In celebrating a Thompson Brothers creation , Hamish declares his love of Ardmore, a distillery which would be completely ignored if it wasn’t for the Independent Bottlers.

Joining SMWS requires a membership which, as well as some other IB vagaries, was intimidating to Hamish. Now he wholeheartedly embraces indies but he shares why, until now, he’s never signed up.

Adding to their Small Batch series, cult upstart Glasgow have found traction with Cask Strength 1770 releases. Hamish, Fergus and Tav buddy up on the latest Peated PX.

Hamish glances back to whisky past, wondering where he’d start today. In picking up the latest Ardnamurchan Cask Strength, he knows where he’d be happy to end up, and tries to explore… why?

With so much choice for enthusiasts to explore today, our canny - and occasionally miserly - Hamish is drawn to a bargain Thompson Bros Circumstance that has the airwaves chattering.

After not really trying much Lowland whisky, Hamish notes that today he's spoiled for choice. But what is Lowland? He sits with another Glasgow Small Batch release and Fergus joins in.

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.

Hamish not only celebrates the ability to follow the birth of new distilleries, with these 8 Doors releases he enjoys how open and accessible they are too.

All it took was a strange word and a stranger distillery for Hamish to take a punt on the lesser-seen Balmenach, arguably one of the most obscure - despite its scale and cracking, weighty malt.

Faced with a sea of repetitive, dull, expensive and uninspired Irish whiskey releases, a frustrated Hamish searches for a spark of inspiration to celebrate St Patrick’s and beyond.

Despite promising himself some restraint, our Hamish has been stealing from the auctions again. This time he’s snagged two young Ardmore indies; a favourite catch.

After some epiphany moments sipping Lochlea with pals, Hamish charges out to buy a bottle, only to ponder whether it’s the whisky or the company that makes the best whisky memories.

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.

Our resident Irishman Hamish takes a St Patrick’s Day tour through Waterford’s Exploration Series peated tasting set, and finds enough of a surprise to think Irish peated is under-appreciated. ☘️

Dramface takes on a six bottle outturn from Watt Whisky, it’s a team effort. Two single malts, a blended malt, a blend, a single grain and a curious Bas Armagnac. No wonder the images are blurry.

Finding independent bottlers slightly intimidating at first, Hamish get’s hooked on Linkwood during a whisky trip and discovers indy Linkwoods online, at auction and everywhere.

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?

The appeal of a lesser-seen and budget Islay official single malt is too much for Hamish to resist. His experience of Kilchoman’s core ranges has him excited, but the Loch Gruinart leaves him wanting.

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.

What at first seemed like an expensive souvenir from a distillery visit required a bottle split between Archie and Hamish. They soon realise with 66% ABV and incredible depth of flavour they should’ve maybe grabbed one each.