It’s cocktail Friday - a whisky review and a personal cocktail recipe from one of the team. Gilbert kicks off with a trip to the coast and his take on the Old Fashioned, with a coastal Ardnamurchan AD/ as the base.

Were old blends better? Ainsley snags an old export blend and compares it to five contemporary scotch blends available to him in France. The results are revealing. It does not go well.

With three Longrow expressions as company, and in a reflective mood, Drummond looks back on his first days living in Scotland as an ex-pat American. He remembers one of his influential coaches in Scottish life - and whisky.

Doog tops up an online order with something he’s never tried before, and this Murray McDavid Strathdearn (Tomatin) serendipitously opens up a conversation to reveal a ‘secret’ about its presentation.

Something of a late arrival, but it would seem that’s how long these things take, especially for those of us further away from the source. Folks like Broddy, and his distance from this 2024 Sherry Cask Ardnamurchan.

In discovering a cracking but largely ignored Johnnie Walker Blend, Wally shares why we don’t talk about - or chase - traffic at Dramface. An odd position, but the whisky’s great!

In his debut, Felix puts forward the case for Scotch whisky’s restricted innovation as well as an apparently overlooked bottle from Edinburgh’s Holyrood; their still available ‘Pitch’ release.

Dougie needs to bump an order for free shipping and is drawn to a reasonably priced Woven Homemade Blend, which causes him to reflect on how his perspectives have altered immeasurably since the dark days.

In a busy and crowded whisky space, Hamish takes it upon himself to investigate a distillery that’s been off his radar: Lindores Abbey. Their Thiron annual release brings out the history buff in him.

Charlie asks the all important question - If Bowmore is truly one of Scotch whisky’s legends - why are none of their official releases any good? Brutal. But he explores three to find out.

Gilbert adds another Johnnie Walker to the collection and asks ‘what’s in a name?’ A lot, apparently, especially when you’re trying really hard to find the right one.

Broddy tries to break Dramface with an epic assessment of ten banging modern blends. He recruits some local pals and covers them all - blind. Think you’re only into malt? This one’s a cracker.

Eallair brings us his long awaited Chapter 4 piece on the history of American Single Malt Whiskey, this time we look towards Missouri and rectification with a double West Bottoms review too.

Springtime warmth draws Ramsay closer to brighter, fresher whiskies and - it seems - more local too. Ho dips into a local Coles Single Malt and wonders why his Welsh whisky has faltered?

Charlie digs out four somewhat forgotten blends from his cupboard to revisit them, all the while realising they all have a story - and a good reason for being there.

Whisky finds you. After years of avoiding an over-hyped and possibly over-priced eye-catcher, Ogilvie’s pal Lou comes in clutch. Now, this much-loved High West Rye needs to live up to expectation.

In evangelising some friends, Hughie encounters all-too-common blend prejudice. To counter, he hunts for a good value, sherry cask sipper to help his pals embrace the B-word. Might this Old Perth be it?

Doog discovers that Lindores has finally cracked the code on Single Malt with this vibrant, neon-red, Fife Festival Exclusive Tawny Port Single Cask.

One of the original Dramfacers, Aengus is looking over his whisky and realising most of it, like this Alberta Premium, is high ABV. What happened?

Through an auction win, Earie is sucked into the fascinating history and story behind the great Silvano Samaroli, as he realises just how influential he was in the scotch story.