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Christmas Whisky - What's the best Single Malt Whisky for Christmas?

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Benrinnes Walk 20090310 10

What's a good Christmas whisky?  We've asked a few industry experts to select their best single malt for Christmas:

Mark Watt of Duncan Taylor & Co

Anyone who has met me for more than three and a half seconds would be expecting me to pick Caperdonich  for the best Christmas single malt, but I thought I would go with something a little different.  The dearly departed Black Bull 30yo would be a  great choice or its younger brother the 12yo [more] however this year my Christmas pick would be our (DTC’s) Glen  Grant 1970 [more].  A dram to savour something to sit back relax after a healthy Christmas dinner and put the world  to rights.  A nice creamy dram with a touch of spiced oak, some delicate stewed fruits and a hint of spice! Cracking stuff!

WSD Challenge 2009 MW 04Black Bull 12DT Ardbeg v2

Alex Bruce of Adelphi Distillers

The best Christmas dram is “the free one” or “the one in the biggest glass”, but if I was to select one from the Adelphi stable then BREATH OF SPEYSIDE 1991, 18 year old Speyside 54.3% vol, 1 of only 612 bottles from cask no. 5142 [more] is my best Christmas single malt. Hot on the heels of its sister cask (no. 5145), this is the 4th sherry butt in the Breath of Speyside range from Adelphi.  A rich amber hue, we were immediately struck by how clean this whisky was. A lovely nose of well-aged balsamic vinegar with marmalade, plums and Maraschino cherries in the background. The whisky keeps opening, now revealing prunes, marinated in Armagnac; then hints of Calvados and plenty of brown sugar.  To taste, the sugar is now more burnt and caramelized, with a thread of dark chocolate and Christmas cake wrapper. A rich, viscous texture to finish with Old English marmalade, and no tannins. Christmas in a glass.  Reasons: kind of puts its own case forward…

Alex BruceAdelphi Breadth of Speyside 1991Alex Bruce of Adelphi
Steven McConnachie of Whyte & Mackay

I recommend My Winter Warmer - Jura Prophecy [more] as the best Christmas whisky. If you like the darker/smokier side of whisky but not necessarily some typically heavy islay malts, then try this. Uncharacteristic of what is expected of Jura, its peatier than the sumptous Superstition with slightly more of a raw edge to it. Sit in front of a log fire and enjoy! Slainte.

Jura Prophecy

Mike Lord of The Whisky Shop Dufftown

The above are all good suggestions for the best Christmas single malt.  If you want to go with the sherry theme then ADR Benrinnes 13 [more] and Wemyss Barbeque Sauce [more] are both outstanding drams.  If you want something old then I still have a couple of bottle of Duncan Taylor Caperdonnich 36 years [more] old which is phenominal.  And if you want to go with the peat there are peated Bunnahabhain's in the NC2 [more] range and from Adelphi [more].

Merry Christmas from the WSD!