Thompson Bros Sutherland 5yo
Independent Blended Malt Scotch | 48.5% ABV
Score: 8/10
Something special.
TL;DR
Springtime in a glass; a delight
The Struggle of Restraint
Where the desire for financial breathing room is prevalent in many of us these days, I don’t need a housing crisis and rampant inflation to put me in that place. I’ll create my own problems, thank you very much.
You see, I have bought too much whisky over the past few years. I already touched upon this in my Cadenhead’s Glen Garioch review, but having thought about it some more, it proves to be a problem that prohibits further exploration.
When I was beginning to get my whisky geek on, I was in the habit of buying backups of bottles that I enjoyed, to make sure I had access to them in the future. The problem with that is that I was buying backups of bottles that I was enjoying with my still rather undeveloped palate, and that I feel I have now outgrown somewhat.
It turns out that I didn’t really need a backup of Bunnahabhain 12 tucked away for if I ever wanted to scratch that itch. I already had a suspicion that that might be the case and so I opened it to see if it still gave me the same satisfaction. It didn’t.
This is very likely due to me and my maturing, increasingly more experienced and fussier palate since I last had one opened; but it could also have something to do with the quality of the Bunna 12 taking a dent in recent years and which has been widely discussed in various corners of the internet, seemingly providing some consensus on the matter.
Also, if I had been desperate to scratch that itch, I could have just gone out to buy one. It’s always available.
I also probably didn’t need a backup of Glen Scotia’s 2024 Campbeltown Festival Release, even though that’s a lovely dram and one that seems to weather beautifully over time with some headspace in the bottle. It’s an interesting whisky, but so are a gazillion other bottles.
I think there are three categories of backup bottles in the Mason Mack Whisky Library:
Backups bought in the past with an unexperienced palate that, upon reflection, didn’t warrant a backup. That Bunna for example (but also a Glenfiddich 12 for some reason?).
More recently acquired backups of bottles that made my more experienced and dialled-in palate swoon in such a way that I knew I needed to stock up on them. Like Springbank 10, Kilkerran 12, Kilkerran 8, and Glencadam 10.
Backups of bottles that I loved that were also limited releases that I knew I wouldn’t be able to get hold of in the future. These include Ardnahoe’s inaugural 5yo, Ardnamurchan’s 2024 AD/10, Thompson Bros’ TB/BSW 6yo, and this Mortlach.
The first category is what frustrates me now. I’ve reached a point in my journey where I have decided that the buying must come to a halt. Both financial and storage space are limited. I’m a slow drinker - about the equivalent of six or seven bottles a year worth of consumption - so it takes me ages to thin the herd a bit. And I’m not one for over-consuming to free up space.
Those category one backups feel like unnecessary ballast; dead weight weighing me down as I try to swim to the surface where my curiosity lies, and in desperate need of breathing room.
Only recently I found myself walking through a shop that had a great selection of independent bottlers, and my hands were itching. I felt my money burning a hole in my pocket, my hands trembling with excitement: all the latest offerings from Signatory, Adelphi, Van Wees, and North Star were calling my name.
Eventually I remembered that as a self-employed freelancer in the field of music theatre I am financially about as stable as a unicycle being manoeuvred by a rhino and that I made a promise to myself to reign it in this year. I walked out of the store, pouting and empty-handed.
If only I didn’t have those unnecessary bottles in my stash! Sure they’re fine, but I could have not bought those two over there, and then I’d have had financial and storage space for that new Lochlea from Adelphi. Think of the other, wider variety of smells and flavours I could have explored!
Of course, you’ve already spotted the problem here. I would have bought that new bottle. And then the next exciting bottle would have presented itself. I would have continued to acquire new bottles faster than I can drink them before my limited amount of brain cells would consider ringing the alarm bell. Within no time I’d be right back at this point.
But I know I’m not on my own here. The world is full of people with hobbies that see them accumulating more than they can actually handle. Bookworms, gamers, sneaker enthusiasts, art collectors, fashionistas, car enthusiasts.
It’s difficult, because it’s a problem you’d be happy to continue having if only you had the means.
We just keep on wanting more, don’t we? The excitement of what is to be found around the next corner is addictive. The fresh pop of a cork opens up a world of sensations as of yet undiscovered. We have a wish-list of bottles and when we buy one and cross it off, we feel happy and satisfied and content. Two days afterwards, new releases by our favourite distilleries see us adding two more bottles to the wish-list. We’ll never run out of things to add. We’ll never complete the list. We never learn.
Let’s dig into a bottle which recently warranted a backup.
And this time, no regrets.
Review
Sutherland 5yo, Blended Highland Malt Scotch Whisky, Thompson Bros, 2024 Edition, one of 1020 bottles, 48.5% ABV
€80/£70 paid, very spotty availability
I had my eyes on this bottle for all of 2025. Instead of being snapped up in the first few days after its release in 2024 like I thought it would, I was surprised to see it linger on the shelves of one of the few retailers in my market that receive some Thompson Bros stock once or twice a year.
Maybe it was the fact that it’s a blend. Maybe it was the big 5yo age statement on the label. Maybe it was the hefty €90 price tag. It was probably a combination of those factors. But come on! There’s Clynelish, Dornoch, and even a drop of Brora in this. It’s also a limited annual release - this 2024 edition comprising only 1020 bottles. I thought it wouldn’t get the chance to gather even a speck of dust.
Then again, I myself also held off all year. Every month or so I had my cursor hovering over the ‘buy now’ button on their website. I knew it would be good. Thompson Bros have a knack for releasing tasty blends. But €90 is a lot of money.
Then, at the end of December 2025, the retailer suddenly discounted it by €10. I instantly caved and opened it upon arrival. I immediately knew enough. I bought a backup five days later when I saw that even that discount didn’t see it flying off the shelf.
Thompson Bros have been very transparent in how this blend came together, and I found the following details of its make-up on their website.
Clynelish 12/1/15 Oloroso Quarter Cask (5.9%).
Clynelish 19/7/15 Refill Hhd (12.6%).
Clynelish 08/2/16 Refill Hhd (12.3%).
Clynelish 08/2/16 Refill Hhd (22.9%).
Clynelish 08/2/16 Refill Hhd (21.4%).
Dornoch 138 21/3/19 Ex-Bodegas Robles PX butt (4%).
Dornoch 158 03/9/19 Refill Bourbon (ex-Glen Moray) (20.9%).
Brora 1982 G&M Lot RO/15/01 0.0089%
They go on to say: “All liquid was vatted together and immediately disgorged back into cask. For the curious, the vessels used to rest the resulting blend are as follows;”
Refill Sherry Butt nicknamed Momo (peach in Japanese) which was used for North Highland Blend batch 1.
Ex-Dornoch cask 158.
Ex-Clynelish Oloroso quarter cask.
Ex-Clynelish Hogshead
I love how open they are with their provenance on this. It's a wonderful accessibility of info for the enthusiast. A point scored already for transparency!
I have to quickly mention the label as well. In my opinion it’s another addition to a long line of very successful Thompson Bros labels. Of course it’s the last thing most of us worry about. The quality of the liquid and a fair price are much more of a focus for us. But once those two criteria are met, we do appreciate a presentation done well. The texture makes it feel like laid paper and I love the detail of the cat silhouette where it says: “Trade meow. Meow meow”. It’s simple and droll and it makes me read it out loud and smile every time. I find it whimsical, and this world could use some whimsy right about now.
Score: 8/10
Something special.
TL;DR
Springtime in a glass; a delight
Nose
Beautifully floral-fruity and ‘natural’, if that makes sense. Clean. Crisp. Soft stone and orchard fruits. Wild peaches especially. Crisp laundry hung out to dry in the garden in spring. Honeydew melon. Lemons. Oranges. Grapefruits. Many of those singular citrus notes appeared after the addition of water. There’s also a lovely green note like very soft, sweet mint. Fruity, fruity, fruit salad delight.
Palate
The citrus fruits are here. So is fresh laundry and a lovely little zing, every now and then, of crisp sharpness. It’s fresh, zesty, but soft and mellow at the same time. Barley sugars. Simple syrup. Stevia. Juicy wild peaches again! They’re great!
The finish is clean, sometimes minty, pretty. Time in the glass, with water added, brings a buttery clotted cream note. It makes the sharpness largely disappear, and reveals a pastel-coloured kaleidoscope of yellows, whites, greens, and orange. This is a wonderfully delicate little fruit fest.
The Dregs
This is right up my street. It’s mouth-watering, soft, fruit-fest-deliciousness and I’m all over it. It’s a bloody good blend and perfect for this time of year.
I was hovering for a while, not sure what mark to give it on our Dramface scoring system. On some nights it was a very high 7, on other nights it nudged the 8. In my current state of whisky mind, where I have no time for backups, I jumped on a backup bottle of this when I wasn’t even past the shoulder yet. Within days. That settles it. A deserved Dramface 8/10.
It’s cool that this was actually teaspooned with some old Brora to give it the makeup of the three distilleries in the Sutherland region. Now, Brora, much like Port Ellen actually, doesn’t actually mean that much to me. I’m way too young and poor to have experienced those legendary old-age-stated malts that the more experienced generation still raves about. To me the name Brora is little more than a reference to a malt once revered for its quality.
Having said that, after sipping this I will absolutely, constantly, and obnoxiously make use of the bragging rights to having officially, kind of, in a way, sort of, had some Brora. Possibly. Maybe.
I felt bummed out when I left that shop empty handed the other day. Cross with myself for having the willpower to stick to my self-imposed hard buying limits for this year. But comfort might be found in a quote by Goethe that my old and wise singing teacher once dropped on me, and which seems to have stuck in the back of my head.
“In der Beschränkung zeigt sich erst der Meister.”, which translates to “It is in limitation that the master reveals himself.”
Score: 8/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. MM
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