tasted good: the way different casks, ingredients and production choices could create all those individual flavours in the glass. So, in some small butterfly-effect way, Auchentoshan helped Cotswold Whisky Club become a thing.
CWC average: 67.35/100
Fancy a bottle?
From around £35 Auchentoshan 12 is part of the distillery's core range, so it's one of the easier Lucky Dip bottles to replace.
Bunnahabhain Stiùireadair
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 46.3%
Age: No age statement
Region: Islay, Scotland
What's in the bottle?
Stiùireadair — pronounced roughly “stew-rah-dur” — takes its name from the Scots Gaelic for “helmsman”, a nod to Bunnahabhain’s maritime heritage and its remote coastal home on Islay.
Unlike the heavily peated style many people associate with Islay, Stiùireadair is unpeated, with first- and second-fill sherry casks bringing dried fruit, caramel and spice alongside Bunnahabhain’s characteristic salty, coastal character. It’s creamy and gently nutty on the palate, with sea salt and a lingering hint of the coast.
We drank it at…
CWC #6: Best Bargains
We first discovered Stiùireadair over a dram at John Gordon’s whisky bar in Cheltenham — somewhere we’d thoroughly recommend to anyone who enjoys discovering an interesting bottle.
It stuck with us because it ticked several CWC boxes at once: it was approachable but interesting, had a great story behind it, and challenged the assumption that an Islay whisky automatically means lots of peat and smoke.
CWC average: 79.3/100
Fancy a bottle?
From around £30–35 Stiùireadair remains part of Bunnahabhain’s core range, so thankfully this is another Lucky Dip bottle that shouldn't require a treasure hunt to replace.
Ardnamurchan AD/10 Anniversary Edition
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 50%
Age: 10 years
Region: Highlands, Scotland
What's in the bottle?
Ardnamurchan celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2024 with this special 15,000-bottle release.
The whisky was drawn from 100% first-fill bourbon casks, with roughly half of the batch subsequently spending more than a year in Champagne Paul Launois barriques. The result is a completely unpeated Ardnamurchan with plenty of tropical fruit, honey and baked banana, developing into crème caramel, toffee and white chocolate before a waxy, spicy palate.
We drank it at…
CWC Curious Casks
This was one of those bottles we only really got our hands on because we're a whisky club.
We'd already fallen pretty hard for Ardnamurchan — both the whisky and the spectacularly remote peninsula it comes from — when Rachel at the Highland Liquor Company disappeared out the back of the shop and returned with the one bottle of AD/10 they had available. She had an open bottle for us to taste first. We tried it, immediately loved it, and bought the unopened one.
It hadn't even made it onto the shelf for general sale: Rachel knew we ran the club and wanted the bottle to come to us. That made it exactly the sort of slightly unusual find we wanted for Curious Casks.
CWC average: 76/100
Fancy a bottle?
This was a limited anniversary release rather than part of Ardnamurchan's normal core range, so availability now is patchy. If you spot this particular 50% Champagne-finished AD/10, make sure that's the bottle you're looking at — there are other AD/10 releases around.
Gordon & MacPhail Discovery Bunnahabhain 11 Year Old
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 43%
Age: 11 years
Region: Islay, Scotland
What's in the bottle?
This is Bunnahabhain through the lens of one of Scotland's best-known independent bottlers, Gordon & MacPhail.
It's part of their Discovery range, which groups whiskies by flavour profile to make independent bottlings a little more approachable. This one sits firmly in the sherry camp: 11-year-old unpeated Bunnahabhain matured in Gordon & MacPhail's own sherry casks.
Expect fruit cake, orange marmalade, plums and warming spice, followed by a milk-chocolate finish.
We drank it at…
CWC #4: The Whisky Show
Gordon & MacPhail bottles have always felt like something of a treat to us — although quite a few of their whiskies can also come with appropriately luxurious prices. The Discovery range caught our attention because it makes that world rather more accessible. And when we were choosing one to bring back from our adventures at The Whisky Show, Bunnahabhain was an easy choice.
Bunna is one of our dependable favourites: an unpeated Islay that sits rather nicely between our different whisky preferences. Add 11 years in sherry casks and an independent bottler we'd wanted to introduce to the club, and this felt like a very CWC choice.
CWC average: 79/100
Fancy a bottle?
From around £60–£70 It's still available in the UK, although prices are now somewhat higher than the £48.95 we paid when we featured it at CWC. The Whisky Shop currently lists it at £67.
Lochlea Ploughing Edition – Second Crop
Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 46%
Age: No age statement
Region: Lowlands, Scotland
What's in the bottle?
Lochlea is a genuine farm-to-bottle distillery: the barley is grown on the farm, with the whisky produced and matured on the same site. There's a rather good historical footnote too — Robert Burns lived and worked on the farm from 1777 to 1784.
Ploughing Edition Second Crop was one of Lochlea's limited seasonal releases and was matured entirely in 200-litre ex-Islay barrels. That brings a little smoke into Lochlea's usual cereal-and-fruit character: green apple, fresh hay and succulent fruit followed by sea salt and lingering peat embers.
We drank it at…
CWC #1: The Tour
For our very first CWC tasting, we took everyone on a tour of Scotland's whisky regions — and Lochlea was our Lowland wildcard.
It's probably not the most stereotypically Lowland whisky we could have chosen, which was rather the point. We liked the distillery's grain-to-glass approach, its focus on the farm and soil, and the idea of using ex-Islay casks to put a smoky twist on its naturally fruity spirit.
CWC average: 50/100
Yep. Fifty. Apparently the club was rather less convinced. Not every experiment becomes a club favourite — and where would be the fun if they did?
Fancy a bottle?
From around £42–£50 This was a limited seasonal release, but bottles are still floating around at UK retailers. Current listings include around £42–£50.
MacDonald’s Traditional Ben Nevis
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 46%
Age: No age statement
Region: Highlands, Scotland
What's in the bottle?
MacDonald’s Traditional is a special Ben Nevis release created to celebrate the distillery’s 185th anniversary, inspired by a popular Ben Nevis whisky of the same name from the 1880s.
It combines peated and unpeated malt to produce a rich, old-fashioned Highland style: smoke and oak alongside juicy sherry sweetness and dark chocolate. And there's something particularly interesting hiding behind that no-age-statement label: according to information we were given at the distillery, a substantial proportion of the whisky comes from 18-year-old stock.
We drank it at…
CWC Private Corporate Tasting
Ben Nevis is a distillery particularly close to our hearts. When we're visiting Luke's mum, we can see Ben Nevis from her front deck, and over the years we've spent plenty of time at the distillery itself. This is our favourite expression of theirs. For this particular tasting, we needed a whisky bold enough to stand up to haggis.
MacDonald’s Traditional fit the bill perfectly: smoke and oak alongside the robust flavours of the haggis, with its sweeter, sherried side complementing and lifting them rather than getting lost. Sometimes whisky pairing calls for subtlety. This wasn't one of those times.
CWC score: Not scored — this was served at a private corporate tasting.
Fancy a bottle?
This was a special anniversary release rather than a regular core-range Ben Nevis, so bottles are increasingly difficult to find. If you do come across one, check that it's specifically MacDonald’s Traditional Ben Nevis at 46%.
Redbreast 12 Year Old
Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
ABV: 40%
Age: 12 years
Country: Ireland
What's in the bottle?
If you want to understand traditional Irish pot still whiskey, Redbreast 12 is one of the benchmark bottles.
Made at Midleton Distillery from a mixture of malted and unmalted barley, it's triple distilled in copper pot stills and matured for 12 years in bourbon and sherry casks. The result is richer and more full-bodied than the stereotypical idea of ultra-light Irish whiskey: fruity and spicy, with toasted wood, a creamy texture and a long warming finish.
We drank it at…
CWC #8: Whisky with an “E”
For our exploration of Irish whiskey, we wanted to go beyond simply tasting six bottles and actually show the different styles of whiskey Ireland produces. Redbreast was our classic Single Pot Still benchmark.
The mixture of malted and unmalted barley gives the whiskey its characteristic spice and texture, while triple distillation keeps everything beautifully balanced. After some of the more unconventional bottles in the line-up, this was our chance to taste a whiskey that's earned its reputation simply by being very, very good at what traditional Irish whiskey does.
CWC average: 80/100
Fancy a bottle?
From around £56. This is firmly part of the Redbreast core range and thankfully easy to find. Current UK pricing starts at roughly £56.
Ledaig 18 Year Old
Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 46.3%
Age: 18 years
Region: Isle of Mull, Scotland
What's in the bottle?
Ledaig is the name given to the peated whisky made at Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull — the wilder, smokier sibling to unpeated Tobermory.
The 18 Year Old combines bourbon and sherry casks to create a big maritime whisky: rich sherried fruit, peat smoke, seaweed, pepper and sweet oak on the nose, followed by smoky herbs, orange peel, coffee, sea salt and tobacco.
It's part of Ledaig's core range and was named The Whisky Exchange's Whisky of the Year 2023.
We drank it at…
CWC #7: Bring the Smoke
Luke first tried Ledaig 18 at The Whisky Show and was immediately blown away by it. There was just one problem: the price. It was exactly the sort of bottle we'd love to share with CWC, but considerably beyond what we'd normally be able to squeeze into a six-dram tasting. Then a generous bottle donation from Ian freed up some of the night's budget and gave us an opportunity to push the boat out. So we did.
And, happily, the club seemed to agree that this was the right bottle to do it for.
CWC average: 82/100
Fancy a bottle?
From around £93 This one isn't cheap. The Whisky Exchange currently has it at £92.95, while Tobermory sells it direct for £99.
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