SMWS Outturn 273

SMWS G6.8 - Soothing the mindIt's the last list of the year, and it arrives a week early...

Whilst there's a fair few expensive bottles, the good news is that there's some superb drams across all price ranges. I found four bottlings I wanted bottles of, and there's plenty of good drinking with almost everything else being something I'd not turn away.

But before we get to the bottle wishlist, let's have a look at a rather special dram - the Port Dundas. It's superb, and despite being a big grain fan I had difficulty spotting that it was grain whisky. It has caramel, fruits and sherry and delivers them wonderfully. As I was doing my preview tastings an SMWS Ambassador happened to be at the bar, and I know he's not a man who loves grain whisky. So I cheekily decided to get a second opinion, in case I was biased - and he also didn't spot the provenance! This is a wonderful dram, and I want more than one bottle.

Which is not to take away from my bottle picks. Moving to the other end of the flavour spectrum we the rather excellent Laphroaig, which dials back the medicinal in favour of smoke and floral notes. Another heavily peated delight is the Highland Park, which mixes butterscotch, caramel and wood smoke delightfully. Then there's the Glen Grant, packed with dried fruits and cinnamon. Me? Recommending cinnamon? Yes, this is that good... And my final bottle pick is the Strathisla, which has lemon, foamy bananas and marzipan - it's simple yet delicious.

It's a busy time of year, so the remaining list may take me a little while to finish - please bear with me. Hopefully I'll have it all done by the end of next week...