Today I though let's do something different. I unlocked my phone and just rolled into my collection of pictures. It stopped at this exact photo. If you make it to the end, you will get to know who the dog is on the puzzle behind the bottles.

These whiskies I enjoyed a lot, some more than others. So let me give you a verdict and a brief description of them. Let's see what these five whiskies are. First off we have Springbank 15 year old from Campbeltown. A very iconic distillery and a very iconic bottle. Secondly we have Judas Priest edition from St. Kilian distillery, Germany. A great up and coming distillery and a nice smoky limited edition single malt. Then we have a blended malt whisky from Berry Bros & Rudd. Their sherry cask finished blended malt. Going to the right we arrive to Speyside. We have Speyburn 18 years old, which I picked up because none of my lovely Macallans were available and this distillery is just a 7 minute drive from Macallan so I thought why not? And then last but not least we have Paul John Oloroso all the way from India.

Springbank 15 year old - Natural Color, Non-chill filtered, 46%

Springbank distillery is a family-owned single malt whisky distillery on the Kintyre Peninsula in western Scotland. Springbank produces three variants from its distillery by tweaking the production process at various stages. None of the malts produced at this distillery is chill-filtered, and they do not contain colourants, such as caramel E150.

• Hazelburn Single Malt, the newest variety, was first distilled in 1997 and since bottled as a 10-year-old. In 2009, a 12-year-old variety was released. Hazelburn is a triple-distilled, non-peated whisky. Hazelburn is also named after a mothballed distillery near the Springbank one.
• Longrow Single Malt is a highly peated, double-distilled whisky, named after a mothballed distillery of the same name.
• Springbank Single Malt is available as a 10-year-old, medium-peated and distilled two and a half times. A cask-strength 12-year-old bottling which is released annually and is slightly different each year, as well as 15-year, 18-year, and 21-year olds making up the core lines.

Springbank is the only Scottish distillery to perform every step in the whisky-making process, from Malting the barley to bottling the spirit. Several distilleries malt some percentage of their barley and source the balance from an industrial malting facility, such as Port Ellen; however, Springbank maintains a traditional malting floor that provides for 100% of their distillate. 

Nose: Very heavy already. Sherry bomb, lots of dark fruits such as raisins, plums. There are notes of dried leather and old ropes. A hint of toffee sweetness and some granary toast.

Taste: Full, creamy, rich and oily. Sherry, sherry and sherry over sherry and sherry. This is too much. Not my cup of tea or in this case whisky definitely. Leather, wood and dried fruits.

Finish: Long with warmth and a sweetness, that sticks to your tongue. Also an acidic note stays.

Overall this is not my style of whisky. I prefer the 10 year old expression a lot more. This bottle has just too much sherry and that just masks the distillery character for me making it basically an Edradour 12 year old from Campbeltown. Taking everything into account I cannot give this whisky more than an 84 / 100. However this whisky is very highly praised and loved by people, I would only recommend it if you like sherry bombs.

St. Kilian 4 year old Judas Priest Edition - Natural Color, Non-Chill filtered, 47%

"One of heavy metal's biggest bands, Judas Priest celebrates its 50th anniversary. Reason enough for St. Kilian Distillers to dedicate another heavy metal edition to the legendary band from Birmingham. The "50 Heavy Metal Years" Anniversary Edition, limited to 12,300 bottles, got its unique character from barley malt, which was gently smoked over a beech wood fire."

Matured for at least 4 years in ex-bourbon, ex-brandy from Jerez and ex-rye casks.
68% ex-bourbon
16% ex-brandy from Jerez
16% ex-rye

They used Weyermann® Beech Smoked Barley Malt for this whisky and it turned out quite nicely.
"Made from the finest German quality brewing barley malted in Bamberg, the capital of smoked beers.

The strong beech wood smoke gives this malt its unmistakable flavor, hence being the ideal ingredient to perfect any aroma-intensive beer style.

Nose: Very malty right away. Smoke comes first but it's truly wood smoke, nothing like peat smoke. Very nice surprise. Very creamy, buttery, bread toast notes. Grilled pineapple with sweet vanilla. Sweet. Apricots and a very faint hint of figs and apples. Some herbal elements can be found here probably from the ex-rye casks. Very robust and mature for a 4 year old whisky.

Taste: Firstly I am greeted by herbal rye notes and a gentle spiciness accompanied by sweet vanilla cream. Toasted, charred, smoked wood which I find very "love-able" and interesting. Grilled tropical fruits: the most pronounced is the pineapple and mango. Apricots and sweet malted barley. Toast with butter. A gentle "pepper rush". For me this is even better than the nose. Again this tastes more mature than a 4 year old.

Finish: Quite interestingly the finish is very long. Quite dry and spicy with gentle wood smoke and sweet malt.

Overall this is a very nice whisky again from the lads at St. Kilian and I salute them again. What a lovely stuff guys. Keep up the good work. I rate this beauty a solid 88 / 100.

Berry Bros & Rudd Blended Malt Scotch Whisky Sherry Cask Matured 44.2% 

Berry Bros. & Rudd (BBR) is a family-run British wine and spirits merchant founded in London, England, in 1698, although they did not become wine merchants until the late 18th century. Since 1698, the company has grown from initially a small coffee shop, into an international business with six offices worldwide. As well as the wines, such as en primeur from places like Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône and Italy, the company also sells wines and spirits under its own-label range, Berry Bros. & Rudd's Own Selection. Berry Bros. & Rudd has been the official wine supplier to the British royal family since the reign of King George III and received its first royal warrant of appointment in 1903 from King Edward VII. Queen Elizabeth II granted the company her royal warrant in 1952, while Charles, Prince of Wales (now King Charles III) granted it his in 1998.

Nose: Blood orange juice, brown sugar, dried fruit, old leather and books. Roasted peanuts, grilled papaya and mango. 

Taste: Blueberries, herbal tea and dark chocolate. Seville orange and fiery cinnamon and a good amount of oak dances on our tongues.

Finish: Medium finish, sweetness. But most notably christmas spices remain.

I think this is an OK expression. Not bad not terrible. It's somewhere in the middle. It's quite pleasant to drink and you won't overthink it. It delivers what it promises, sherry notes. I rate this bottle 82 / 100, an average whisky.

Speyburn 18 year old - Natural Color, Non Chill-filtered, 46%

Speyburn distillery was founded in 1897 by John Hopkins & Company for the sum of £17,000. The site was chosen by John Hopkins himself for its unpolluted water supply from the Granty Burn, a minor tributary of the River Spey. Hopkins appointed the famous distillery architect Charles C Doig to design the distillery and to this day Speyburn has its classic pagoda ventilator, a hallmark of Doig's design. Speyburn Speyside Single Malt Scotch whisky is exported throughout the world and it is currently the number 9 best selling single malt whisky in the USA. The distillery is owned by Inver House Distillers Limited, a distiller whose other distilleries include Old Pulteney Distillery, Knockdhu Distillery, Balblair Distillery, and Balmenach Distillery. 

Nose: The nose is heavy and needs some time to settle down, I let it air for about 20 minutes the first time I tasted it. Candied seville orange, butter, caramel, toffee and grandma's jam. A nice malty base and some dark dried fruits.

Taste: This is a very powerful whisky and it's not afraid to show that right from the get-go. It's rather untamed and the alcohol is very strong for an 18 year old whisky. Lots of things going on. You will find seville oranges, manuka honey, pepper spice with cinnamon. Lots of cocoa and dark chocolate. Quite unique and interesting.

Finish: By the time we get to the finish, this defiant whisky is tamed. It's rather sweet and characterful. Long finish according to what the age dictates. Honey sweetness, dried fruits and a nice note of toasted or even smoked ham and oak.

To get away from this N / T / F, this is how I rated it on the site I purchased it. "You sit in a worn leather armchair, a Cuban cigar in your hand. On the table is a freshly baked raisin and cherry mousse chocolate cake. Around you are shelves filled with books from the 70s and 80s. The air in the room was sultry, due to the fresh warm smell of the cake from cigars and old books. That's what this drink is. Brilliant. I recommend."

Overall a lovely whisky. I recommend it whole heartedly. A king of value in the madness of scotch prices rising. 87 / 100

Paul John Oloroso Indian Single Malt Whisky - Natural Color, Non-Chill filtered, 48%

Paul John Whisky is a brand of Indian single malt and single cask whisky, manufactured by John Distilleries. The brand launched in London, England on 4 October 2012. Paul John Whisky is made from Indian 6-row malted barley and, for some variants, imported Islay and Aberdeen peat, distilled in traditional copper pot stills and then matured in charred American Oak casks at the company's distillery in Goa, India.

Nose: You have to let it air out, otherwise the nauseatingly honeyed Oloroso fruitiness will hit you in the head. After about ten minutes of rest, it is very pleasant. Blood orange, fig, date scents. Manuka honey, peach and malt scents. Very sweet, very round. I like. Tropical fruits cannot be discovered at all. The big question here is how long it was in sherry casks. They say finish. But what does finish mean? One month of first fill bourbon and three years of sherry finish? We don't know, but I think this spirit has aged more in sherry casks than in bourbon casks.

Taste: Let's taste it! Massive. Syrupy, sticky. Wow, good! It's very thick. Dried apricots and plums coated with milk chocolate. The malt flavor is also very good. Roasted coffee and oak. It is very difficult to discover anything from the bourbon barrel. Vanilla, pineapple and coconut are very much in the background. I think it's very much together.

Finish: The finish is long, sweet and sticky. The taste of sherry stays in our mouth for a very long time. Spicy, minty. The coffee leaves with a bitter taste. I feel that it is balanced because of the sweet and bitter coffee taste.

I think it's a very complex whisky. I would be curious to see what a shorter sherry finish would do with the distillate. I think for many people this would be too violent, sticky. I definitely recommend it as a drink for colder times, it's hard to enjoy such a concentrated drink in the summer. 85 / 100

Many of you might have wondered who that beautiful dog in the background is. Her name is Jennyfer Von Darion. She is our 5 year old Labrador Retriever. She is a very loving and beautiful dog. Part of our life. Let me share a picture of her for you,

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. To many more. Sláinte.