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I bought two boxes in Master of Malt's September Mystery Drop, the themed CVH round with the £13,000 Bunnahabhain 35 Year Old as the headline prize. Both boxes contained the exact same bottle: a Bunnahabhain 12. Here's the maths on how likely that actually was, what it means for the value case, and why it hasn't put me off the format one bit.
Master of Malt's Mystery Drop returns for a third time on 10 September, and this one's different: every bottle comes from Bunnahabhain, Tobermory, Ledaig or Deanston, with a £13,000 Bunnahabhain 35 Year Old as the headline prize. I bought into the last round, so here's what it actually feels like, whether it's worth your money, and why I think MoM keeps running it.
Glenglassaugh's coastal Highland distillery has truly found its voice with this triple-cask expression. Stone fruits, honey, and maritime character blend beautifully at 45% ABV with proper production ethics. After over two decades of silence, they've launched a flagship that shows real skill and ambition. Worth seeking out if you want something that stands apart.
GlenAllachie's peated Speyside is only five years old, but it doesn't taste it. The Sherry One brings dark chocolate, toffee, and peat smoke together with genuine complexity. Matured in bourbon then finished in PX and Oloroso, it's non-chill-filtered and naturally coloured at 48%. A proper whisky that punches above its age and price.
Ledaig is Tobermory's peated expression from the Isle of Mull, and this 10 year old has quietly built a cult following among those wanting proper island peat without eye-watering Islay prices. Non-chill-filtered, naturally coloured and bottled at 46.3%, it promises medicinal smoke, briny salt and bright citrus. Is the value-star reputation all hype, or does it actually deliver? Spoiler: it does…
Glenmorangie is a name even non-drinkers recognise, and the Quinta Ruban is their port-finished Highlander — now 14 years old after extending its time in ruby port pipes to four years. Port finishes can be hit or miss, so does this one earn its benchmark reputation? Expect dark fruits, chocolate-covered cherries and a silky, non-chill-filtered texture, with gentle spice keeping the sweetness honest.
Compass Box divides opinion — boundary-pushing innovators to some, fancy bottles and marketing to others. Orchard House is their fruit-forward blended malt, and it's exactly what it promises: bright apple, pear and pineapple over golden syrup and buttery pastry, finishing on fruit and vanilla buttercream. A genuinely easy-drinking showcase of Scotch's lighter side — but is bright and breezy enough to win me over?
Lochlea keeps cropping up. This young Ayrshire distillery only started in 2018 but already does things differently — growing its own barley on the estate for control over the whole process. The farm-to-bottle care shows: pear and orange marmalade, an oily palate of golden syrup, buttered soda bread and almonds, and a long, peppery-barley finish. A genuinely impressive dram for such a young name.
Highland Park's reputation precedes it — Orkney's finest, distilling since 1798, the 12 often held up as a benchmark for balanced, lightly-peated, sherried Scotch. In the glass: gentle heather smoke, honey and dried fruit, smooth and easy-drinking, with a medium finish of oak and lingering smoke. Reputations are made to be tested, though — does it earn its billing?
After the Barrel Reserve made an impression, I was keen to dig deeper into Arran. The 10 year old sits at the heart of the range and brings sherry casks into the mix — supposedly their signature style. It's fresh and herbal: green apple, pear and lemon zest over sweet malt, with cinnamon and hazelnut on a clean medium finish. A real step up — and quintessential Arran?
If you've spent any time exploring whisky seriously, you'll know the feeling. You're standing in a bottle shop, or browsing online, and you see a name that rings a bell. Did I try that? Did I like it? Was it the one with the smoky finish or the sherry bomb? You can't quite remember, and you wish you'd written it down somewhere.
As the 2020s unfold, Scotch stands at a crossroads — a full-blown craft revolution, lost distilleries resurrected, and fierce global competition forcing Scotland to reckon with what comes next.
The 21st century brought Scotch both triumph and tension — soaring sales and record exports on one hand, ever-greater corporate consolidation and a defiant craft movement on the other.
The 1980s marked a turning point few saw coming. After decades of corporate dominance, a new generation began discovering single malt — finding the complexity and authenticity the big blends couldn't offer.
Laphroaig divides people like few others — you love the medicinal peat or you stay well clear. The standard 10 has converted thousands; this cask-strength version cranks everything up. Expect a wall of bonfire smoke, TCP, iodine, seaweed and tar at a hefty 58.5%, with a long, gloriously smoky finish. The classic turned up to maximum volume — brave or foolish?
Special releases come thick and fast these days, but Fèis Ìle bottlings still pull me in. This 2024 Bunnahabhain is a 14 year old port-cask release from Islay's annual festival. The port shows gloriously: raspberry, strawberry and dark chocolate, jammy and rich at a hefty 58.7%, with that signature coastal salt lingering through a long finish. Something a little special — and absolutely stunning.
Oban sits in an interesting spot — a Highland distillery with west-coast salt in its veins, often called a bridge between the gentler Highland malts and the bigger island styles. The 14, its flagship, is gently coastal: sea spray and salt air, a smooth, surprisingly light palate, and a medium finish of lingering smoke and salt. Elegant and pleasant — but is pleasant enough?
Ardbeg commands real respect among Islay devotees, and Uigeadail — named after the loch that feeds the distillery — is often called one of the finest in the core range. It's a powerhouse: earthy, medicinal peat smoke at a warming 54.2%, lifted by a layer of sherry-cask richness, with a long, gloriously smoky finish. Big boots to fill — does it live up to the hype?
The industry entered the 1920s diminished and uncertain, the golden age already a memory. Ahead lay six decades of crisis: Prohibition, the Depression, another world war, and the suffocating grip of the blenders.
The euphoria of whisky's golden age couldn't last forever. By the late 1880s, the industry's spectacular growth had created dangerous vulnerabilities. Overproduction, speculation, and questionable practices were undermining the foundations of prosperity. What followed were four decades of crisis: fraudulent collapse, corporate consolidation, a world war that shut down distilleries, and an uncertain post-war recovery that left the industry transformed and diminished.
By the 1850s Scotch had stepped out of the shadows of illegality into legitimate commerce — distilleries multiplying, blenders building mass-market brands, and Scottish spirit winning admirers far beyond Britain.
Campbeltown has always intrigued me — once the whisky capital of Scotland with 30-odd distilleries, now down to three. Glen Scotia is one of them, and the 15 wears its origins proudly: a maritime nose of sea air and brine, a gently saline, warming palate, and a long coastal finish laced with spice and oak. A proper Campbeltown dram — was it worth the wait?
There's something quietly rebellious about Bunnahabhain. While the rest of Islay shouts about peat, this remote distillery lets sherry and coastal character lead. The unpeated 12, their flagship, is rich and inviting: nutty dried fruit — raisins and figs — Christmas-cake spice and a whisper of coastal salt, all remarkably smooth at 46.3%. Proof Islay can do far more than peat bombs.
Here we are again. Aberlour - my Achilles' heel, as I've said before. The distillery where it all started for me, the one I keep returning to even when I know I should probably explore elsewhere. But this time is different. This time I'm trying something I've been genuinely excited about: the A'bunadh Alba.
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