Scotch (Mainland)

This was the year when we all began to feel the age… of our single malt. Early in the year, Speyside distillery Longmorn – for years, the secret passion of blenders and independent bottlers, who knew its quality was highly underrated – made a bigger splash by announcing its whiskies would, from now on, be no younger than 18YO. A whisky that could walk into a bar and order itself. The distillery promised that older age statements would soon be added above the 22YO and it has delivered in time for Christmas, with Longmorn 30YO Single Malt (£1,500, longmorn.com). The classic Speyside fruit salad is always drenched in cream and toffee and other rich toppings in a Longmorn. With the extra years in various American oak casks, it dials up the red fruit jam, fudge becomes dark toffee, it adds figs and nuts and spiciness.

Longmorn’s sister distillery, The Glenlivet, has been celebrating a special year in 2024 – its 200^th anniversary (or at least its 200^th legal anniversary… its founder was likely running illicit stills before that). Its celebratory release is The Glenlivet Eternal Collection, First Edition, 55 Year Old (100 bottles, £42,975, theglenlivet.com). The oldest release ever from the distillery itself (Gordon and MacPhail did release an 80YO Glenlivet), it has a nose of poached pears and Seville oranges, with a whisp of toasted hazelnut, plus cinnamon and nutmeg. The spices continue throughout, giving complexity and length to the sweeter dark fruit conserve, vanilla fudge and dark chocolate-covered gingers. The bottle is cradled in an artwork by “computational architect” Michael Hansmeyer.

It’s hard to husband one cask successfully for over half a decade or more, but think what it takes to nurture enough of them to blend a whisky with a 50+ age statement. There is a family who have a good few such casks in their private cellars – the Gordons, owners of William Grant & Sons. Those cellars are actually dunnage warehouses (which contain treasures far more diverse than the gems you might assume from the Grant’s portfolio – Glenfiddich, Balvenie et al) and provide the liquids for House of Hazelwood releases. Those are, more often than not, high-aged blends or blended malts. When the team from Hedonism Wines in Mayfair (which really should be called Hedonism Wines & Spirits, because it’s equally strong in the distilled realm) decided they wanted an exclusive, decadent whisky, they looked no further. After sampling their way through the warehouses, they joined forces with House of Hazelwood blender Eilidh Muir to create the aptly named The Pursuit of Pleasure, 52-Year-Old House of Hazelwood Blended Scotch Whisky (Exclusive to Hedonism Wines) (72 bottles, £4,000, hedonism.co.uk). This is a remarkable whisky, less a blend than a fine balancing act. The complex, oily raw-sugar notes that really old-grain whisky delivers is evident, but so are flavours that must come from the different malts: leather, polished wood, marmalade and blackcurrant jam accidentally spread on the same piece of toast left in till almost burnt. The effects of decades of ageing in sherry butts and ex-bourbon casks are there too – oak and spice at one moment, vanilla fudge at the next.

Specialist retailers are increasingly the producers of the most interesting whiskies. Another such is Justerini & Brooks, which celebrated its 275th anniversary this autumn with the release of an exclusive single-cask bottling. Due to its close relationship with Diageo, Justerini is the main gateway to clients acquiring one of the sought-after Casks of Distinction, but while this 1992 Knockando cask was one of those, it has particular significance. Knockando is one of Justerini’s own distilleries and has traditionally been a key component of the J&B Rare blend. The Justerini & Brooks 275th Anniversary Casks of Distinction Knockando 32YO (453 bottles, £1,210, justerinis.com) is a proper Christmas whisky: fruity, sherried, Soreen malt loaf and a finish like Vieille Prune eau de vie. But there are hints of herbal and saline freshness too, a touch of samphire. Worthy of straying from bigger-name distilleries for.

Scotch (Islay & Skye)

Not everyone is in the peat posse, but if you like a smoky whisky by the fireside or around a fire pit, there are three recent releases worth a try… First, it’s the return of an old favourite, Ardbeg 17YO Single Malt (£160, ardbeg.com), which was discontinued in 2004 and has been the subject of begging from fans ever since – the McRib of the whisky world, if you will. Its tasting notes are all those oddities that make Islay lovers the kinkiest of whisky connoisseurs – pine resin, aniseed, fennel, sea spray, lavender soap and tar. Wonderful stuff.

The first in a new collectible series, Laphroaig Strong Characters Chapter One (£960, laphroaig.com) is arguably the best-looking bottle released in 2024. Artist Bill Bragg has captured the story of the Johnston brothers who founded Laphroaig in 1815 in atmospheric black and white drawings (more of which are in a booklet inside the box). The whisky is a 33YO single malt, vatted from American oak barrels and European oak ex-sherry hogsheads. It has lovely fudge and heather honey sweetness. Freshly baked bread on the nose turns to spicy fruitcake on the palate, while the peat is expressed as brininess and burning hay.

Talisker 30 has been a much-coveted regular, albeit not quite annual release from the Skye distillery. According to Ethan Youel from Justerini & Brooks, three decades is the “sweet spot” for Talisker, when the unmistakable distillery style – pink peppercorn zing, orchard fruit, iodine and gentle smoke – is developing with age without being overwhelmed by oak. The 2024 iteration of Talisker 30YO Single Malt (£1,300, malts.com/talisker) marks a departure from previous releases. It is a 1993 vintage – i.e. only whisky from that year, as opposed to 30 being a minimum age – and future releases will follow that model, with marked (and collectible!) differences from year to year. This version somehow melds salinity and iodine with sweet chocolate fudge and baked orchard fruit. Not vatting means only 2,610 bottles are available, fewer than in past years.

Japanese

Japanese whisky has gone through so many phases. We’re past both the “paying silly money for unexceptional whiskies” bubble period, and the “Japanese? It’s just Scotch rebadged with a kanji” cynicism backlash. This year has shown the remarkable variety in Japanese whisky making – and it’s coming from the big house, as well as the craft producers.

The big house in question is Suntory, and the spectrum of whiskies chief blender Shinji Fukuyo is able to produce with three distilleries at his disposal is evident in the House of Suntory Tsukuriwake Selection 2024 (four bottles, around £3,250, or between £450 and £1,600 each, house.suntory.com). The name Tsukuriwake, appropriately, can be translated as “artisanship through a diversity of making”). This year’s selection includes three single malts from the Yamazaki distillery and one from Hakushu (Chita grain whisky is not represented). Of the former, one is made with Golden Promise barley, a variety rarely used now because of its inefficient yield, but deliciously sweet – this is buttery and bourbon-like, with candied nuts and floral complexity. Then a peated malt using turf from Islay, but with subtle lapsang souchong smokiness, not full-on iodine. Then an incredible 18YO aged completely in the mizunara oak Suntory pioneered using – viscous and chewy, with a peppery bite, barbecued lemon and peaches and cream, with aromas of orange blossom honey and sandalwood. The Hakushu 18YO is subtly peated and smells of lemon thyme and apricots, delivering barbecued, spice-rubbed beef and dry-fried sage on the palate.

Suntory has to rise to the challenge of a new generation of Japanese whisky makers, such as Yoshitsugu Komasa, who founded Kanosuke, in the far south of the country, in 2017. He often uses a mixed-grain mash bill to create copper pot-still whisky (similar to the Irish approach), but also has access to the stainless-steel vacuum stills at the family rice shochu distillery his brother still runs. Kanosuke Double Distillery Japanese Blended Whisky (£98.95, kanosuke-en.com) combines the two to innovative effect. The aroma sparkles with mint, lemongrass, apricot, melon and peach. On the tongue, it becomes deep and sweet, with clove, black tea and orange, with an oaky, fruity finish.

American

The USA is also producing a great diversity of whiskies these days, led by independent producers, to which the big players are having to respond. Founded in 2014, New Riff is one of the new wave of producers, using craft methods to maximise flavour. New Riff Bottled in Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon (£59.75, from thewhiskyexchange.com) beat all-comers from every nation to be The Whisky Exchange’s Whisky of the Year in 2024. New Riff slowly ferments then distills non-GMO grains, before ageing for four years, to create a creamy bourbon with some rye spice and dark-berry fruitiness.

Although less out-there in terms of name recognition, Maker’s Mark is still breaking new ground in production. Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2024 Release (£145, makersmark.com) is the second batch of this bourbon, whose ageing process has been slowed with rather more elegance than that tech entrepreneur in the short shorts. After 12 or 13 years in a Kentucky rickhouse, a bourbon can be cooked, so Maker’s Mark has dug a cellar into a limestone hill to allow maturation that long to be more measured. This rich, complex bourbon has a lemon zest and toasted almond on the nose, with shortbread and coconut on the palate.

Most innovative of all is the entire category of American single malt, a newly recognised category and often very different to the Scottish version, in part because it only needs two years’ ageing. Yellowstone Single Malt (£68, yellowstonebourbon.com) is very much Kentucky, not Kintyre, with a spiciness reminiscent of a rye.

Irish

The most recent releases from the country’s two major distilleries – Midleton, near Cork City, and Bushmills, near the Giant’s Causeway – have a touch of a French accent, but are unmistakably Irish. Like a Ronan O’Gara team talk at La Rochelle. Bushmills 15YO Single Malt (£49, bushmills.com) has been finished in a cognac cask, after most of its maturation taking place in ex-bourbon. The result is a real apple crumble and custard whiskey on the palate, with fruit, nuts and a hint of chocolate, but the revelation is the nose, which has summer orchard floral notes fluttering by.

Meanwhile, down south, Irish Distillers’ master distiller Kevin O’Gorman has cut out the middle homme for Midleton Very Rare Forêt de Tronçais Edition 2 (£4,388, midletondistillerycollection.com). A consummate blender, O’Gorman has woven together pot-still and grain whiskeys (both with mixed grain bills, but the latter distilled in a column still) of several ages – it’s non-age-statement but mostly over 20 and some elements going back to the 1980s – all of which were ageing in various styles of ex-bourbon vessel. He brought them together for four more years in French oak from the Tronçais forest, the more niche source of wood for cognac barrels. It adds depth and spice to the classic MVR stone fruit flavours, like a chef getting the spices just right, plus floral and herbal notes on the nose. It comes in a lovely case, made also from Tronçais oak.

Rest of the World

Whisky is truly international these days. One of the pioneers who broke through the false ceiling for the nations outside the big four above, has been Paul John of India. The Goan distillery, whose single malts regularly win awards (including for its Bold expression – gently peated, with phenols that complement the meaty spirit with bright freshness), releases an annual festive limited edition. Paul John Christmas Edition 2024 (£60, pauljohnsinglemalt.com) is a panettone with dried tropical fruit, a bright, vivacious vatting of five-year-old ex-bourbon casks that were then finished in two batches – half in virgin oak (vanilla and candied orange); the rest in Foursquare Bajan rum casks (salted caramel, peach and sandalwood).

Whisky is so worldwide now it’s even produced in a backwater like… England. As in other countries outside Scotland and Ireland, with freedom from expectations, young English distilleries are able to try new things. For example, Derbyshire’s White Peak (founded in 2016) uses brewer’s yeast from the area’s more famous beer industry in its Wire Works whiskies (the two names are confusing, it’s true), as well as maturing in “STR” casks (re-conditioned wine barriques that have been shaved, toasted and re-charred). In a staggeringly wide range of whiskies (they are a little like craft brewers themselves – excitedly experimenting constantly), the recent Wire Works Caduro Cask Strength (£79, whitepeakdistillery.co.uk) stands out. At 58% ABV, it has volatile fruit notes – banana, orchard fruits – on the nose, like standing in a brewery. Then honey, orange and grapefruit, as well as treacle tart and sweet spices take over. Another very Christmassy dram.