Gordon Dundas brings out Tamdhu’s Dalbeallie Dram, ninth edition — a natural-colour, first-fill sherry powerhouse sitting at 60.5% ABV. It’s everything you’d hope for from Tamdhu in full sherry beast mode: fruitcake sweetness, dark spice, espresso bitterness and a finish that somehow drinks far too easily for its strength.
The panel get stuck into age statements, natural colour, value, pricing, and where the whisky market is heading after a few years of everyone releasing everything, everywhere, all at once.
Then Stuart Buchanan steps up with the final dram: a newly shelved Benriach 2009 15-year-old peated whisky at 61.1% ABV, matured in refill hogsheads before spending six years in PX. Stuart talks through Benriach’s peated history, how cask choice shapes phenols, and why everyone apparently needs to save the hogshead.
Along the way, the ambassadors talk favourite recent markets, from Japan and Turkey to Singapore and Australia, before looking ahead to what might be next for whisky: more highballs, more blends, more indie bottlers, and hopefully fewer releases that require remortgaging your house.
The episode finishes with distillery recommendations from around the world, thoughts on new distilleries finding their feet, concerns around the pace of Irish whiskey growth, and the all-important audience vote.
00:00 Next Dram Setup
00:22 Dalbeallie Origins
01:41 Sherry Bomb Breakdown
03:44 Tasting Notes Banter
04:29 Editions and Value Talk
05:28 Age Statements Debate
07:13 Whisky Market Correction
10:06 Secondary Market Trends
11:16 Final Dram Dedication
12:17 Introducing Benriach Peat
12:58 Peated Release Details
14:50 Cask Strategy and Hogsheads
17:09 PPM and Peat Science
19:23 First Impressions Wrap
19:29 Sherry Cask Debate
20:14 Speyside DNA Explained
21:10 Glenglassaugh Coastal Dram
22:11 Travel Highlights Quickfire
23:49 Whisky Trends Next Year
26:41 Distillery Picks Worldwide
33:32 New Distilleries Growing Pains
34:59 Irish Whiskey Boom Concerns
37:41 Global Whisky Wrap-Up
39:39 Audience Vote Results
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