What do you take on holiday? Upon arrival in stormy Cornwall, Fergus thinks he might’ve brought the perfect Ardmore. Then the sun appears. Does it spoil things?

At first Ainsley wasn’t too enamoured with the ‘hype’ around Springbank’s Local Barley releases. It took 2025’s 8yo with heritage grain to switch all the lights on. It’s finally found him.

Fletcher is certain he doesn’t suffer from FOMO. He doesn’t have floors and shelves covered in bottles and he doesn’t always pick up at least one bottle when out and about. Like this Cadenhead’s Ord he couldn’t pass up.

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.

We often ensure new Ardnamurchan is directed through our resident Amber Prism. Wally ships Doog the Mezcal and he serves it up alongside two single cask crackers.

Following the inevitable arc of whisky discovery, Charlie arrives at the search for affordable bottles of amber history; malts from ghost distilleries. He dives into a vintage Imperial from Signatory.

Nothing in life is free. Murdo has a think about this as he considers who is the ‘product’ in any of our modern whisky day transactions, while sharing another Linkwood banger from Signatory.

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?

The Glen Scotia ‘disco cow’ releases have become legendary, but unfortunately for their inconsistency. Charlie harks back to his Campbeltown childhood and shares where this 21yo lies.

Fletcher uses a quintet of quite different, independently released Ledaig expressions to try to fathom how Signatory Vintage arrived at its pricing for a recent Cask Strength 17yo single cask.

Murdo riffs off a recent Ainsley piece where he explored the concept of wax in whisky. After tracking down a bottle of Thompson Bros Dailuaine celebrated for ‘wax’, he feels ready to share.

Dougie returns from recent distractions to grab two seemingly unrelated - at first - malts for a Misty Isle twofer: A Thompson Bros Ardnamurchan & an Inchdairnie Finglassie from Lady of the Glen.

After something of an unintended hiatus, Drummond figures out it’s just where he’s at - no longer feeling the need to chase. Instead of FOMO, he’s embracing JOMO - and four cracking Kilkerrans.

Ainsley has tried enough decent Clynelish to know he loves that waxy character it can possess, so he determines to land a bottle. But that’s harder said than done. Did he manage with this 1992 18yo?

Wally enjoys thinking about whisky accidents as he manages to secure a bottle of the Living Souls ‘accident’ where, we’re told, a splash of grain accidentally made its way into a vat of aged malt. Oops.

A lesser-seen malt, well-presented - and for a very good cause that flies uncomfortably close to all of us - resonates with Charlie. To the point he feels it needn’t be particularly splendid - or complex. It’s already a good ‘thing’.

Ainsley recounts the splendour of the recent Independent Spirits Festival held in Leith. This is just the kind of recap to make sure we see another year of this, and a perfect Fib Whisky Whitlaw to match up.

Fergus makes a case for the occasional entry-level bottle. Accepting his penchant for natural ‘enthusiast’ whiskies he find a comforting spot for an Aberlour 12 Double Cask, while watching 80’s movies, preferably.

Nostalgia remains very much part of whisky enjoyment long-term. In this review of a 1991 official Knockando, Broddy shares his own take on whisky nostalgia, while using a handy bell-curve to send it home.

Spoiler: As Earie sings high praises for Springbank’s wonderfully alluring 10yo, he has to admit that it was not love at first sight. He wonders if there’s such a thing as a whisky that’s not for beginners?