What a treat for a Friday; Dougie turns 40 with loved ones, a Glenallachie 8yo Scottish Oak and an Ardnamurchan 10yo that we'll need to bully him, or treat him, to hear more about.

In an exploration of tasting all the things that no one should really be able to taste, Fergus reviews Laphroaig's 16. He finds all the usual notes with this one, and some crazy talk too.

Dougie takes stock, shares where he's at and shares every sealed bottle he owns that's about to be cracked and reviewed. He starts with Aberlour's Cask Annamh Batch 0001.

Murdo heads up one of our 'Then & Now' comparison reviews; this time featuring Longmorn's legendary 16 year olds. There's also a bonus buddy up on the iconic 15yo with Fergus.

The mule network kicks in to share mature Union Distillery malt with Ainsley in Paris and Wally in Scotland. Both tear into a surprising and well-priced 16yo cracker from Brazil.

It’s been said malt and virgin oak don’t work. Broddy grabs a Glen Garioch and a Deanston Cask Strength for a side by side. There’s a clear winner, even if is scoring is a little less clear on this one.

In celebrating their local wildlife, Ardnamurchan decided to fly with the Midgie. So despite bearing the name of Scotland’s most hated creature, it still proves popular as a swarm of us gather to review it.

Fed up with grey days and bad news, Fletcher cracks open two well-aged blends on a budget to see if they can bring a little lightness. A Glenallachie made NacNair’s 21yo vs a Cadenhead’s 25yo.

In trying to understand why Ben Nevis is such a ‘connoisseur’s malt’ Ainsley assembles a trio of indies and pours them alongside each other for a cosy night hiding from the Parisian rain.

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.

Usually a gentle type, the spectre of a bad experience from Ogilvie’s past rears its head to have him reaching for the warning klaxon. Do not buy this. A rare 2/10 on Dramface.

When some of the Dramface reviews are for limited outturns, mostly from indies, Earie wonders; What’s the point? Then he finds something like this. That’s the point.

With so many whiskies being released it’s hard to keep up. Wally spends an entire article making excuses while admitting to the new normal; solid, reliable, tasty whiskies. Predictable but reassuring, like these new Glenallachie Meikle Tòir releases.

Taking a broad view of the rapidly expanding Australian whisky scene, Tyree delivers a snapshot with four Aussie single malts, and almost uses the full gamut of our scoring to do so.

Ogilvie admits that the enjoyment of a whisky - and the scoring of it - can all too easily be affected by emotion. And it should be.

Port casks and celebrating those who get it right.

A friendly dram that delivers, eventually, some lovely flavours

When it comes to Laphroaig, Cask Strength is where it’s at!

Top shelf nose let down by a hollow palate

A new Irish distiller doing transparency right. Oh, and the whiskeys are delicious!