We're back with the Scotch Malt Whisky Societies April 2026 outturn review. This month features 28 new bottlings, with a fair number of sherried and HTMC offerings included. There's also 4 new venue exclusive bottlings, each selected by the venue team at The Vaults, Queen Street, Bath Street and Greville Street.
We think we tried all of this months releases, but if there are any mid month surprises we'll attempt to review those as we get further into February. Check out our social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to get updates on the mid-month bottles and heads up on our other reviews.
The scores below are based on our initial impressions. For full disclosure, we won't spend as much time with a dram as we usually do for a full review, but we hope you'll find the scores useful.
- 10 - Perfection. One in a million
- 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
- 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
- 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
- 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
- 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
- 4 - Below average. Passable.
- 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
- 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
- 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.
Onto the bottles...
4.399 - Highland Park Distillery
Name: Fish Platter on A Clyde Puffer
Flavour Profile: Oily & Coastal
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill STR PX Barrique
ABV: 63.6%
Age: 19
Price: £150.00
The nose has honey nut cheerios, light tofffee, sour candies, salted caramel and coastal sea air. The alcohol isn’t too prominent given the monstrous ABV. The palate has a decent texture, slightly earthy, sweet honey, some cereal notes and some salted caramel on the finish. It’s a solid Highland Park, relatively classic, not overly peated or earthy but quite well balanced.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: You can find better value "Secret Orkney" releases.
6.87 - Macduff (Glen Deveron) Distillery
Name: Orchard Discotheque
Flavour Profile: Toasted Oak & Vanilla
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st Fill HTMC Barrel
ABV: 57.9%
Age: 14
Price: £79.00
The nose has simple white bread, a little copper, white flowers, maybe even a little cheesecake too. Going back, there’s some strawberries and cream, reminds us of Wimbledon. The palate is really creamy, lots of vanilla, Victoria sponge, light red fruits, cake batter, very confectionery led too but with a bit of spice. The HTMC gives it a bit of a charred profile, and that’s lifted this from what was probably a bit boring but now is fairly palatable.
Score: 6/10
Value: A few pounds cheaper would have been appreciated.
8.53 - Tamdhu Distillery
Name: A Walk in the Park
Flavour Profile: Light & Delicate
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel
ABV: 59.6%
Age: 9
Price: £55.00
The nose has a little funk, like chlorine, alongside simple sugar, malt extract, liquorice, a little ethanol and white peach. The palate has a decent texture, more vanilla, but lots of vegetal funk.. it’s got a grassy, almost sulphury flavour. Not great, and not for us. Too musty, dank and moist for us.
Score: 5/10
Value: Good price for an indie release of Tamdhu.
9.315 - Glen Grant Distillery
Name: Warmed By the Sun
Flavour Profile: Fragrant & Floral
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill Ex-Bourbon Hogshead
ABV: 56.2%
Age: 17
Price: £93.00
The nose has some cookie dough, mellow chocolate, hazelnut, almond marzipan and a little raspberry. The palate is quite biscuity, it’s like an empire biscuit with lots of jam and vanilla fondant. It’s a decent dram, some nice notes, a little peppery on the finish, but pleasant enough.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Not a bad price given the distillery, age and cask type.
9.316 - Glen Grant Distillery
Name: Four Seasons In A Dram
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill Spanish PX Hogshead
ABV: 55.0%
Age: 32
Price: £375.00
The nose gives a lot of old wood, bookshelves, old furniture, alongside raisins, cherries, rose water and a little malty chocolate. There’s also a pink flower thing coming through too. Very well balanced alcohol. The palate has cherry cola, amaretto, a little cinnamon spice, a handful of chocolate coins too. It’s tasty, but we can’t help think that the PX has massively overshadowed the spirit, and for us it’s a bit out of balance. Tasty, but too much sherry.
Score: 7/10
Value: Still pricey, but we're glad to see older whisky coming down in price.
11.77 - Tomatin Distillery
Name: Sweet Smoked Strawberries
Flavour Profile: Smoky & Fruity
Region: Highland
Cask Type: Bourbon Barrel
ABV: 58.3%
Age: 13
Price: £78.00
The nose has a lovely mix of macerated strawberries, apple cores, pear skin and the lightest whiff of sweet peat. It’s very confectionery led with a wisp of sweet smoke in the background. The palate has a decent texture, lots of pear juice, skin and a bit of vegetal peat, it’s like if you put pears on the barbecue. The pear lingers into the finish, soft and gentle. There’s a little sweetcorn note coming through too. This is actually pretty solid, first peated Tomatin we’ve seen from SMWS in a while and a great showing.
Score: 7/10
Value: This feels good value given its peated distillate.
28.113 - Tullibardine Distillery
Name: Flower to the People
Flavour Profile: Spicy & Sweet
Region: Highland
Cask Type: Bourbon Barrel
ABV: 59.8%
Age: 9
Price: £55.00
The nose opens with waffle cones, sawn wood, caramel sauce, and some cooking chocolate. The palate has more caramel, toffee bon bons and malt extract - like malt loaf. It’s very generic, one dimensional and forgettable. Not much else to say.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: Good price for an indie release of Tullibardine.
35.402 - Glen Moray Distillery
Name: Domestic Bliss On The Terrace
Flavour Profile: Fragrant & Floral
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: Bourbon Barrel
ABV: 54.7%
Age: 12
Price: £65.00
The nose opens with sweet vanilla, coconut shavings, lemon water, marshmallow and overall it's very confectionery led. There’s a little alcohol spice but it’s well restrained. The palate has a decent texture, more orchard fruits, lemon peel, vanilla wafers, peach rings and pear drops. It’s very well made, very drinkable, almost too drinkable. Balanced, easy going whisky that just works. Excellent Glen Moray.
Score: 8/10
Value: Price seems fair considering the distillery and cask type.
36.234 - Benrinnes Distillery
Name: Curiouser & Curiouser
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: Muscat De Rivesaltes Barrique
ABV: 58.4%
Age: 15
Price: £80.00
The nose has lots of funky meat, rancio, plum jam, cherry cola and a floralality, some rose petals maybe. The palate still has a savoury, meaty quality, red fruits but also some white grape, it’s really quite unique. Maybe the first Muscat de Rivesaltes we’ve had, it’s one we’d like to explore a lot more. It’s got a real Mortlach quality to the dram.
Score: 7/10
Value: Fair price for the age and cask type.
39.321 - Linkwood Distillery
Name: Bonbon Voyage
Flavour Profile: Sweet Fruity & Mellow
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: Bourbon Hogshead
ABV: 53.4%
Age: 11
Price: £55.00
The nose has a little bit of wood varnish, ethanol, light toffee, butterscotch, there’s too much alcohol that’s fighting the sweeter notes. There’s definitely a bit of astringent quality to the dram. The palate has a decent, melted werthers original texture, a bit of citrus, cinnamon sticks and cake batter. It still a bit warm, and even a bit of salinity in the background. It’s a fine Linkwood, nothing to write home about.
Score: 6/10
Value: This feels good value given the distillery and cask type.
39.327 - Linkwood Distillery
Name: Widens the Horizen
Flavour Profile: Fragrant & Floral
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill Bodega ex-oloroso Butt
ABV: 56.4%
Age: 13
Price: £80.00
The nose has almond paste, vanilla sponge, shortbread, and .. not too much else. There’s also some green apple skin in the background. The palate has some sugar syrup, more of that apple, this time more of the flesh, and something slightly sour, like sour apple candies. There also vanilla and some green peppercorns. It’s a fine Linkwood, but we couldn’t find any of the oloroso here at all.
Score: 6/10
Value: Like the other 39, a good price all things considered.
41.190 - Dailuaine Distillery
Name: Together Again
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st Fill Spanish Oloroso Hogshead
ABV: 57.6%
Age: 19
Price: £110.00
The nose has a real milky, malty quality, moving into more rich, slightly nutty profile. It gives us more of a Bruichladdich nose, there’s a real butyric acid thing going on. There’s a layer of light red fruits that sit on top of this. The palate is thin, and disappointing. There’s too much spice, but there’s a bit of red fruit, currants, and cherry jam. We had such high hopes from the nose, it combined some of our favourite distilleries, but the palate really lets this dram down.
Score: 6/10
Value: Decent price when you consider the age.
46.164 - Glenlossie Distillery
Name: Brandy Snaps And Armagnac Rancio
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st Fill American Oloroso Hogshead
ABV: 58.7%
Age: 18
Price: £104.00
The nose opens with cured meats, red berries, rancio, black cherry and clove spice. Very sherry forward indeed. The palate has a bit of a watery texture, brandy butter, warm cinnamon spice and some black peppercorns providing a lot of lingering spice. We’d expect a bit more balance for an 18yo.
Score: 6/10
Value: This feels quite good value given the age and cask types.
53.510 - Caol Ila Distillery
Name: Maritime & Mealtime
Flavour Profile: Bold & Peaty
Region: Islay
Cask Type: STR PX Barrique
ABV: 57.4%
Age: 13
Price: £98.00
The nose opens with clear butyric acid, this smells just like Bruichladdich. There’s a real cheese and chive note coming through for us, salty, sweet, sour, all over the place. The palate has more of a peat smoke, but still maintains a cheese and chive profile, moving quickly into more of a dirty, smoked mackerel profile. Not your typical Caol Ila, slightly spicy, a Caol Ila in Bruichladdichs clothing. We kinda like it.
Score: 7/10
Value: A few pounds cheaper would have been nice.
53.512 - Caol Ila Distillery
Name: Haven In A Heartless World
Flavour Profile: Bold & Peaty
Region: Islay
Cask Type: Refill Red Wine Barrique
ABV: 58.7%
Age: 12
Price: £88.00
The nose opens with mackerel fillets, cheddar cheese, bin juice, almond flakes, slightly ashy, slightly acrid. The palate has a bit of citrus upfront, watery apple juice, wood spices, burnt staves, and burnt fish skin. It’s a fine Caol Ila, nothing we’re going to remember in the morning.
Score: 6/10
Value: Like this month's other 53, a few pounds cheaper would have been nice.
60.54 - Aberfeldy Distillery
Name: Sunlit Flowers And Autumn Showers
Flavour Profile: Sweet & Zesty
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon Barrel
ABV: 59.2%
Age: 12
Price: £74.00
The nose has some buttered bread, ethanol, with a light fruitiness, maybe some apricot, but it’s quite far in the background. The palate has a decent texture, more citrus upfront, orange and lemon, but it reminds us of cheap, watered down supermarket juice. There's also some digestive biscuits towards the finish. Forgettable unfortunately, not really any finish or much else to excite us.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: This should be closer to £60 / £65.
64.163 - Mannochmore Distillery
Name: Eau De Bibliotheque
Flavour Profile: Toasted Oak & Vanilla
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: French Oak PX Hogshead
ABV: 55.8%
Age: 14
Price: £65.00
The nose has caramel wafers, buttercream, sweet vanilla, haribo eggs, and ground cinnamon. The palate has a lot of apples and pears, hazelnuts, light caramel and a limeade flavour towards the finish. There’s a lingering jagermiester taste that takes us back to our teenage years. Perhaps we’d biased but the finish really turns us off. Saying that, some may like it more.
Score: 6/10
Value: Very good price considering the distillery and cask type.
64.169 - Mannochmore Distillery
Name: Bright, Effervescent And Full Of Energy
Flavour Profile: Ripe Fruits & Honey
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st Fill Bodega PX Barrique
ABV: 57.6%
Age: 16
Price: £92.50
The nose opens with raspberry coulis, red currants, rosewater, sour plum and potpourri. The palate has some blackcurrant cordial, more cherry and raspberry, just lots of fruits layered on top of a spirit that is struggling to shine past them. Sweet, simple and drinkable.
Score: 6/10
Value: Feels too expensive all things considered.
68.137 - Blair Athol Distillery
Name: Huckleberry Mainlined
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill Bodega ex-oloroso Butt
ABV: 56.6%
Age: 9
Price: £90.00
The nose opens with freshly made waffles, caramel syrup, freshly opened vanilla pods, and some blackcurrant jam right in the background. The nose brings us back to our childhood. It’s also got a good balance of alcohol, spirit and cask. The palate has a reasonable texture, lots of caramel, stroopwaffles, some peach juice, and brown sugar sweetness. This isn’t bad at all, the palate is a little thinner than we’d like but it’s a solid dram.
Score: 7/10
Value: Another one that's too expensive in our opinion.
80.67 - Glen Spey Distillery
Name: A Parisian Bonbon
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill Spanish oak ex-oloroso Hogshead
ABV: 58.1%
Age: 15
Price: £80.00
The nose has Irn Bru, fizzy raspberry, a little light caramel and some richer wood sugars and spices. There’s a certain nuttiness here too, very almondy as we spend more time with it. The palate has a real confectionery forward note, lots of raspberry, vanilla syrup and a little cinnamon spice. A fair mix of sherry and bourbon, a little generic but not offensive.
Score: 6/10
Value: Decent price when you consider the cask type.
85.107 - Glen Elgin Distillery
Name: Grandmas Honeycomb Oliebollen
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: Ex Bodega PX Barrique
ABV: 60.5%
Age: 16
Price: £92.50
The nose opens with currents, jam doughnuts, icing sugar and Danish pastries. It’s fairly bakery-esque on the nose, more buttery and pastry notes start to appear. The palate has fizzy raspberry, strawberry bon bons, a little thin of a palate, with some chocolate coming through on the finish. The palate is thin but the rest of the dram is pretty solid, maybe a little spicy on the finish but it’s forgivable.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: A few pounds cheaper would have been nice.
95.113 - Auchroisk Distillery
Name: Popcorn in Bloom
Flavour Profile: Ripe Fruits & Honey
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-tawny port Barrique
ABV: 54.0%
Age: 16
Price: £92.50
The nose has rancio, we’re definitely in funky cask territory now. There’s a little baby sick, but when you get past that there’s more of a sponge cake and currant jam. The palate has a really thin texture, with kombucha, sour raspberry, spoiled chocolate and some nutty notes in the background. It’s been destroyed by the port, and really not to our tastes.
Score: 5/10
Value: Feels too expensive to us.
105.57 - Tormore Distillery
Name: Tangerine Trees And Marmalade Skies
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 2nd fill Spanish oloroso Hogshead
ABV: 55.8%
Age: 16
Price: £95.00
The nose is fairly sherry forward, lots of raisins, sultanas, dates, it’s really rich, really really rich. It’s almost nutty, toffee, slightly funky too. The palate has lots more rich chocolate and toffee, blueberries, a bit more dark fruit and raisin bran. It feels a bit disjointed, the front of the palate is good but the latter palate feels a bit left out, aggressive and spirit forward.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Again, feels like this should be cheaper.
112.130 - Loch Lomond (Inchmurrin) Distillery
Name: Totally Tropical Timber
Flavour Profile: Toasted Oak & Vanilla
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill toasted oak Barrique
ABV: 52.8%
Age: 16
Price: £89.00
The nose has a bit of mango pulp, candied pineapple, and strawberry and cream bon bons. It’s quite a pleasant nose, not jumping out of the glass but very approachable. The palate has a thick, viscous texture and reminds us of rum, lots of tropical fruits, a bit of funk, really quite esthery. It’s like the long fermentation of Inchmurrin mixed with some toasted wood sugars.. it reminds us of a well aged grain, and that’s no bad thing. Quality dram.
Score: 7.5/10
Value: This feels quite good value given the age and cask type.
122.81 - Loch Lomond (Croftengea) Distillery
Name: Prehistoric Steak Night
Flavour Profile: Bold & Peaty
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 2nd fill American oak ex-PX Hogshead
ABV: 59.8%
Age: 9
Price: £68.00
The nose opens with a slightly coastal, smoked aroma. There’s also a nice bit of sweetness, butterscotch and whipped cream. Going back, the peat is going more farmyardy, it’s got a few layers to it. The mouthfeel is fine, fairly peach forward, potpourri, Parmaviolets, maybe a little too floral. There’s definitely a lot of sweetness here, this feels like if you like flowery whiskies, you’ll like this.
Score: 6/10
Value: Good price for a hit of peat.
122.89 - Loch Lomond (Croftengea) Distillery
Name: From Hogshead to Farm Shed
Flavour Profile: Bold & Peaty
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 2nd fill American oak ex-PX Hogshead
ABV: 59.9%
Age: 9
Price: £65.00
The nose opens with red currant, berry coulis, ginger juice, spiced apple slices and a light gentle peat smoke in the background. The more we nose it, the more farmyardy, funky aromas appear. The palate has a decent texture, lots of red berries, some raisins, carrot juice, and some toasted nuts too. It’s a little warm on the finish, but fairly pleasant. A nice mix of sweet, peat and sherry.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Like today's other 112 a good price for a hit of peat.
135.78 - Loch Lomond (Inchmoan) Distillery
Name: There's Juice Loose About This Hoose
Flavour Profile: Ripe Fruits & Honey
Region: Highland
Cask Type: 1st fill HTMC Hogshead
ABV: 54.2%
Age: 17
Price: £105.00
The nose has lots of almonds, buttercream, crab apples, and caramel covered waffles. A really intriguing nose. The palate has a good texture, lots of artificial cherry, whipped cream, cream soda, red kola and aniseed. It’s interesting, a bit all over the place but also we want to go back and try more.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: A few pounds cheaper would have been nice.
149.15 - Ardnamurchan Distillery
Name: Lovely Lozenge
Flavour Profile: Sweet & Zesty
Region: Highland
Cask Type: Ex-bourbon Barrel
ABV: 63.7%
Age: 9
Price: £85.00
The nose is fairy typical Ardnamurchan, lots of sweet bourbon wood mixed with a slightly salty, coastal breeze. It’s very beach-like, algae, damp sand, a day out at the beach. There a touch of white peach too. The palate has a bit of texture, and continues with the coastal, slightly salty notes, but with a richer, caramel flavour coming through. There’s also some dark soy sauce and rice vinegar, and a bit of gloopy oyster sauce too. Very coastal, but lots of sweetness to balance - a solid bourbon Ardnamurchan with an Asian twist. The latter palate does go a bit weird though, a little funky.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: The price in line with other indie releases.
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