We're back with the Scotch Malt Whisky Societies June 2026 outturn review. This month features 24 new bottlings, with a few distilleries popping up that we've not seen in a while - Deanston, Strathisla and BenRiach.
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 June. 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...
6.93 - Macduff (Glen Deveron) Distillery
Name: Postprandial parcel
Flavour Profile: Toasted Oak & Vanilla
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 66.2%
Age: 9
Price: £55.00
The nose opens with honey, sweet lemonade, some red apple, a little banana skin and some coconut shavings. There’s also a biscuitiness behind this, more like custard creams. The palate has a fair bit of sweet fruit, mango, a little pineapple, with an undertone of vanilla fondant. It’s got a good mouthfeel, a little bit too much peppery spice but it’s a solid bourbon cask.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Not a bad price all things considered, it's just a shame the whisky is just ok.
10.297 - Bunnahabhain Distillery
Name: The perfumer's delight
Flavour Profile: Smoky & Fruity
Region: Islay
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-madeira barrique
ABV: 57.0%
Age: 12
Price: £87.00
The nose opens with chippy grease, dark berries, burnt batter, cocoa powder, fish scales, and remnants of a coall fire. The palate has more of a nutty profile, candied cashews and walnuts, burnt herbs and some rubber in the background too. It’s got a fair bit of spice, but it’s balanced, more of a peppery sensation. There’s a bit of a bitter finish, but overall it’s a decent Stoisha.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: A few quid cheaper than the last 12yo Bunnahabhain from the society.
12.93 - Benriach Distillery
Name: Fondant correspondent
Flavour Profile: Ripe Fruits & Honey
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: refill ex-oloroso hogshead
ABV: 56.6%
Age: 15
Price: £98.00
The nose opens with some mild black fruits, blackcurrants, blackberries, a little cherry too. There’s also some candied nuts and a little dark chocolate. The palate has a bit of a thinner texture than we’d like, but the sherry is very well balanced and integrated. Lots of dark fruits, mild nuttiness and a bit of black pepper spice. There’s also some chocolate buttons. We appreciate the subtle sherry that’s been integrated well, and it’s got some complexity coming through for a 15yo BenRiach.
Score: 7.5/10
Value: It would have been nice to see this at a cheaper price.
16.102 - Glenturret Distillery
Name: Barbecued pulled pork sandwich
Flavour Profile: Smoky & Fruity
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 62.1%
Age: 11
Price: £70.00
The nose opens with smoked mackerel, buttery brioche, tar, seaweed, it’s got a savoury tinge more than a sweet profile - beef monster munch perhaps. The palate has a nutty arrival, some candied almonds and cashews, but there’s a layer of sweet lemon on top. There’s a bit of a charred oak flavour coming through on the latter part of the palate, and also a bit of peach too.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Not a bad price for a hit of peat.
39.328 - Linkwood Distillery
Name: Spanish-American Speyside scotch
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-oloroso butt
ABV: 53.5%
Age: 17
Price: £100.00
The nose opens with cola cubes, candied ginger, copper coins, toffee apples and a few walnuts too. It’s got a bit of a Tizer aroma going on, along with some red currants. The palate has a decent texture, but feels quite manufactured - brown sugar, raspberries, strawberry puree, .. just a lot of seasoned sherry flavours. Nothing wrong with that - but it feels like the flavours are not quite integrated properly.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Not a bad price given the distillery, age and cask type.
48.185 - Balmenach Distillery
Name: The cooper and the craft
Flavour Profile: Toasted Oak & Vanilla
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill HTMC hogshead
ABV: 48.2%
Age: 17
Price: £96.00
The nose opens with pencil shavings, Irn Bru, toffee, dark chocolate, copper coins and sour orange sweeties. There’s a lot of that HTMC coming through, but it feels integrated enough. The palate has a good mouthfeel, syrup like, with brown sugar, toffee pennies, Irn Bru, and a little ginger spice. Actually pretty good, the HTMC has boosted the flavours and aromas here.
Score: 7/10
Value: This feels like a decent price given the age and cask type.
53.528 - Caol Ila Distillery
Name: Smoked Mexican mole
Flavour Profile: Bold & Peaty
Region: Islay
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon hogshead & refill charred red wine barrique
ABV: 58.3%
Age: 15
Price: £104.00
The nose opens with amaretto, brown sugar, salt water, tar, wet pebbles and warm toast. The peat is there, although it’s softer than expected. The palate has a decent texture, butterscotch, tannin, red currants, and a lot of sugar that develops as the palate continues. Like the nose, the smoke is there, but it’s more of a backing actor. There’s a fizziness, like lambrusco, that begins to develop. It’s a good whisky but it’s not Caol Ila to us, and if you’re into that classical Caol Ila profile, this might be too soft for you.
Score: 7/10
Value: A little pricey, but then society Caol Ila usually is.
58.64 - Strathisla Distillery
Name: Disarmingly debonair
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill American oak ex-PX hogshead
ABV: 54.9%
Age: 18
Price: £125.00
The nose opens with Irn Bru, ginger cake, chocolate buttons, alongside mild red fruits, a little raspberry and strawberry. We’re getting some more dried fruits, raisins and sultanas, as we go back. The palate has a bit of a thin texture, but feels really juicy.. more of those strawberry and raspberry notes, a bit of ginger spice and brown sugar. It’s a bit too warm on the finish for us but decent otherwise.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Definitely feels like this is priced too high.
60.51 - Aberfeldy Distillery
Name: Pivot to petrichor
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 1st fill STR, oloroso seasoned barrique
ABV: 58.7%
Age: 11
Price: £75.00
The nose opens with some aged cheese, a little butyric acid, mango purée, and red kola. There’s a bit of meatiness here too, some venison and red currant jelly. The palate has more of a red fruit character, a little black pepper, some strawberry jam, cola cubes and cured meats. It’s got a decent balance and decent sherry integration, but there’s a bit of funk here that’s not quite jiving with us.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Price is ok given the cask type.
64.171 - Mannochmore Distillery
Name: Alpine chalet breakfast
Flavour Profile: Dried Fruits & Spices
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill American oak ex-oloroso hogshead
ABV: 55.7%
Age: 13
Price: £70.00
The nose opens with fizzy cherry sweetie, raspberries, lemon leaves, and some fresh apple slices. There’s also some caramac bars too. The palate has red fruits, currants, strawberries, cherry jam and some crushed mint in the background. There’s a bit of peppery spice, but it’s got a juiciness behind it. It’s a nice mannochmore, not overly complex or exciting, but a solid dram.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Good price all things considered.
66.268 - Ardmore Distillery
Name: We'll Be Dramming!
Flavour Profile: Smoky & Fruity
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: Bourbon & American oak oloroso
ABV: 49.0%
Age: 27
Price: £199.00
The nose opens with farmyardy aromas, alongside soft fudge, haybales, sawdust and some light peach in the background. It’s quite light, not overly sherried, a light touch of red fruit and cured meat, but it’s integrated relatively well. The palate has a lot of sweetness, sugar paper, lemon water, not a lot of peat smoke at all, there’s a background note of singed orange peel and dried earth. If you like Ardmore, you actually may not like this - it feels like the distillery character has been stripped out and the cask has overtaken - but it’s tasty.
Score: 7/10
Value: Nice to see older whisky at a more affordable price point.
71.115 - Glenburgie Distillery
Name: The bouquet's embrace
Flavour Profile: Sweet & Zesty
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 58.2%
Age: 15
Price: £98.00
The nose opens with melon balls, apples, chalk candy, a floral undertone and some ripe peach too. It’s not jumping out the glass, but it rewards you when you go deeper into it - subtle and pleasant. The palate has an ok mouthfeel, with more melon, some lemon, lime zest, coastal breeze, with a bit of grapefruit on the finish. A solid bourbon barrel, much more floral and fruity than sweet and rich.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Definitely feels like this should be a little cheaper.
73.175 - Aultmore Distillery
Name: Summer camp experience
Flavour Profile: Ripe Fruits & Honey
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 2nd fill STR ex-oloroso barrique
ABV: 60.3%
Age: 14
Price: £80.00
The nose opens with Terrys chocolate orange, candied ginger, fizzy lemonade, some peach rings and butterscotch. It’s quite well integrated actually, not overly sherry forward but enough extra character coming through. The palate is fizzier, red currants and raspberries mixed with dark chocolate and roasted coffee beans. The alcohol is a bit more punchy here, but overall it’s a solid dram.
Score: 7/10
Value: This feels like a decent price given the age and cask type.
79.15 - Deanston Distillery
Name: Fifty shades of citrus
Flavour Profile: Sweet & Zesty
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 60.1%
Age: 8
Price: £64.00
The nose opens with castle rock, candied cigarettes, candied ginger, candied apple.. actually everything candied really. The palate has more of a citrus kick, but a real strong peppery spice. The texture isn’t giving us the weight we’d want, but there’s a bit of thickness in the background. A little too spicy for us, and isn’t really giving us what we want from the distillery. We were between 6 and 6.5, but we’ll go 6.5/10
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Not a bad price for indie Deanston.
85.111 - Glen Elgin Distillery
Name: Doorway to decadent complexity
Flavour Profile: Ripe Fruits & Honey
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bodega PX barrique
ABV: 55.2%
Age: 16
Price: £88.00
The nose opens with margerine, sherry funk, cured meats, .. it’s got a bit of butyric acid going on. There’s a fair bit of weight to the dram, and even a little cask char/smoke here. The palate has Black Forest gateau, venison, brownies, and a continuation of that milky creaminess. The mouthfeel is good and overall it’s a nice dram, but some of the meatier aromas and flavours throw us off a bit.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Good price for the age and cask type.
94.56 - Fettercairn Distillery
Name: Potpourri paradox
Flavour Profile: Ripe Fruits & Honey
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 61.3%
Age: 14
Price: £85.00
The nose opens with buttercream, preserved lemon, vanilla pods, and light fudge. There’s a bit of that Fettercairn funk in the background, almost like a plasticy note, and some green bananas too. The palate has a decent texture, melon balls, lemon wedges, and.. a weird mouldy funk on the finish. It’s got a bit of a warm sweat thing going on. Can’t say we love Fettercairn, and we don’t really love this dram.
Score: 5.5/10
Value: This should have been cheaper.
113.84 - Braeval (Braes of Glenlivet) Distillery
Name: Bottled sunshine
Flavour Profile: Ripe Fruits & Honey
Region: Speyside
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 60.0%
Age: 14
Price: £80.00
The nose opens with milky cooking chocolate, peach juice, lemon balm, light fudge, and some simple brown sugars. It feels a little plain, maltier in style, maybe some brown bread too. The palate has a good texture, some fizzy peach, simple vanilla, and a bit of chili heat. It’s totally fine, but unremarkable. Not one we’ll remember tomorrow.
Score: 6/10
Value: Not a terrible price for the distillery at this age.
121.125 - Isle of Arran Distillery
Name: Yeah, they were all yellow
Flavour Profile: Sweet & Zesty
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 62.0%
Age: 9
Price: £60.00
The nose opens with white bread, vanilla pods, coconut, some mango, red apple skin and limoncello. The palate has a lovely thick and viscous texture, more mango, puréed this time, juicy apple, moving into some underripe grapefruit on the finish. There’s a lot of fresh citrus, sugary sweetness, with great cask integration and only a bit of spice on the finish.
Score: 7.5/10
Value: Good price for an indie release of Arran at cask strength.
122.94 - Loch Lomond (Croftengea) Distillery
Name: Coal dust and salt crust
Flavour Profile: Smoky & Fruity
Region: Highlands
Cask Type: 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 61.3%
Age: 8
Price: £52.00
The nose opens with antiseptic, burnt bacon, cashew nuts, wood shavings, pineapple on the barbecue, lemon balm, and wet leaves. The palate has a real citrus sweetness upfront, moving into oysters, lemon juice, salt water, wet pebbles and pineapple juice. The peat is fairly upfront, but it doesn’t overpower the dram, it works quite nicely with it. It might be overly sweet for some, but it’s a solid peaty dram.
Score: 7/10
Value: A very good price for a hit of peat.
137.22 - St. George’s (The English Whisky Co.) Distillery
Name: Vader’s herbal spin cycle
Flavour Profile: Bold & Peaty
Region: England
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
ABV: 57.2%
Age: 6
Price: £69.00
The nose opens with a herbal peat, lots of green leaves, a little melon, some lemon zest, sawdust and potatoes left in a cupboard. The palate has lemon balm, fresh dirt, bitter melon, and some spiced potpourri. There’s a bit of caramelised vanilla in the background too, and quite an earthy, dirty peat. It’s decent but feels a bit warm and bitter in places.
Score: 6.5/10
Value: Not a bad price for a hit of peat.
G7.23 - Girvan Distillery
Name: Tickling the glorious barber
Flavour Profile: Toasted Oak & Vanilla
Region: Lowlands
Cask Type: 1st fill ex-bourbon hogshead
ABV: 58.3%
Age: 12
Price: £52.00
The nose opens with varnish, a little ginger, almost rye spice, quite drying, a little sawdust, and a little bit of cask sweetness. The palate has a lot more cask sweetness, and covers up some of the neutral grain spirit. Lemon sherbet, vanilla bon bons, a little fudge come through too. There’s still a kick of alcohol on the finish, although it’s lower ABV than expected. The palate is much better than the nose here - we were worried.
Score: 6/10
Value: Ok price for some cask strength grain it's just a shame it's been bottled so young.
B5.21 - George Dickel (Cascade Hollow)
Name: Tennessee to Talawakelle
Flavour Profile: Toasted Oak & Vanilla
Region: USA
Cask Type: new charred oak barrel
ABV: 60.8%
Age: 10
Price: £79.00
The nose opens with menthol, Vicks vapour rub, polo mints, mixed with some sugary vanilla sweetness. Fairly simple, but light weight on the nose. The palate has some rye spice, toffee sweetness, and some chili heat. It’s not too bad, a little basic, but we appreciate the extra age on it.
Score: 6/10
Value: Good price for a single cask bourbon at 10yo.
Batch 40 - SMWS Blended Batch
Name: Fruit Bomb
Flavour Profile: Toasted Oak & Vanilla
Region: nan
Cask Type: matured in a selection of first fill casks
ABV: 50.0%
Age: 10
Price: £55.00
The nose opens with a burst of confectionery, lots of artificial sweetness, lots of fruit sweeties, but not much else. The palate has some almond marzipan, brown sugar, creme brûlée up front, then some of those artificial fruit flavours lingering on the finish. Actually it’s not bad at all, pop the cork and throw it away. We don’t mind the alcohol being at 50%, for this dram it works.
Score: 7/10
Value: Ok price for a small batch release at 10yo in bourbon.
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