Whisky Reviews
Here you'll find honest opinions, thoughtful analysis and the occasional disagreement, because no two palates are quite the same. We review widely, score reluctantly and remain convinced that whisky is far more interesting than the numbers attached to it.
Agreement is optional; curiosity is encouraged.
Aultmore 13yo Whisky Craft
Curious about how a fella from Meta uses AI to source his tea, Ally applies the idea to whisky, only to realise he may never have stumbled onto this lovely teenage Aultmore from Whisky Craft.
Glenlossie 13yo Infrequent Flyers
A house visitor to Ogilvie’s gathering declares bourbon the only whisky. Some work needs to be done. An Infrequent Flyers Glenlossie and Ogilvie’s wife are the strategies employed to cure boorishness.
Official vs Indy: Benrinnes
Having never climbed Ben Rinnes, Charlie decides to clamber through three - make that four(ish) - expressions of the Benrinnes spirit to see what it’s all about. Official vs Indy once more!
Cut Your Wolf Loose Sextet
Six - yes six - from Cut Your Wolf Loose today. In a remarkably candid piece, our LA resident Archie reflects on a tumultuous professional path to date, all to explain his love for art - and independence.
7x SMOS Reserve Cask Series
Broddy gathers seven bottles of SMOS Reserve Cask Small Batch releases in a single mega review. He justifies his scoring for each while dropping a bombshell of heresy about oatcakes.
Aultmore Duo
As a lapsed fan of Dungeons & Dragons, Hughie realises he’s using whisky as a way to continually re-write and relearn experiences. An independent duo of Aultmore illustrate a recent side-quest, and they’re tasty.
Fragrant Drops 13yo Secret Speyside
Many of the Dramface team are overly-affected by branding, none more than Ally. In a space rapidly moving towards homogenised ‘clean’ and ‘modern’, he finds solace in Fragrant Drops. Tasty too.
Cadenhead’s Bunnahabhain Trio
Drummond returns from a short hiatus with an insight into a trait that he’s come to accept; the need to pause and make time for self-care. A trio of Cadenhead’s Bunnahabhain helps of course.
Four Single Casks from Woodrow’s
A new year, a new writer. Debutant Archie sips from Long Beach California and for his first Dramface piece he went for four from Woodrow’s. A Balvenie, Laphroaig, Dailuaine and an Ardna. Nice.
Glen Garioch 13yo Fragrant Drops
After Dougie’s whirlwind November, he finally has time to sit with his Fragrant Drops 13yo Glen Garioch. Since it’s rainy, he also uncorks his all-time Geery pinnacle bottle for a side-by-side.
Teaninich Duo
Having only heard of Teaninich, Charlie tracks down a bottle. Then a remarkable dram forces a bottle hunt. Before he knows it, Charlie finds himself quite happily in the Teaninich rabbit hole.
Decadent Drinks September 2025 Outturn
Ogilvie senses impostor syndrome. But he’s made of strong stuff and plods on regardless, doing a great job of sharing his thoughts on the September outturn from Decadent Drams for us all.
Cadenhead’s Glenburgie 13yo
Fergie wonders about his whisky personality; is he a hoarder, a collector or a rabbit-holer? A gifted whisky map from his dad confirms the latter and this Cadenhead’s Glenburgie offers up another.
Kilkerran 13yo Cadenhead’s
Having learned from experience, Hughie checks himself when he realises he may be taking whisky, and its analysis, a little too seriously. The antidote? A Cadenhead’s Kilkerran 13yo thank you very much.
Decadent Drinks May 2025 Outturn
Wally sets aside a day to sit with a line up of Decadent Drinks releases. He uncovers some show stoppers and - remarkably - he can even afford one of them.
Loch Lomond Limousin Oak
The last of Ogilvie’s auction spoils has him happy. A venture into a new take on a familiar style; a 1st fill French Limousin oak and a single cask Loch Lomond Open Edition from 2020.
Thompson Bros Inchgower 13yo
As Hughie shares one of his ‘finds’ from Thompson Bros & a recent Scotland trip, he’s left to consider all the folks that have helped whisky find him; those who are celebrated and those who are often less so.
Longrow Red 13yo
Prompted by lifestyle, environs and a recent piece by the youngest of the Dramface crew, Nick goes offline and takes time to appreciate life’s more contemplative pleasures; like Longrow Red.
Daftmill 2011 Winter
Fergie evaluates the risks in paying considerably more for small-scale ‘artisanal’ products. In doing so he compares a recently acquired Daftmill to his beloved custom-made Dobro.
Ardmore (Ardlair) Thompson Bros 13yo
In celebrating a Thompson Brothers creation , Hamish declares his love of Ardmore, a distillery which would be completely ignored if it wasn’t for the Independent Bottlers.