Whisky: Blair Athol

First Regional Wines tasting of the year, Blair Athol isn't usually seen as a single malt as most of their product is destined for blending (ding dong!). therefore, aside from the rare distillery only releases, you'll only find Blair Athol single malts from independent bottlers. Which is what we've got here ...

Blackadder Raw Cask 13yo NC2 51.7% 10.7.2009-12.2022 Hogshead 304826

N: floral, sweet, citrus, spicy, mahogany

P: fruit salad, prickly, sweet, rosemary

F: long and hot

7.5/10 I liked this, the spicyness possibly overpowered the interesting fruit salad flavours, suggesting it may have needed a few more years in cask? Overall, typically good Blackadder bottling, 3rd 8.12

Single Malts of Scotland 47.1% #40245 2.8.2006-24.4.2025 NC2 18yo PX Sherry Hogshead

N: sweet, older, grassy, bourbon?, prickly, metallic

P: sweet, tangy, creamy, vanilla, light, vanilla, fruit salad

F: spicy, medium

6/10 not a lot going on (contrary to the description!) it all felt kind of flat to me 6th, 7.56

James Eadie NC2 55.3% #307364 17.11.2009-2024 14yo re-charred hogshead

N: light, sweet, butterscotch, caramel, creme brulee, salt, vanilla

P: creamy, vanilla, sweet, salty

F: salty, dry on finish, med-long

7.5/10 Our tasting last year for the JE bottles wasn't a favourite, but this bottling was ok, interesting but still quite spiky on the finish. Came last (7th) 7.31

Adelphi 13yo 2011-2024 1st fill bourbon barrel 56.6% 305328

N: prickly, brandy butter, parmesan, savoury

P: pear, apples

F: spicy, increasing heat, but quite short finish

8/10 I liked this, another good Adelphi, the palate was particularly nice. Came 5th 7.58

Signatory 13yo NC2 30.9.2011-23.5.2025 1st fill Ruby Port hogshead 57.5%

N: banana, tobacco, sweet, tannins, peach tea, meths, malt vinegar

P: raspberries,

F: long, hot, big

8/10 Good dram, and interesting the port finish, 4th (8.11)

BBR 14yo 2009 Hogshead PX Finish 55.6%

N: sherry, sweet, roses, chocolate, molasses

P: metallic, cloying

F: astringent, short

6/10 Did not like this, not very interesting and again seemed a bit young. Came 2nd (8.26)

Mystery [Glengoyne 59.5% Cask Strength 12yo].

N: peat ?, light, sweet

P: bourbon (hints), sweet

F: spicy, medium

5.5/10 oddly low for a Glengoyne for me, but I felt this was a very one dimensional bottling.  Came 1st (8.53)

Overall, interesting without being great. There is a house style, which is light, floral with fruit salad in the palate. But the spirit does seem to pick up cask flavour very easily. 

Beers of 2025 : the Liver and Alec

 In the ongoing series of how much have Alec and I drunk, here's the 2025 summary. For those wanting context, 2024 is here. 

For the first time, I'm now below Alec in absolute numbers of booze consumed. Damn he's a lush. He's also now well ahead of me in unique beers and badges. Life is terrible.

Looking at 2024 - 2025, it appears I only drank about 300 beers, Alec bless his damaged liver, hit around 700. that's beerfests for ya.

our top beers are still reasonably similarm, but are continuing to diverge over the years. Obviously it's because i'm not there to lead him on the straight and narrow. Mine has the Craftwork, unsurprisingly. 

Last.FM 2025 notes

 There isn't much new in this post, but it is a summary of the 2025 listening stats, thanks to last.fm sending me a summary of that sort of thing.

Regular readers will already know 2025 was my biggest year, per track numbers, since last.fm and I cuddled up in 2006. 

 

top artists? predictable. Top album, I see there are a number of compilations in there from Moochin' About, one of my favourite labels. Top track, no surprise there either. It does turn up on most of their live albums ...

I had a feeling I hadn't listened to as much new music last year and the stats support that. But the ones it calls out are great, that Steve Rothery/Bioscope is brilliant. and new Steve Wilson is most enjoyable.

apparently i didn't love many tracks last year, but i did listen to a fuck load of music each day. 

there ya go, next up in post land, comparison on the Alec and Bruce damage their liver expedition.

Casual Dram #20 : Dec 2025

 Last Casual Dram for 2025, which seemed reason enough to turn up.  Always an enjoyable session, and Mean Doses is an excellent venue for a relaxed tasting.

SMWS 2.138 Glenlivet 'Raisin Toffee Jam' 16 yo 55.0% 1st fill ex-oloroso sherry butt

• N- xmas cake, dry, manuka honey, hint of salt, burnt sugar, caramel
• P- warm, honey, sherry
• F-long, very very long.

9/10. Probably not a surprise that I liked this. 

Glenfarclas 'Family Cask' 2009 15yo #1117 61.5% Sherry Butt

• N- sweet, marshmallow, floral, hint of mint, perfume
• P- dry, sherry, spicy, banana, ?citrus, 
• F-hot, long, pepper, 

8.5/10 tastier than most Glenfarclas' drams. maybe they ain't too bad :)

Mystery Whisky

• N-hint smoke, bourbon, light
• P-light, no flavour, pepper grows on palate.
• F-short

6/10 not a lot going on, and I didn't pay attention to what it was either.

Benromach 'Dramfest' 2025 #626 2014 59.8% 1st fill sherry hogshead

• N-salt, bacon, medicinal, sherry
• P- salty, incr pepper, sherry
• F- grows in heat

7/10 not amazing, but not bad. 

Caol Ila 'Adelphi' 2014 10yo #326024 55.4% 1st fill oloroso sherry hogshead

• N- suppurating wound, coasstal, rose water, chocolate
• P-sherry, medicinal, complex, salty, coastal
• F-long complex and very tasty

9/10 hey its a sherry caol ila of course I liked it. Actually there's a bottle of it in my cabinet 

me

Last.FM #8 the Final Data

 I know the surprise reveal has already happened, that yes I did hit my 20,000 tracks target. The only remaining question is what number did I end up with, and did I hit the unexpectedly high 25,000 ?

Total for the year : 24,208 tracks

Average number of tracks per day: 66.51

No, I didn't make the 25,000, I did some quick analysis in the middle of Dec to work out how many tracks per day I needed, and it was high. By the last week of Dec it was ridiculously high:

How did this compare with other years of last.fm scrobbling? Quite well it turns out, the most tracks I've ever listened to:

I don't think I'll be as single minded this year, it was a fun and interesting exercise. I do feel that I was sometimes selecting tracks/albums with lots of short tracks (eg jazz film soundtracks, or funk compilations) but then again, I do listen to them a lot anyway. Avoiding bollocks like Transatlantic with their long windy tracks was a good plan, and probably helped sanity as well.

Next up in the posts, a more detailed exploration of my listening in last.fm for 2025, a whisky tasting and a review of the untappd year in competition with Alec.

me