Here’s our review of The Whisky Exchange’s annual Christmas bottling, which we’ve enjoyed since 2018. Since a few years they are called A Good Old-Fashioned Christmas Malt, see our overview.
For the 2025 edition they combined two sister casks from an undisclosed Highland distillery. These first-fill sherry casks should deliver the expected dark fruit, chocolate and spice. I particularly like the look of the bottle this year. They’re using a rather unique blue glass bottle (good looking and more sustainable) and the label design is very classy, as always.
A Good Old-Fashioned Christmas Whisky 16 yo 2009 (55%, The Whisky Exchange 2025, first-fill Oloroso butts #31 + 32, 1367 btl.)
Nose: dark and sweet, with prunes and dates as well as some cassis and a generous dose of red cedar wood. Some cigar leaves and a savoury hint of lavas. Then it moves towards chocolate notes, cinnamon and dried herbs. Roasted and caramelized chestnuts with mossy hints and plenty of fruitcake too.
Mouth: same richness, with a rather oily texture. A lot of dried fruits like raisins and dates mixed with heavy treacle, slightly burnt caramel and Christmas spices like cinnamon and black pepper. The spice leads up to toasted, even slightly charred oak and cocoa. Some savoury, slightly beefy notes. Then also a hint of walnut liqueur and a dark moelleux.
Finish: rather long and thick, on rum and raisins, cinnamon and blackberry compote, with a hint of flamed orange peel.
Exactly what it says on the tin, a dark and Christmassy whisky. The darkness made me guess PX, but there. Plenty of rich sherry, chocolate and oak spice. Exclusively available from The Whisky Exchange.