A favourite Gilbert pastime is chasing blends. Reluctant to splash out on the “Ultimate” scotch blend, Gilbert borrows a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label and gives it a whirl for us all.

Starting out eager and earnest, Mason grabbed a ‘bargain’ 21 year old Glenfiddich, only to discover that age and quality are not always synonymous in whisky.

While shopping for bits and bobs, Mason is hit by nostalgia from a cute 20cl bottle of Johnnie Walker Red. At only €7, he decides to have a little fun despite the inevitable disappointment of this modern blend.

In digging for obscure treasures, Innes unearths a bottle that’s been abused for 50 years. A Wine Society Mortlach from before most of us were born. Incredible liquid history. How does it taste?

Wally makes an impassioned plea to the owners of Speyburn and AnCnoc to think twice about their decisions to chill filter their malts in upcoming revamps. He also makes a plea to those who care.

Continuing the theme this week on age statements, and over Highland Park’s new 12yo, Wally shares his thoughts on why age statements don’t matter in 2024, and also why they absolutely do.

Reflecting on the rise of modern blends; Fletcher thinks about the incidental rise of the amateur blender, and tries a few of these newer products up against the benchmark; Johnnie Black 12yo.

A very specific whisky is called for as three old friends gather in support of each other. In the face of acute loss, Ogilvie calls upon Balvenie's classic 12yo Doublewood to assist in catharsis.

As Murdo tells tales of travel and opening minds, he shares his take on three very rare and curious 'whiskies', while taking us through his life-long dream realised: a trip to North Korea.

Self-declared Tomatin fanboy Broddy has a suspicion that we’re being fleeced; that quality is dropping and folk are being taken advantage of. Today, it’s poor ol’ Tomatin in his sights.

Upon discovering Borders’ under-the-radar inaugural release for £35, Fletch gets excited, but is immediately disappointed and takes a moment to offer some ‘feedback’. Oh dear.

After some early encouragement into the whisky scene via friends and Macallan, Murdo persists with a bottle of the Night on Earth Seasonal Release, only to discover it’s a stinker.

When we love whisky so much, it’s hard to be brutal about some of the obvious negatives. Yet sometimes, when things are clearly wrong, we just have to call it out. This decision was not taken lightly.

Fletch is trying hard to find a nice, special occasion whisky but, in another fit of disappointment, he’s reminded instead of a childhood movie that still haunts him today.

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. It’s one of Fletch’s favourites; Deanston. Looking for something that the Tequila cask has imparted, he compares it to a similarly insipid Tequila cask blend.

Fletcher finds himself pondering this Blended Malt and, feeling like he’s being forced to make cocktails with it, he stubbornly judges it neat. Redemption? Erm… no.

Shock horror, model son Dougie actually chooses to buy a whisky he knows to be 40%, chill-filtered and probably coloured. And yet, he finds a place where it fits perfectly, and no, it’s not down the sink.

Exposed and laid bare, Ogilvie’s dwindling bottle collection is without a home, meaning he’s able to see and explore what would otherwise have been ignored, such as this Irish sleeper.

Curiosity gets the better of Fletch. With Glenlivet marking 200 years, they’ve released a 12yo that looks identical to the standard. Only available through TWE, he dives in to compare the world’s best selling malt.

Glenlivet’s ubiquitous 12yo in its slightly more modern ‘Double Oak’ guise is gifted to Ogilvie as he departs for his newly relocated life. Exhaustion has him skip the bottle specs, forcing a blind sip and a surprise.