Five Single Malts | Various ABV

Whiskyland? Dreamland.

Once more, the Dramface Deflection system coughed and spluttered, and the June outturn box from Decadent Drinks was stuck in the machinations with no fingers lifted to prod it free.

Since it languished, it fell to me. I need to tackle this write up. I burst it open to see what’s inside.

I’m quite delighted when I do.

Over five little drams, we have a combined age of one hundred and forty-five years of maturation. Amazing. One of them is a Glen Garioch, from 1973; a long-lost period where everything in whisky was very, very different. At 52 years old I realise I might need to pick a suitable day and clear the calendar.

Taking pictures, nosing and tasting, writing up notes and then doing it all again, will end up taking time, but I find myself in the mood to tackle it and crack open the notepad.

We have a Jura 17yo, a Blair Athol 28yo, a Balmenach 28yo, a Glenburgie 38yo and the aforementioned Geery. It strikes me that all of these are rare, or lesser seen, examples of single malt scotch whisky. They look delicious. I’ll skip lunch for this one.

Spoiler: this is a spectacular flight of whiskies.

Review 1/5

Jura 17yo, Old Jura by Decadent Drinks, 2009, refill barrel, 125 bottles, 54.8% ABV
£145 & still some availability

Ah Jura. the distillery that manages to draw indifference at best and hate at worst, yet somehow smashes its way to the top of the sales charts for single malt in the UK. If we’re to believe it, it’s currently one of the most successful single malts in existence.

And no one I know likes it.

I try, but it’s rare for me to find one I can settle with.

From Decadent Drinks:

We have actually hopped this time! All the way from Islay... to Jura! A voyage measured in minutes and modestly sized sandwiches. We're off to bask beneath palm trees and walk the pilgrimage to George Orwell's house. For company, we've got a 17-year-old, 2009 refill barrel of Isle of Jura. This cask did some pretty deep breathing over the years and delivered only 125 bottles. Alas, as it's a gorgeous example of the make: pure, waxy, mechanical, mineral, thick and coastal! A hugely charismatic wee islander!

Score: 8/10

**Something special.**
***TL;DR***
*Something different, and absorbing*

Nose

Fresh and floral, with vanilla and coconut; think gorse flowers. With time there are yellow fruits: unripe pineapple and melon skin, with waxy lemons too. With water a vanilla créme appears and a fickle, elusive, grassy edge too, slightly rye-like, slightly mulchy, slightly… woodshed.

Palate

Juicy and herbal. Green dried herbs with unripe pineapple, but the lemon sweetens and stays a touch waxy. Coconut is there once more, giving things a tropical vibe. It’s outdoors-y and summery. With water there’s a curious edge of distraction; alongside some chalky liver salts we have a whiff of petrol station forecourt. Actually quite terrific though.

The Dregs

This wee gem starts juicy but finishes with a dry question mark every time. Jura always has an odd edge and it’s true here. This time, however, it isn’t off-putting. I found myself trying to chase what it was and every sip was derailed by trying to pin down an odd note close to the finish. Sometimes it was herbal, or chalky, then other times it really did remind me of filling the petrol tank. All or any of those notes might sound off, but I loved it.

Probably the best Jura I can remember. I’m not sure I could bring myself to spring the £145 for a bottle, but I don’t think that’s an abusive price. It’s a charmer.

Score: 8/10

Review 2/5

Blair Athol 28yo, Decadent Drams, 1998, two refill hogsheads, 52.8% ABV
£185 & still some availability

From Decadent Drinks:

A small batch marriage of two refill hogsheads filled in 1998, bottled at natural cask strength after 28 years of maturation. This is Blair Athol in a beautifully classical style, weighty, robust and deeply characterful, with refill wood allowing the distillate’s natural richness, gentle fruitiness and waxy complexity to take centre stage.

Score: 8/10

**Something special.**
***TL;DR***
*Deliciously rich and honeyed, well-priced too*

Nose

Waxy manuka honey, with zesty lemon oil and limes. Rich and fruity with a chocolatey vibe. With water, confectionery fruits appear: Starburst and Lockets - with lemon, eucalyptus and more honey. Fresh, rich and fruity.

Palate

Fruit comes to the fore with dense, honey-rich bass notes. There’s surprising heft to the palate with salted caramel and toffees, but not overtly sweet. More dark honey, chocolate and a zesty crispness. Water exaggerates that fruit pop; some berries too, but you have to just swim in the perfectly pitched, natural cask-strength richness of it all. Really dreamy.

The Dregs

It’s not a unicorn, but independent Blair Athol’s are not common either. My idea of Blair Athol has always been a little along the lines of likening it to Diageo's version of Aberfeldy - honeys and floral notes with thick wafts of vanilla. While that’s here, the big surprise is the weight. You could easily believe we’re in the realms of small stills and worm tubs with this one.

Once more a masterclass in leaving gentle spirits in gentle wood for as long as possible to see what magic appears. In this case it’s rich, fruity magic. The price for this one is actually very fair too. If I wasn’t scrimping for the summer holidays I could be tempted.

Score: 8/10

Review 3/5

Balmenach 10yo, Equinox & Solstice 2026 Release, refill hogshead finished in a first-fill ex-bourbon quarter cask, 48.5% ABV
£75 & still some availability

From Decadent Drinks:

Initially matured in refill hogshead before a finishing period in a 1st fill bourbon quarter cask, this 10-year-old Balmenach delivers a big, generously waxy and full-bodied profile packed with yellow fruits, pollen, honey and soft vanilla sweetness. Bright, textured and effortlessly drinkable, it’s a wonderfully vibrant seasonal whisky bottled at the Equinox & Solstice series’ trademark 48.5%.

Score: 7/10

**Very good indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*Rock solid and pure, a lesser-seen worm-tub treat*

Nose

I should’ve started with this one, it doesn’t give too much away on first approach. I wait.

In time it starts to show, although I was a little too quick to add water, I think it just needed a few minutes. How impatient. First we’re treated to orchard fruits; sweet pears lead. There’s a lovely, cool, outdoors linen blast; everything is white and yellow. A grassy meadow too.

Palate

Ooh, much better than the nose suggested. A nice round and full mouthfeel, yet also with a balanced lightness. Those pears are sweetened with a little caramel drizzle, a touch of salt too. At first I felt the addition of water was helping things to spark, but the second pour taught me it’s better neat. It’s just a little quieter than the first two and needed patience.

On the finish it sputters out nicely with a little liquorice and that soft, grassy meadow quality that appeared on the nosing.

The Dregs

These notes may seem lazy, or generic, but know that’s the fault of the reviewer. It noses middle-of-the-road, but only at first. There are treats in there if you have the time (and perhaps if you’re not sipping it after a 28 year old).

A little like the Blair Athol, we’ve gone from rarely seeing any Balmenach available from anywhere to suddenly seeing a decent selection appearing everywhere. Which is a good thing. Balmenach is a treat of a whisky when it’s handled well, and we have that here. Don’t let the fresh bourbs quarter cask-finishing flourish put you off; it may seem contrived but we have a well-balanced bottling. It could be that’s just what it needed to bring detail and body to something unremarkable. While I’m not sure I could swing this hard towards ‘remarkable’, it is very good.

Score: 7/10

Review 4/5

Glenburgie 38yo, Whiskyland Chapter Thirty Two, refill hogshead, 46.7% ABV
£495 & still some availability

From Decadent Drinks:

Jimmy Barleycorn is one of Whiskyland's grouchier and lesser-seen inhabitants. He hangs back and tends to only put in an appearance for very old, highly natural malt whiskies that exhibit a pure refill style. Some say he's allergic to active American oak; others say he holds tannins as his mortal, sworn enemies. Whatever the case, this aloof and cantankerous fellow can barely contain his glee at this single, 38-year-old hogshead of 1988 Glenburgie.

Score: 9/10

**Exceptional.**
***TL;DR***
*Delicious, poised and rare - with all the wax - right up Wally St.*

Nose

Maturity. The profile here is similar to our first three, but we’ve stepped up a level. Or two. It’s beautiful to nose and difficult to explain. It’s an old-school, everything-gets-tropical, everything-gets-waxy style.

There are stone fruits too; fresh and ripe apricots. A dusty - but not really - dunnage giveaway of the age, everything is tropical and light with a confident lick of white, clean, pure, candlewax. Literally a fresh box of white candles.

Palate

Ahhh. It’s like a massage. Shoulders slump; hands drop. I melt into the chair. Take the nosing notes and add in a creamy, sweet vanilla-based dessert, with white chocolate sprinkles. A sublime whisky. Delicate but confident, fruity but balanced. It tastes of the desire to be wealthier.

The Dregs

Everyone’s after ’waxy’ these days. Everyone’s selling ‘waxy’ these days. There’s either a lot more of it around, or we’re more aware of it, or it’s more fashionable - whatever the story, I’m here for it. What is it? Is it the smell of wax? The taste of wax? Or is it the sensation of it? Depending on the pour, it’s all of that.

I love the purity, the mouthfeel and the way it acts as a lovely conduit to round out and soften fruit and alcohol into an intoxicating, dreamy celebration of being alive. This is a waxy, delicate and pure old malt and a rare thing indeed.

Who needs holidays? I need a wee bottle of this medicine.

Score: 9/10

Review 5/5

Glen Garioch 52yo, Whiskyland Chapter Thirty Three, 53.2% ABV
£1,495 retail - sold out

From Decadent Drinks:

Time shows no mercy and, left to its own devices, destroys all things. But whisky can make a prisoner of time (for a while, at least). Chapter Thirty Three of Whiskyland managed to capture a 52-year-old, 1973 Glen Garioch single malt. It snared it from a first-fill sherry butt at natural cask strength of 53.2%. This very old single malt was produced at Glen Garioch distillery using peated, floor-malted barley and direct gas-fired distillation. It was filled into sherrywood initially, then married in 2008 and put into a first-fill sherry butt. It's a very old and very beautiful whisky that defies considerable logic. The sherry influence and the weight of years are evident, but the peat influence still holds out in mesmeric and distinctive fashion. It's a phenolic, rich, dense and captivating drinking experience, displaying the influence of much older style production ingredients and methods, alongside the influence of decades and older style sherrywood. This is Whiskyland incarnate, and a profoundly special dram.

Score: 9/10

**Exceptional.**
***TL;DR***
*A rare thing indeed; a special and striking thing to exist*

Nose

I think this is a literal inversion of the last dram I’ve just enjoyed, and I’ll admit - I’m a little all-over-the-place on this one.

At first it’s cough syrup, then savoury meats, then cola, then wood polish, then hessian sackcloth - soaked in booze, then treacle, then old leather, and… honestly, I could spend an inordinate amount of time just throwing out ‘things’ to try to describe this - and all of them would be here.

I’ve left this breathing openly while making notes on the others, and I’m glad I went nowhere near it during that time. This isn’t a switch up in style, this isn’t a different ballgame, it’s a different existence altogether.

Palate

Definitely above my pay grade. It’s an eye-popper. I don’t know how to best go about this, but I’ve never been intimidated by whisky yet, so let’s give it a try. If it reads like I’m throwing things at the page, that’s because I am. Luckily, I find myself in the joyous position of unlikely-to-be-fired.

Drying. The darkest of chocolate, cigar box and dried tobacco leaf, blackcurrant, cherry-flavoured cough sweets, old leather, coal tar, barbecued meats, wood char, coffee grinds and dried fruits; figs and apricot. It’s resinous and oddly drying: almost all of these notes - bar the smoky, umami side I’d guess - are from the wood, but it’s absolutely dreamy. I will taste this for days.

The Dregs

This isn’t a perfect whisky - and I’ve yet to meet anyone who believes such a thing exists - but I think for many it would get close.

It’s a very rare thing; a wood-forward, old-school time machine-like glimpse of the past. It’s like a sepia-soaked glass of what might have once been. Old distillery ‘sherrywood’, married then dumped into a first-fill sherry butt in 2008 and somehow still able to not taste like a pencil case in a wood-chip sauce.

In 1973 - as mentioned in the DD notes above - Glen Garioch was still floor-malting, drying over peat and direct-firing their stills. Maybe that’s how this manages to come together so successfully; a big, bold and robust spirit was essential to successfully go toe-to-toe with years upon years in boisterous wood.

It’s encouraging that there are moves at the distillery to recreate this style again; with the installation of malt floors, direct firing of their wash still and a switch back to peated malt.

There are tannins here, so if you’re sensitive to such things you should know that you’re only likely to simply love it. And if you’re the type to enjoy this style of amplified, ancient decadence (no pun intended) this is one of those rare appearances of something that you’re unlikely to forget.

Score: 9/10

The Final Dregs

Many will read this and peruse the scores and decide I’ve been generous - by Dramface standards at least. There are two 9/10’s in one article, so I think that could be true. I have been.

But only because I’m genuinely thrilled to have tried them.

You have the right to consider this a fluff piece - like any of the higher scoring reviews I’ve shared over the four or so years of this site - but I think it would be a mistake to do so. It doesn’t take much effort to think things through to realise it would be folly - I care too much about Dramface to curry favour with folk who send out wee sample sets. Versus filling the bottles and shipping; we put in more effort than they do. We do this for you.

I had a chitty chat recently with some whiskyheads about the independent bottlers that we’re happy to buy blind; those where we know the chances of picking up a dud are very slim. We threw out a few names and we were surprised to find consensus.

One thing we all agreed upon; Decadent Drinks - and their associated brands and ranges - are never the cheapest out there, yet not one of us could recall ever buying anything other than something very good.

I don’t have many on the shelves in the pit, but I have more than a few. Every single one of them are amongst my favourites, there is nothing close to a dud in sight.

This flight today is another example of that judicious, meticulously curated methodology. If you can afford them, I think you’re in safe hands.

Tried these? Share your thoughts in the comments below. WMc

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