Here are five recent bottlings from Watt Whisky, all released late 2025 or in the first half of 2026. It seems Mark and Kate are looking for a sweet spot in terms of age (and price, I guess): coincidently most of them were distilled in 2014-2015.
Aultmore 10 yo 2014 (56,9%, Watt Whisky 2025, bourbon hogshead, 319 btl.)
Nose: cream soda with gooseberries and dried apple slices. Hints of buttery pastry, light touches of paraffin and some floral notes. A mild eau-de-vie note, with some sweet grassy notes.
Mouth: yellow fruits, like peaches, gooseberries and kiwi. Then back to pastry notes and vanilla, with a slightly bitter oakiness and a cidery note getting louder. Lemon biscuit. Later some herbal notes and light honey.
Finish: medium, on citrus zest, grass and grainy notes. A late hint of cocoa too.
A mix of creamy notes and tighter zesty elements. The nose was the best part but it remains a quaffable dram overall, if a little simple. Available from The Whisky Exchange among others.
Teaninich 10 yo 2015 (56,1%, Watt Whisky 2025, Oloroso hogshead finish, 282 btl.)
Nose: lots of jammy notes, think strawberry and cherry, as well as slightly synthetic candy. There’s also a hint of sawn oak and dusty barley husks. Then orange zests and a hint of wet soil in the background.
Mouth: still hints of strawberry jam, tangy blackberry and light caramel, which then evolves to winey notes with a tannic edge (I would go for Sangiovese). Grape peels. Chocolate and leather, more toasted oak. Then liquorice and hints of gingerbread.
Finish: medium, with cloves and black pepper coming out along with caramelized nuts.
The nose set expectations that it couldn’t deliver on the palate. The Oloroso cask wasn’t entirely classic and at times it felt like one of the early examples of red wine finishing (Arran in the early 2000s). Teaninich is quite a forgiving spirit though. Score: 82/100
Miltonduff 10 yo 2014 (57,1%, Watt Whisky 2025, hogshead, 325 btl.)
Nose: slightly lactic start, with a little panna cotta and meringue. Getting creamier, on butterscotch, along with fresher peaches, greengages and green melons. Hints of icing sugar too.
Mouth: almost like a white wine, full of peaches, pears and sweet apples, along with grassy undertones. Then creamy hints of vanilla, as well as a more spicy kick of candied ginger and black pepper. Light honey towards the end.
Finish: not very long. The sweetness makes place for (fresh) ginger, some oak and lingering melon.
This Miltonduff offers creamy fruits and a good balance. I don’t mind a white winey character, you see. Score: 84/100
Benrinnes 13 yo 2012 (58%, Watt Whisky 2025, Armagnac barrel finish, 318 btl.)
Nose: pretty neutral, without any make-up. There’s a moderate fruitiness (apple, yellow plum, maybe limoncello) with generous barley notes, a little chalk and a balanced green note. Cardamom, some leafy notes, maybe laurel.
Mouth: apples and quinces, along with lemons and a little green tea. Quite hot, with a hint of green pepper and ginger. Then also white grapes with more cardamom. Now a slightly exotic spiciness, almost Gewürztraminer. Interesting development.
Finish: medium to long, with more of this slightly exotic fruitiness, but also lingering heat.
This one had the opposite development: neutral nose but it grew on me on the palate. A nice everyday profile, even better with a drop of water. Score: 85/100
Laphroaig 12 yo 2014 (57,1%, Watt Whisky 2025, bourbon hogshead, 330 btl.)
Nose: deep smoke, with hints of smoked fish and barbecued lemons. Iodine-laden air, bandages and some TCP, with just enough sweetness underneath. Also boat rope and lots of cold ashes, with a light mentholated top note. Classic.
Mouth: powerful, with a rather tarry smoke, some smoked vegetal notes and bonfire on the beach. Quite rugged, with salty maritime notes. Then back to charred lemons and grapfruit. Very classic, with a hint of mezcal towards the end.
Finish: long and classic. Pure smoke, ashes and seaweed.
Pretty much what we hope for in Laphroaig, a little more intense than most of the officials. No finish that gets in the way either. Simply good selection work. Score: 89/100