On a trek, Archie is tempted into breaking his own rules when he uncovers a gem of a waterfall. It makes the prettiest of backdrops for a gem of a Balmenach from Living Souls.

Earie uses some Big Words to describe reviewing decent, earnest whiskies in an independent way. This time it’s another flight of Dram Mòr releases from spring 2026. Including a sneaky malternative.

Fletcher leans hard to compare indy bottling to music covers, but he has a point. He feels it’s nicer when the song is a legitimate original creation, like this Bittersweet Symphony from Turntable.

Hamish has fallen down a Balmenach rabbit hole, which means he’s discovered a worm tub rabbit hole. Today, he shares four malts in a vertical line up looking into what the worm tub might be about.

How to convey the breathless experience of the world’s Largest Whisky Show? We send in Ainsley. Who seems to drink the time of his life. Oh, and a lesser-seen Balmenach review, for value.

All it took was a strange word and a stranger distillery for Hamish to take a punt on the lesser-seen Balmenach, arguably one of the most obscure - despite its scale and cracking, weighty malt.

A lesser-spotted Speysider