Dougie marvels at whisky’s way of bringing distant folk together. Over a particularly delicious Little Brown Dog bottling of Glenwyvis, he enjoys some sunny Skye time with a new soul mate.

As the 2024 Campbeltown Malts Festival 2024 draws near, Ramsay and Drummond buddy up for a popular modern malt, fairly priced and tasty, they celebrate ‘the good old days’ of right now.

Before pitching two big-hitting, and not inexpensive, Glen Garioch bottlings against each other, Doog decides to wait for his bad mood to pass.

Swinging in with a quick sequel and an expensive trophy, Nick is so impressed with this batch of Springbank’s 12yo that he’s already (almost) forgotten just how much he handed over for the privilege.

Dougie takes another look at Glasgow 1770 with two releases: their Unpeated Cognac Cask Finish and Manzanilla Sherry Cask Fully Matured. In them he finds how a few key decisions made well can swing the opinion of many.

Do the right thing, by all means. Support, don’t judge. Because sometimes being a patient spendthrift, far away from a whisky shop, still uncovers things to reassure you that good stuff is still out there.

Dougie, deliberately, seeks out the distillery that everyone has told him is terrible, he pulls the trigger on a bargain to discover “Jura is well worth the chase. Jura is magic whisky. Jura is hugely enjoyable and fun.” 😳

Let’s hand this tease over to the author; “But I reckon I’ve been blindsided by this ‘single cask’ truth and it’s making me wonder if anything is what it seems anymore.” Doog uncovers untruths…

A team review is required around a new take on Elixir’s Port Askaig series and their first Cask Strength Small Batch. Wally leads with a deep dive into why we’re not drinking enough. Apparently.

Dougie is caught trolling the dying embers of the auctions once more for bargains. What’s this he’s found? A very curious SMWS oddball he needs to decipher first, both in description and flavour. We suspect he’s hit the rye wall once more.

In what seems to have become something of a theme, in life Ogilvie mirrors his approach to whisky by uprooting and heading off top new horizons. As he says “there’s something in the water cooler at Dramface HQ” is it this Strathmill?

What at first seemed like an expensive souvenir from a distillery visit required a bottle split between Archie and Hamish. They soon realise with 66% ABV and incredible depth of flavour they should’ve maybe grabbed one each.

Drummond finally makes his pilgrimage to the whisky island and his favoured distillery therein; Bunnahabhain. Upon returning he reflects upon this new 2023 release of the now highly-anticipated Cask Strength 12yo and how well it represents its source.

Mid-office move, house move and family move, Doog has no bandwidth to think about how he can grab the latest Ardna exciter, but no worries. In steps a generous soul from the whisky fold and he finds some time to step back into whisky heaven.

After listening to “connoisseurs” preaching spirit and cask balance, Drummond found himself panicking he’d got it wrong. But revisiting an old Glenallachie Cask Strength or two has helped both him and Broddy come around again.

Before submitting a long-awaited article, Gilbert ponders all the excuses he might have for not being as productive as he’d like. Just like the rest of us then. Cask strength Cotswolds English whisky helps though.

Wally puts the case forward for something compellingly unique as he considers how much influence ‘influencers’ actually have.

Never having previously connected with Edradour, Ramsay tackles their brand-new batch one release of their Cask Strength, with pleasant results.

Value propositions are becoming harder to find, so let it be known that in Auld Doog’s opinion this 2023 The Ileach Cask Strength whisky, if you fancy a fairly priced smoker of an evening, delivers solid bang for buck.

When entering ballots for a whisky you can often face difficult odds - and difficult questions. Broddy gets lucky in his province for a Kilkerran Cask Strength Sherry and shares his thoughts on how he came to get it as well as the bottle itself.