Here’s a quick listing of what I got you and why:

Highland Park 8yo (year old) by Gordon & MacPhail.
You had this when we came over; at the ongoing sale price, I think this is the best whisky value around.

Glenfiddich Experiment aged in IPA casks, NAS (No Age Statement).
We were sent a bottle of this and I loved it. It was deeply on sale, so I grabbed you one. Very interesting flavors! (Don’t be put off by the NAS. After talking with distillers and brand ambassadors, I learned they do it because in Scotland, if you add one drop of 3yo whisky to a 35yo cask, you have to sell it as a 3yo whisky. So this Glenfiddich probably has a lot of 12-15yo whisky, and then a bunch of 6-10yo whisky, too.)

Amrut Fusion, NAS.
Amrut is made in India, and I’ve become a huge fan. This is made with a combination of Indian and Scottish barley. It’s probably just 3yo, but whisky ages super fast in India because of the heat and humidity, vs. that in Scotland. (Amrut sells 9yo whisky for $900/bottle!) Because of Diwali, there was a 20% off sale on Amrut this past weekend, so I grabbed you a bottle.

Glendullan 18yo.
They just sent us some bottles a few months ago. I like them, and this is the most affordable 18yo around. Also on sale.

Mortlach 14yo by Signatory, another independent bottler.
Mortlach caused me to realize I knew nothing about whisky. I assumed I’d tried all the good distilleries (after I’d had whisky from about 20 or so distilleries). After trying a Mortlach, I realized the whisky world extended off in many different directions and that I had a lot to learn. I’ve not had this particular bottling, but I love the stuff Signatory bought in the late 1990s and bottled a while ago. Weirdly, wonderfully, stores haven’t raised prices on Signatories that they bought 5-10 years ago, and as such, they constitute some of the best value around. A snapshot, if you will, of the whisky market from not long ago! A 14yo Mortlach these days is normally $140 or higher, although to be fair, it’d often be because the proof would be higher. I think this is 80 proof, and independent bottlings can go easily above 100 proof. Over time, I became a fan of higher proof whiskies, but now, generally I tend to water them down and enjoy them more.


I guess the last bit of advice follows from the previous sentence: Since you have whole bottles here, and not just small samples, I’d encourage you to feel free to experiment with adding a few drops of water to a glass, sipping it, and then adding even a few drops more! It usually makes a difference, usually better, occasionally worse, sometimes very odd. (Example: Counterintuitively, adding water can make a “hot” (ie, burning/high alcohol) whisky taste even hotter!


One last note you may not be aware of. Different countries spell whisk(e)y differently. Bourbon and Rye are “whiskey.” Scotch, Japanese, and Indian go with “whisky."