Today’s revies come from the Thompson Brothers’ Mystery Malt series. For those unfamiliar, these bottles were launched in April 2025 by Simon and Phil Thompson of Dornoch Distillery. Each release contains one of sixteen different Single Malt Scotch whiskies, ranging in age from 4 to 29 years.
The bottles are identical in appearance, with no external indication of the whisky’s distillery or age. The true identity is only revealed upon opening, via a label beneath the capsule and on the cork itself. All whiskies are bottled at 48.5% ABV, non-chill filtered, and natural in colour. Priced at £65, each bottle offers the chance to purchase a whisky that might otherwise cost significantly more.
Today, we’ll be looking at the Ardnamurchan and Clynelish releases.
Value: Since the contents are unknown until after opening, we’ll cover value in one section for both. All credit to the Thompson Brothers, while some of the younger releases might be less desirable to certain drinkers, £65 isn’t a bad price to pay for any of the whiskies in this series.
Thompson Brothers Mystery Malts Ardnamurchan
Region: Highlands
ABV: 48.5%
Price: £65.00
This release is a 7yo Ardnamurchan that was matured in Refill Oloroso Octave. 80 bottles were released as part of the Mystery Malts series one.
Nose
The nose opens with slightly burnt honeycomb, a hit of vegetal peatsmoke, ginger powder, and a handful of raisins. We’re also finding a herbal tea blend, slightly smoked, warm and inviting. The smoke is more prominent than we were expecting, for us it feels a little overpowering. Time and air brings out salted caramel, dates and warm clove spice. It’s not the sweetest type of sherry cask, but there’s a good balance of sweet/salty/smokey coming through.
Palate
The palate opens with expensive olive oil, fruity, oily, but soft. It moves into a hit of bonfire smoke, slightly savoury with bacon drizzled in maple syrup. There’s puréed ginger, cardamom, and a bit of chili too - warmer than we expected at 48.5%. The finish lasts a good length with a hint of menthol, salt and sultana. Going back, we’re finding leather, toffee and walnuts too.
Nose (with water)
Palate (with water)
The reduced palate also feels a bit thinner, with the sweet, nutty sherry flavours leading the way. There’s lots of fresh earth from the peat, caramel, brown sugar and some saltwater too. Some of the meatiness has disappeared, and the spice has also mellowed. It feels a bit less interesting now.
Conclusion
There’s a nice mixture of the coastal, peated Ardnamurchan spirit and the meaty, nutty oloroso sherry octave here, coming together to create something quite tasty. We find it a tad warm, hotter on the palate than expected, but there’s bags of flavour here. Ardnamurchan fans won’t be disappointed.
Score: 7/10
Thompson Bros Mystery Malts Clynelish
Region: Highlands
ABV: 48.5%
Price: £65.00
This release is a 9yo Clynelish that was matured in Refill Hogshead. 78 bottles were released as part of the Mystery Malts series one.
Nose
The nose opens with sherbety sweetness up front, mild almond marzipan, a little dove soap, white bread, lemon water, and the faintest hint of candlewax in the background. There’s a pleasant mustiness here too, and overall it’s quite sweet. As the dram opens up, more orchard fruits appear, watery apples and pears, a little lychee too. We were concerned about the spirit being a little too youthful and the cask not imparting enough influence, however that’s not the case - there’s some younger spirit aromas here but they’re not overpowering.
Palate
The palate opens with apple candy, lots and lots of apple, some limeade, strawberry syrup, lemon posset, poached pear, a little fondant icing and prickly ginger ale as the palate develops. The mouthfeel is fine, a tad thinner than we’d like but there’s still bags of flavour. The finish is a tad drying, grapefruit peel and thick green apple skins. The alcohol is mellow, only a little peppery warmth on the latter palate. There’s not too much of the waxy character that Clynelish is famed for, but there’s something distinctly Highland-y that rides through the dram.
Nose (with water)
The reduced nose maintains a sweet, almondy, appley mixture of aromas. The mustiness also carries through, as does lemon water. It’s not really changed much, perhaps a little less expressive.
Palate (with water)
The reduced palate showcases a little more oak upfront, warm caramel with a tinge of bitterness, and a little bit of condensed milk too. There’s more pepperiness coming through, and the mouthfeel has taken a bit of a hit. We prefer it undiluted.
Conclusion
An impressively expressive 9yo Clynelish, lots of spirit character coming through with mellow cask influence that elevates the aromas and flavours. Not overtly Clynelish for us, but there’s a definite Highland note here that separates it from other distilleries.
Score: 7.5/10
- 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.
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