The Twelve Drams of Christmas
We’ve scoured the globe, we’ve sipped, scribbled and selected. Yes, it’s Barley’s annual festive dozen — 12 fantastic bottles for your Christmas cabinet, with something to suit every taste, style, region and pocket
For a Speyside treat
Tamdhu 15 Year Old
The greatest sherry-influenced Scotch you can buy? For my money, this stalwart from Tamdhu takes some beating. Like all their whisky, the 15 Year Old is a delectable and mouth-watering marriage of Jerez and Speyside. It’s been matured in Oloroso barrels, giving it a lovely aroma of apple pie, charred pineapple, spiced currants and orange zest. The palate is full of juicy apricots, vibrant raspberries and bitter almonds, before a long, rich finish full of malty biscuits and creamy sherry notes. This is preposterously good whisky just begging to be uncorked by the fire and sipped slowly with cherished friends.
Tamdhu 15 Year Old (46%), £98.95
For summertime at Christmas
Fielden Rye Whisky
Fielden Rye is an English whisky made using a mix of heritage grains (some of them revived from the time Romans ruled Britain) that are grown without using any synthetic chemicals. That’s the simple science but it doesn’t scratch the surface of this great new makers’ qualities. So what does their whisky taste like? Picture a gorgeous warm grain spirit, alive with flowers and fruit, wild hedgerow berries and full of the fecund scents of the fields they take their name from. We’re in a world of warm flaky pastry, butter and caramel, cut through with hazelnut and freshly baked bread. A minty, peppercorn spice lingers gently on the tongue. Light and radiant, like the perfect summer’s day in England. Fielden Rye whisky (48%), £60
For a Scandi surprise
Stauning El Clásico
High praise rings out for this experimental Danish whisky maker producing uncommon grain-to-glass whisky from rye and barley, grown a bicycle ride away from the distillery on the west coast of Denmark. We love this bonkers-but-brilliant release, which is a great example of the places Stauning are willing to go in the name of producing original whisky that puts a smile on your face. They’ve ostensibly created a Nordic whisky with Iberian roots, albeit one that’s inspired by the classic Manhattan cocktail. So far, so superbly eccentric. El Clásico is a bittersweet rye whisky and said to be the first one to be finished in ex-Vermouth casks. The result is an aromatic and versatile whisky with bittersweet herbal notes and a warm spice throughout the palate. Stunning. Stauning El Clásico (45.7%), £64.44
For an organic delight
Nc’nean Quiet Rebels Amy
Nc’nean is a pioneering whisky-maker and a brand underpinned by people — founder Annabel Thomas’ gang of “Quiet Rebels”, in this case Head of Sustainability Amy Stammers, whose name adorns this beautifully designed bottle (and whose vision has been poured into it). Like all Nc’nean’s expressions, “Amy” is a fully organic whisky produced at their idyllic home on the remotest tip of the Morvern peninsula in Scotland. It’s got oodles of jammy damson, dark fruit, and an earthy walnut character, the result of a portion of the whisky being finished in ex-Maury casks from a small organic vineyard in France. Factor in the Nc’nean house-style maturation in red wine and ex-Bourbon casks, and you’ve got a world-beating Single Malt whisky that’s also doing its bit for the environment. Nc’nean Quiet Rebels Amy Single Malt Whisky (46.7%), £79.95
For a Campbeltown corker
Glen Scotia Victoriana
The region and town of Campbeltown was once the world centre of whisky (during the Victorian era there were 29 distilleries in the town alone) and is once again experiencing a lively renaissance. This is in no small part down to wonderful whiskies like this one, brimming with flavour and the light maritime style of the region. Bottled at cask strength, and finished in heavily-charred oak casks, it’s a whisky of immense flavour and complexity. Victoriana is clean and slightly sweet at first, like liquid creme brulee, with notes of richly-caramelised fruit, an oaky bouquet and gently smoky finish. A whisper of cocoa and vanilla completes a hugely satisfying sipper. Glen Scotia Victoriana Classic Campbeltown Malt Scotch Whisky (52.4%), £74.25
For classic cocktails
Buffalo Trace Bourbon
Forget Jack, Jim and all those other pretenders, this is the everyday Bourbon you want on your shelf for cooking up killer cocktails this Christmas and beyond. Concocted with the same Kentucky mashbill of corn, rye and malted barley for the last 200 years, Buffalo Trace is a classy and smooth all-rounder, at a ridiculous price point, replete with toothsome toffee, cinnamon, caramel and creamy strands of vanilla custard. Notes of brown sugar and spice filter through a palate peppered with oak, dark fruit and mint giving way to a gentle marzipan denouement. It will work superbly in your Highball and Old Fashioned, or as a Kentucky Mule (with ginger beer, orange juice and ice), just don’t quaff it all at once: this is a year-round keeper and not just for Christmas capers. Buffalo Trace Bourbon (40%), £26.95
For Lowland luxury
Bladnoch Vinaya Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Dumfries and Galloway doesn’t get the garlands heaped on the Highlands, but then it doesn’t get the coaches full of tourists either. They’re missing out, because this is a beautiful part of Scotland, and superb whisky country too, with a distinct style (think floral lightness with chocolatey strands). There are just six distilleries remaining in the Lowlands and Bladnoch, outside Wigtown, is the most southerly. This elegant Single Malt is a great entry point into their world. It’s been matured in ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks to produce a sweet, refreshing whisky with aromas of summer flowers, grass and boiled apple sweets on the nose. The palate pits bread and butter pudding and milk chocolate against white pepper and a subtle coastal whiff to winning effect. Southern comfort, indeed. Bladnoch Vinaya Single Malt Lowland whisky (46.7%), £50.95
For a massive peat detonation
Octomore Series 15: Ten Aged Years
‘Super heavily peated’ it says on the bottle, so you’ve been warned. But then if you’re a fan of the cult of Octomore, the special release peat-smoke monster created by Bruichladdich’s ingenious master distiller /whisky wizard Adam Hannett, then you’ll already know what’s in store. Distilled in 2013, Pineau des Charentes casks were filled with Octomore spirit in 2018, the fortified wine adding sweet, dried fruit notes. Overall, the palate is hugely complex and full of juicy apricots, vibrant raspberries and bitter almonds, before a long finish full of malty biscuits and creamy sherry notes - as well as oodles of that unmistakable dry Islay smoke. This is a seriously fiery customer, at a seriously punchy price, but if extreme peat is your thing, Octomore is the pinnacle of excellence. Octomore Series 15, Ten Aged Years (52.2%), £175
For a brilliant British Bourbon
Never Say Die
A bold Bourbon boasting subtle spice, buttery vanilla tones, marmalade and an amazingly smooth finish uncommon in a higher proof whiskey. Distilled in the State of Kentucky with a 75% corn, 21% rye and 4% malted barley mash bill, Never Say Die has an unusual and striking story, both in terms of its provenance and maturation process: the spirit is partially ocean-aged during its journey across the Atlantic and then matured in the UK. Expect notes of spice and citrus on the entry, the palate teeming with chewy rye spice, cardamom, thick toffee, and wood char. Oh, and that brilliant back story? It involves a racehorse (called Never Say Die), the jockey Lester Piggott, the Beatles’ first drummer and Winston Churchill. Read it and you’ll fall even deeper for the charms of this beguiling transatlantic Bourbon with Kentucky provenance and an intriguing English character. Never Say Die Small Batch Bourbon (47.5%), £59
For a Japanese giant
Kanosuke Japanese Single Malt Whisky
Kasnouke distillery was built less than ten years ago on picturesque Fukiagehama beach in Kagoshima — the ‘Mellow Coast’ — where summers are warm and cool and in winter fresh winds blow in from across the East China Sea. It’s the ideal environment for producing soft and elegant whisky, bursting with deep flavour and carrying an unmistakable blast of salty sea air. Made with a small portion of peated malt and matured in ex-Shochu, ex-Sherry and American oak casks, this refined Single Malt arrives with aromas of banana, salted caramel and cinnamon sugar. The palate is all candied ginger, orange peel and honey. And the finish is, well, undeniably mellow, with lingering notes of marmalade and that seaside singing gently in the glass. A mighty dram with finesse as well as heft. Kanosuke Japanese Single Malt Whisky (48%), £79.95
For a daring trip Down Under
Thomson Manuke Wood Smoke
Great whisky manoeuvres are occurring in New Zealand, a good chunk of it is down to Mathew Thomson, who runs the eponymously named distillery on the north-west coast of the North Island with his wife Rachael. Around a decade ago they pioneered the smoking of manuke wood — a shrub indigenous to the country — and in the process created a highly distinctive character for the spirits produced here. This whisky is a wild fusion between the oaky flavours of malted barley, and that full pork fat with an oily palate you get with some heavier peated Islay whiskies. It’s an alchemy of styles that surprises after every sip. The honey-dewed manuka wood creates plenty of enticing aromatic notes, there’s red fruits and bubblegum alongside cinnamon, clove, honey and more sweet smoke. Thomson Manuke Wood Smoke Single Malt (46%), £56.75
…and finally, for Christmas in a bottle
2005 Berry Bros. & Rudd Orkney
Did you know that the esteemed wine merchants have their own selection of great whisky, and also produce exceptional bottlings? This double barrel beauty is from Orkney so we can assume it’s Highland Park — a good thing. For this intense and fiery marriage, the whisky team at BBR melded together two casks from the island and, rather like a boquet of festive frankincense and myrrh, the sum of its parts serves up an instantly Christmassy hit of toasted burnt orange and peppered spice. Layer on that aromatic kick of Orkney smoke and some heathered honey, along with a lovely thick texture, and you’re instantly in dram dreamland. Winter is coming. Add this to your whisky arsenal and you’ll see it out just fine. A tad too much for your budget? Try this rugged and robust Highland Single Malt from their own range at half the price. 2005 Berry Bros. & Rudd Orkney, Cask Ref 25 & 26, Single Malt Scotch Whisky (60.1%), £126
