We live in a era of privilege, witnessing the coming of age of brand new whiskies and new things to love. Doog tries Ardnamurchan at ten years old and recounts his fall into complete fandom.

What a treat for a Friday; Dougie turns 40 with loved ones, a Glenallachie 8yo Scottish Oak and an Ardnamurchan 10yo that we'll need to bully him, or treat him, to hear more about.

Starved by a lack of interesting malt, we face losing one of our writers, due to sheer failure fatigue. That is until Ogilvie works out another angle altogether, a new found love of bourbon.

Many of us operate on a budget; it can take a long time to get through our personal ‘wish-lists’. Sometimes, by the time we do, the whisky has gone, like Gilbert’s Kingsbarns Dream to Dram.

A triple review of a recent Glasgow Small Batch cask strength bargain; whisky provided by the distillery for Hamish and Fergus, but Doog buys his own. An interesting three-way take.

After we were treated to Dougie’s Campbeltown trips in our feature section, he reviews one of the Cadenhead’s Warehouse bottles he snagged. Yep, it’s a Garioch and he’s in love.

In celebrating their local wildlife, Ardnamurchan decided to fly with the Midgie. So despite bearing the name of Scotland’s most hated creature, it still proves popular as a swarm of us gather to review it.

In a breakaway move, the Dramface Colonials conspire at their water cooler, setting up their own splinter cell. Happily, it results in a virtual sipping session and collaborative review of this Baker’s 7 Bourbon.

Finally snagging himself an Old Forester 1920, Hamish wonders why there aren’t more nods to the past in today’s whisky making excitement. As he ponders, he dives into his Glencairn time machine and skips back 100 years to US Prohibition time.

After a brand ambassador recommendation, Doog tucks into Pulteney’s Huddart, hoping for a coastal hit. He puts it up against an SMWS single cask for a bonus compo review too.

Enjoying a buddy night, Broddy reflects that the takeaway was, once more, price. Inspired to find an antidote for his tasting pals, he discovers this cracking malt form Elixir.

With hundreds of distilleries over there, it seems inexcusable that it’s taken two years of Dramface to feature a French malt. Here it is, and it needs to stop.

Let’s hand this tease over to the author; “But I reckon I’ve been blindsided by this ‘single cask’ truth and it’s making me wonder if anything is what it seems anymore.” Doog uncovers untruths…

While reviewing those two Aqvavitae Ardnamurchan bottles, somehow, in so many incidental ways, Dougie highlights all of the things to be grateful for exploring whisky. Those high-energy, emotional, glowing, amber-inspired moments we all love to live for.

As we swing into boxing day, Doog finds an appropriate dram to utterly switch off with. The fact that he can pick it up for the equivalent of mere buttons, in whiskey terms, sweetens the already sweet deal.

Drummond dives into another solid Benromach, this time in the Contrasts Series range with their Double Matured Bordeaux. With it, he reaffirms that age isn't everything and even though it is not quite a hole-in-one, its still a worthy addition to the Benromach shelf.

Amazing gestures of generosity place Doog in the possession of two much celebrated special releases from Loch Lomond; the XL Fermentation DE3 goes up against Aqvavitae’s 2022 release.

As part of a ‘team building exercise’ Hamish is invited to stretch his olfactory senses in a structured test. His colleagues - knowing he’s a whisky reviewer - determine that he’ll “boss it”. Well, did he? You know the answer…dontcha?

Batch variation is real and as enthusiasts we learn to enjoy it, providing it always meets a baseline minimum quality. Broddy and Aengus team up to see if that’s true of Tobermory’s under-the-radar 12yo.

Shuffling through airports is a thing once more for Hamish. At travel retail, he dodges the aisles of Scotch and Irish dullness to plump for some bourbon exploration - in litre bottles.