In a wonderfully candid and personal piece, Archie shares his transition into trusting independent bottlers and how he decided to start with Murray McDavid. It’s not what you might think.

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.

Charlie continues his deep dive into new distilleries (to him), this time uncovering the two ‘Glens’ of Ord and ‘Dullan, then comparing two Special releases to indies from James Eadie and the Thompson Bros.

Murdo heads out into the rain to break a self-imposed bottle ban. So much for future indulgence space making. He’s weak. Aren’t we all? A Glendullan from Chorlton in the glass.

As well as sharing his thoughts on a selection of Decadent Drinks recent outturn, Ainsley also shares his thoughts on his latest visit to the Independent Spirits Festival in Leith.

As an advocate for bottle splits, Earie enjoys a souvenir from a pal - one of the Equinox & Solstice releases from Decadent Drinks - this time an under-the-radar Mannochmore.

A stranger to Glenlossie until 2025, Charlie uncovered one of Diageo’s ‘blend houses’ in a Cadenhead’s tasting. Typically for him, a pleasant experience and a bottle purchase finds him exploring and comparing.

In the first of his series of “Official vs Indy” reviews, Charlie tees up one of our most evocative comparisons: Clynelish. The question is, will he uncover any of the W-word?

Betraying his age as well as his sense of humour and movie preferences, Archie surprises himself with a low-expectations bottling from Lagavulin: their new 11 year old Sweet Peat.

Earie, like many of us, keeps Diageo on the naughty step until their insanely greedy and odd behaviours change. But gifts are gifts, so what’s he missing out on? Lagavulin 8 in the glass this time.

All good things must end. Archie wraps up his Northern California trip & kills off one of his favourite ever from his beloved Caol Ila: a Woodrows in Palo Cortado.

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.

It’s Dougie’s turn to step up with a box of the latest outturn from Decadent Drinks. Like this weekend deep-dive read, it’s no small undertaking. But it starts with an Ardnamurchan, so he’s in…

Earie has given up worrying about the scale of his ‘collection’ and admitting that the fun is in buying more whisky. He trusts SMOS and buys blind, but he may have come a cropper on this Dailuaine.

A solid and dependable dram is needed to help Mason come down after a whirlwind trip to Glasgow for the annual Whisky Festival. This Fragrant Drops Elevenses Linkwood does the trick nicely.

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.

Murdo puts forward the case for flexibility; to be seduced by quality and value over brands. Which, ironically, has him visit a brand that’s often rudely referred to as Diageo’s Death Star - Roseisle.

A self-declared lover of anything Linkwood, even Murdo has to admit that sometimes it is possible to find something you don’t enjoy - despite expecting to. Case in point - a 10yo Signatory Linkwood.

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.

It takes a trip far away, with too little whisky, to make Charlie reflect on how lucky he is to live so close to the source. With a Johnnie Walker Double Black, he sees that Scotland is, actually, a great place.