From Budget to Blow Out: The Best Scotch of 2022

Words by Colin Hampden-White

I know we are only really halfway through the year, however, I have come across some blindingly good whiskies and wanted to share them with you. As with most great things, they are not all easy to find. However, this little selection covers some which are, some which you will have to find at auction or somewhere on the secondary market, and some I am afraid you will never find, but do show how private bottlers of whisky someone owns in cask can be absolutely brilliant. The one thing they all have in common is that they are uncommonly good whiskies! I am starting off with one that can be found fairly easily, and if the second half of this year is as good as the first, my Christmas round-up of 2022 is going to be a belter.

Thompson Bros SRV5 8-year-old Blended Malt

The Thompson Bros are both independent bottlers and distillers. The independent bottling side of their business has been lauded with praise. They manage to find extraordinary expressions of whiskies and sell them for a reasonable price. They had maintained the idea that they would in time have a regular expression they would be able to create with consistency, and this is that expression. The balance of the malts is superb and the resulting whisky is very moreish and easy to drink. The SRV5 stands for Station Road VAT 5, as the whisky is created in a solera vat which is never emptied more than 2/3 for any bottling run. The flavours are complex with green apples and lemon. A little char and grassiness. There is gentle smoke in the background and lots of citrus on the finish. An incredibly affordable blended malt, and if you haven’t got into smoky whisky yet and want a good opener, then this is a good bet.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 48.5%
Find here: £34.95

Johnnie Walker Green Label 15 year old

From the stable of the biggest brand in Scotch Whisky, Johnnie Walker sells more whisky than any other brand globally, which is a testament to the consistency of the whisky they produce. This 15 year old blended malt is one of the greatest value whiskies of all time. It is rich and incredibly well balanced with orchard fruit flavours and a deep maltiness and honey sweetness. With vanilla and toffee ice cream and a touch of spice, this is a great dram.

Size: UK 700ml // US 750ml
ABV: 43%
Find here: UK £37.95 // US $58.99

Glen Moray 18 year old

This has to be the best value 18 year old whisky on the market. It is from their heritage range that gives approachable and easy to drink whiskies. This was matured in first-fill American oak barrels giving lots of vanilla with apricot and honey. There are some dried fruits on the palate and a touch of florality and the finish includes a little spicy ginger and dark honey. It’s an impressive dram for the money.

Size: UK 700ml // US 750ml
ABV: 47.2%
Find here: UK £62.90 // US $121.19

Fettercairn 16 2nd release

This is the second release of the Fettercairn 16 year old, and it is quite different from the first but is certainly not a lesser whisky. This is very sherried in style, using three different sherry cask types in the maturation: first fill Oloroso, refill Oloroso and first fill Palo Cortada butts. This is a complex whisky which is very impressive. The bottling strength might put off purists, but I think they have got it just right. Smooth, yet spicy and brilliantly balanced, with lots of dried fruits and toasty oak too. This won’t be around for long, so grab it whilst you can.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 46.4%
Find here: £64.95

Lagavulin 12 year old Fèis ìle 2022

This is the first bottling under the new distillery manager Jordan Paisley and is very rich for a Lagavulin. It is sweet and spicy with a full body and lots of spice as well as well integrated smoke and oak. It was matured in ex-bourbon casks and finished in virgin American oak casks. One of the other things I liked about this year’s Fèis ìle release is that it came with no outer packaging. Diageo is reducing the number of products that have packaging and that makes environmental sense to me.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 57.7%
Find here: £165

GlenAllachie 2006 Single Cask 3292 Oloroso Sherry Butt

Exclusively bottled for The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2022, this is a 15-year-old single cask expression. It has a great colour and the flavours are intense and rich. It was initially matured in an ex-bourbon cask, and then re-racked into a first fill Oloroso puncheon, and left to rest in a very old Sherry butt which had been part of a solera system for 55 years. It’s got lots of spice and Christmas cake characteristics, as well as fine oak, chocolate, and damp tobacco and on the finish, there are fine tannins and touches of sweetness.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 59.4%
Find here: At auction for around £200 - £250

Benromach 40 2022

This 2022 40 year old recently won best in show at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and it was well deserved. Having spent a full maturation in sherry casks the result is complex and elegant. With nutty flavours and cooked orchard fruits, mixed with ginger and chocolate, cedar wood and dark honey with touches of orange zest in the background it’s an absolute delight. There are only 1132 bottles, so be quick when it is released!

Size: 700ml
ABV: 57.6%
Find here: Coming soon 

The Octave Cask Glenglassaugh Whisky for Everyone  

A bit of a leftfield whisky here as it isn’t for sale. It was bottled by my friends Matt and Karen from Whisky for everyone from a quarter cask. Normally I am not too keen on quarter casks as the wood quite often overtakes the spirit and distillery character, giving a rich whisky, but taking away its essence. This whisky has been bottled with near perfect balance. The distillery character is still there, even though the flavours are rich and warming. Expect cooked and dried fruits and manuka honey with soft spices and a touch of umami. If you ever come across a bottle. Enjoy. It was one of my favourites this year.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 56.7%

Royal Lochnagar 1994 26year old Casks of Distinction

This was bottled within Diageo’s Casks of Distinction range and was sold at auction with the proceeds going to the Scottish Ballet Endowment Fund to support the future of scotland’s national dance company. There were only 470 bottles, and occasionally they come up again at auction. Expect to pay upward of £600. The whisky was incredibly elegant and refined with dried apricots and touches of fresh red apple. The spices were soft and there was a layer of honey running throughout the dram. With a little water, floral notes come through and the finish is not dry at all. A satisfying whisky.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 56.3%
Find here: At auction upward of £600

Brora Tryptic

To mark the reopening of the Brora distillery 36 years after it closed, this set of very special bottles is incredibly rare. Selling originally for £30,000 these can usually only be found at auction. The expressions show off three eras of Brora flavour each giving waxy, peated and earthy flavour. The 1972 Elusive Legacy at 42.8% gives an earthy background, the 1977 Age of Peat gives a peaty flavour and the 1982 Timeless Original shows off the typical Brora waxy flavour. In their own ways, each of these whiskies is incredible to taste and is worth savouring. At the time of writing, I could find one of the 300 sets available at retail in the Netherlands.

Size: 1500ml
ABV: 42.8%, 46.8%, 47.5%
Find here: €53,500

Are you interested in investing in whisky? Then why not have a read of How to Invest in Whisky? If you’re looking for more whisky recommendations, this is a great place to start: The World’s Best Value Whisky.

The Best Tequilas to Say Olé to National Tequila Day

Did someone say Margaritas? Whether you like your tequila shaken into a lime-drenched cocktail, or sipped straight over a giant ice cube, we’ve got a bottle to suit. Welcome to our round-up of the best tequilas, for drinking on National Tequila Day – July 24th – and all summer long…

El Rayo Plata

Ever tried a T&T – that is, a tequila and tonic? It’s a fun, approachable and fresh way to sip tequila, especially in summer, and El Rayo has been specially designed for it. Created by two childhood friends living in Peckham, it’s made, as all good tequilas are, from 100% blue agave. Expect citrussy, herbaceous and vegetal notes that really lengthen out and come into their own when mixed with a quality tonic.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: £34.45

Padre Azul Blanco

Topped with a giant 3D skull, Padre Azul’s bottle is a real bold, love-it-or-hate-it presentation (see also: Crystal Head vodka). But there’s no arguing that this smooth-drinking tequila is crowd-pleasing on the palate, bursting with sweet agave, molasses and pepper. It’s on the pricier side for a blanco, but once you’ve drained the last drop you can repurpose that bottle as a stylish bit of décor, right? Right?

Size: UK 700ml // US 750ml
ABV: 38%
Find here: UK £78.62 // US $74.99

Mijenta Blanco

One thing we love about this premium blanco is that it’s made, somewhat unusually, by a female ‘maestra tequilera’, Ana Maria Romero. Her talent shows in the glass – Mijenta has a complex nose and a savoury, spiced and honeyed backbone, with butter and citrus on the palate. The pastel label is a lovely touch – it’s a fresh, stylish take that shows off the modern side of tequila, beyond the tired clichés. As for the perfect serve? We like this poured straight over a giant ice cube and garnished with a wedge of lime. If you want to hear more about Mijenta tequila, tune in to Ep.81 of our Bring a Bottle podcast!

Size: UK 700ml // US 750ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: UK £54.99 // US $49.99

Tapatio Blanco

Tapatio’s been made the same way since the 1930s, and as the saying goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. This traditional-style tequila has a cult following for a reason: its powerful palate sings with classic blanco character, with cooked and raw agave, pepper, earth and citrus, plus a distinct vegetal lilt. If you’re new to drinking tequila you might find Tapatio a little bit full-on to begin with – it’s certainly no shrinking violet – but for fans of the spirit this is pretty much a perfect pour at its price point. Roll on the Margaritas…

Size: UK 500ml // US 1L
ABV: 40%
Find here: UK £25.45 // US $74.89

Casamigos Blanco

This is an outstanding tequila. Unlike most blanco tequilas, the piñas used in Casamigos Blanco are roasted for 72 hours before going through an 80 hour fermentation period. This leads to a crisp, clean tequila with unique flavours including hints of citrus, vanilla and sweet agave and a beautifully smooth finish. Try it in a spicy margarita or a mojito for a mouth-wateringly good cocktail!

Size: UK 700ml // US 750ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: UK £50.00 // US $41.99

Don Julio Añejo

It’s one of the big dogs of the agave world, so we couldn’t have a round up of National Tequila Day sippers without Don Julio. The bottling is an añejo style, which means by law it’s been aged for a minimum of one year in barrel – though, in this case, it’s spent a full 18 months hanging out in new American oak. As you might expect, this aging imparts some of the woody character you might find in a whisky, including vanilla, caramel, butterscotch and honey notes. Serve it neat to do it justice.

Size: UK 700ml // US 750ml
ABV: 38%
Find here: UK £52.08 // US $88.90

Herradura Reposado

This was the first reposado – that is, a tequila that has been oak-aged for between two and 12 months – to hit the mainstream market, all the way back in the 1970s. And as its continued presence on shelves will attest, it’s a classic with staying power. Vanilla, oak, pepper and caramel aromas join a rich smoky palate with a heady cinnamon bite. We think that this is just the pour for mixing into richer cocktails, so if you haven’t tried a tequila old fashioned yet, pick up this spirit and get to work.

Size: UK 700ml // US 750ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: UK £41.95 // US $43.99

VIVIR Reposado

Aged in bourbon barrels for at least six months, this reposado shows off the newer, more contemporary side of tequila-making. It’s not just the minimalist branding, which feels like pure millennial catnip. The flavour profile, too, is super smooth, sweet and subtle – perfect for winning over agave sceptics who might still be reeling from old tequila-shots-at-the-bar memories (we all have ‘em). Like El Rayo, VIVIR is really made for mixing, and they recommend giving it a go with ginger ale.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: £37.99 

Storywood Speyside 7 Reposado Tequila

If you love whisky, you’ll love Storywood – this reposado has been aged for 7 months in ex-Speyside casks from Dufftown, imparting a smoky, oaky and honeyed character to the tequila. It’s made with lowland agave, which gives it a bit of a vegetal, herbal profile, perfect for both sipping straight or subbing into whisky-based cocktails. If you’re in an experimentation mood, do as Storywood cheekily suggests and serve it up in a tall glass mixed with Scotland’s (other) national drink, Irn Bru. You’ll never think of tequila the same way again.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: £42.45

If you love a tequila cocktail then have a read of The Best Tequila Cocktails, recipes included! If, sipping neat is your preferred way to imbibe then have a look at The World’s Best Sipping Tequilas!

The Bring a Bottle Podcast: Episode 87

We’re back with another fun-filled podcast and this week we’re joined in the studio by special guest Christian Smith. Listen in as we chat all about the perfect mixers for your tequila, a great hangover cure, 24-carat gold covered fish and chips and more!

What’s in our glass?

This week we’re focussing on great mixers for tequila and have chosen Franklin and Sons Grapefruit and Bergamot tonic water and Pink Grapefruit Soda.

Bergamot is what you associate earl grey tea with and the tonic didn’t disappoint. Subtle and floral with a nice fruity edge from the grapefruit, it made for a beautiful and very refreshing drink alone and then in combination with the tequila led to a more savoury drink with a slight peppery edge to it. Nom! 

Size: 200ml
Find here: £17.50 for 24

The Pink Grapefruit soda is a beautiful and very sophisticated soda that we would quite happily enjoy on its own as a soft drink. Today, however, is all about the tequila mixers and this soda did not disappoint. It smells just like that burst of oils you get when cutting into a grapefruit and tastes just as good with a touch of zesty lime on the finish. 

Size: 200ml
Find here: £17.50 for 24

Third Drinker

This week we are joined in the studio by Christian Smith who is the online editor for The Drinks Business. He shares with us his favourite stories, including one about 24-carat gold adorned fish and chips being sold for £80 in Glasgow, a stunning whisky and tells us more about what it is like to work as the online editor for The Drinks Business!

The Three Drinkers in Ireland Wins an Award

For those who haven’t yet heard, The Three Drinkers in Ireland won an award for ‘The Best Contribution to Wine and Spirits Tourism’ at the Drinks Business Awards this June! If you haven’t seen the series yet, all 6 episodes can be found on Prime Video!

Drinkers Discovery

Stepping away from our usual Drinkers’ Discoveries this week, we bring you ‘Phizz’. These are orange or apple and blackcurrant flavoured tablets that dissolve in water and enable you to absorb 3x the amount of water you would from just drinking a glass of it. Full of natural electrolytes, like sodium, potassium and zinc, not only are they perfect for rehydrating but they’re also great for your skin, hair and nails… and we reckon they would work a treat when you have a hangover too ;)

That’s not all though, we also have a fantastic ‘Buy it or Bin it’, Aidy brings back his ‘Wine and a Whine’, we share a dishwasher hack for your cloudy glasses and talk about vines grown in space! Listen in today!

Rediscover Roussillon Wines

Wines from the South of France have the greatest reputation for those tipples that taste just as good back at home as they do on your glorious French holiday. Let’s focus however on one part of the Great French South that deserves a little more attention: Roussillon. 

Where is Roussillon?

Roussillon is a small, well-established, unpretentious, yet high class wine appellation in the South of France located within the greater Pyrénées-Orientales area, bordering Catalonia, Spain. It’s often bundled together with Languedoc as Langedoc-Roussillon due to their proximity to each other, but they actually have quite different characters. The area of Roussillon has quite the Spanish vibe thanks to its south westerly location down by the Pyrenees mountains. If you’ve ever visited Perpignan, you’ve been to the heart of Roussillon.

What makes Roussillon wines great?

This is a region made up of a patchwork of very small, family run properties - 2166 at time of counting - with 400 private cellars and 25 co-ops, driving 75% of Roussillon production between them. Yields here are absolutely tiny, which means quality is kept very high. We’re talking, in some cases, about 28.2 hectolitres per hectare, which is one glass per vine! The region has an ideal Mediterranean climate with the mountain slopes mitigating the warmth of the hot sun with their altitude for the vines grown on them. Fun fact: It is also the number one region in France for Organic and Biodynamic viticulture, which gives us an indication about how much the winemakers care about their land and the health of their vines.

Which wine styles come from Roussillon?

In the past, the still reds and whites have been pretty decent but were certainly not going to set the world on fire, whereas their special sweet wines, the ‘vins doux naturels’ (fortified sweet wines), have often taken centre stage. Vins Doux Naturels remain emblematic of Roussillon’s viticultural heritage and winemaking know-how  but the dry, still, wines (be they red, rosé or white), are anything but ordinary nowadays. Côtes du Roussillon and Côtes du Roussillon Village have been PDOs* in their own right since 1977, having pushed hard since 1955 for the accolade. There are 24 official grape varieties grown in Roussillon and amongst the sub-appellations are 14 PDOs and 2 PGIs**.

The Famous Fortified Sweet Wines (Vins Doux Naturels) of Roussillon

The VDNs, as the Vin Doux Naturel sweet wines are abbreviated, are made a bit like Port, where fermentation is stopped by the addition of neutral grape spirit before all the sugar has been fermented out, leaving a viscous, sweet wine with an ABV of around 16.5%. The key types of Vins Doux Naturels are Banyuls AOP, Banyuls Grand Cru AOP, Maury AOP, Muscat de Rivesaltes AOPs and Rivesaltes AOP, many of which can have various age statements and subtle variations to style including a hint of nutty ‘rancio’ derived from extended ageing in cement tanks, wood casks or even glass demijohns.

Banyuls and Maury are particularly famous, not just for their quality, but for the fact that they really are the greatest go-to style of wine to have with chocolate! 

Banyuls AOP (Appellation d'Origine Protégée)

The highly-prized wines of Banyuls are made from almost shrivelled, ripe to bursting, Grenache grapes. The colour and style of Banyuls can differ hugely depending on how it is made and aged, varying from fruity, light red wines or floral and citrusy white and rosé to nutty, funky, treacley brown or amber wines. Banyuls also have Grand Cru wines, mainly from black Grenache, which have to see at least two and half years of ageing.

Maury AOP

On the other hand, wines from Maury AOP are usually darker in colour with tangy, dark berry notes although they do sometimes come in more pink and tawny styles too. This difference in style is attributed largely to its more inland location than Banyuls. Maury AOP can also be produced in white and amber styles.

Rivesaltes & Muscat de Rivesaltes AOP

Between the two AOPs above, as a unique common point, there’s a large area growing Muscat of Alexandria and small grains Muscat grapes to produce both Rivesaltes and Muscat de Rivesaltes wines. Neither rival Banyuls or Maury but they can also be complex and intense. Their “young” versions (Rivesaltes Grenat or Rosé, and Muscat de Rivesaltes), are honeyed and refreshing when served with cheese or as an aperitif. Muscat de Rivesaltes particularly is produced in huge quantities. Some fantastically made Rivesaltes Ambré and Tuilé do exist but they are harder to find in the UK market.

The dry, still wines of Roussillon

In the past, the unfortified wines of Roussillon were pretty unremarkable but more and more, we are seeing the quality rise thanks to an influx of producers racing here to take advantage of the cooler vineyard locations at altitude, particularly in the upper Agly Valley, which is inland from Perpignan. Here, there are already some ancient vines and great outcrops of schist soil that help give the wines a fine minerality and deep flavour.  

Dry Whites

The dry, white wines from Roussillon tend to be very textural and weighty with refreshing acidity, salinity and minerality to balance the fruit. They make fabulous food wines. Grapes allowed in the PDO wines include White grenache, Grey Grenache, Macabeu, Tourbat/Malvoisie du Roussillon, Roussanne, Marsanne, Vermentino, Viognier and White Carignan. Most whites hail from the Côtes Catalanes (73%) with 22% from the Côtes de Roussillon, 5% from Collioure and a tiny amount, less than 1%, from IGP Côte Vermeille. PGI wines can use these aforementioned grapes plus Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat d’Alexandrie.

Try these:

Domaine Lafage, Centenaire, IGP Côtes Catalanes 2021

80% Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, 20% Roussanne. Aromatic and richly coloured with ripe, tropical fruit on the nose. A tiny touch of oak here adds a splash of aniseed and texture. It’s a lovely, complex and creamy white that will sing with a nutty comté cheese.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 13%
Find it here for £12

Chrysopée Sélection Parcellaire, Domaine de Bila-Haut, Chapoutier, Collioure AOP, 2018

A blend of 90% Grey Grenache with 10% White Grenache, this wine is deep gold in colour with a touch of mineral rubber on the nose. Tropical and savoury, there’s a real earthiness on the palate and very ripe pineapple and coffee on the finish. White chocolate and coffee bean. A great foodie wine!

Size: 750ml
ABV: 13.5%
Find it here for £9

The Red Wines of Roussillon

Motus, Domaine Treloar, Côtes du Roussillon AOP, 2017

Made with a classic blend of 80% Mourvèdre, 15% Syrah and 5% Grenache Noir, this red has a lovely, velvety texture and bright red colour. Plenty of violet and garrigue notes on the nose with a pleasant note of grilled meat on the palate. Proper wine.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 14%
Find it here for £16.75

Res Fortes Wines Traveller, 2019

Almost entirely Syrah, which is unusual here, this is a super dry, old-school Syrah with lots of concentrated purple berry fruit and gravelly, mineral notes. This is a textural wine that tastes of its terroir! Get it open early to let it breathe and try it with some grilled meat.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 14.5%
Find it here for £31.45

Vin Doux Naturels

Domaine Cazes, AOP Muscat de Rivesaltes

70% Muscat d’Alexandrie, 20% Muscat à petits grains This sweet wine has fantastic, refreshing acidity with notes of verbena and lemon cake sitting alongside more tropical elements like fresh papaya and mango. A touch of bitterness on the finish makes this very moreish.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 15%
Find it here for £15.99.

Abbé Rous Banyuls Rimage, 2019

Intensely flavoured, voluptuous and complex, this sweet red is packed with red cherry and ripe raspberry notes up front with mocha creeping in on the palate and a hint of spice and dried herbs on the finish. A really lovely drop that would go down very well with chocolate mousse, dried fruit or even hard cheeses.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 16.5%
Find it here for £21.99

For more information about the wines of Roussillon, go to Wines of Roussillon

*PDO and PGI are two quality schemes that were created by the EU in 1992 to protect the authenticity of products from different regions of EU, limiting the ability to create fake products or poor imitations.

PGI stands for Protected Geographical Indication and it means that the wine in the bottle is made in the specified region, using specified techniques and showing characteristics of the area. 85% of the grapes used in PGI wines must be from the same geographical area where the wine is produced.

PDO, which stands for Protected Designation of Origin, is more stringent. ​​It means all the stages of preparation of the wine are taking place in one area, from vine growing and winemaking, all the way to the bottling. 100% of grapes used to make the wine in the bottle will have come from the said area.

The Bring a Bottle Podcast: Episode 86

It’s that time again and this week we have a very special podcast for you as we are joined by the fabulous Bruce and Paramjit Nagra, owners and producers of Crazy Gin, as we talk about some rather risqué drinks news, what it is like to be a woman in the drinks industry and a wine brand doing good. We also sample a very questionable drink in ‘Buy it or Bin it’ and of course, sip away on Crazy Gin’s Lassi and Punjabi Chai gin! Listen in via the player below for all this and more!

What’s in our glass

First up is the Lassi Gin. Thought up after a bad Indian takeaway, the idea behind this gin was to create a British Indian fusion drink just like there is British Indian food. It pushes flavours together that people wouldn’t normally associate working together and wow if it doesn’t do just that! The main botanicals are turmeric, coriander and black pepper, as well as juniper, pomegranate, black cumin and yoghurt. Then whole thing is also fat washed with ghee leading to a really smooth gin that you can enjoy neat at 41%. We reckon it would work beautifully in a martini and equally well in a G&T with for example, a coriander garnish!

Size: 500ml
ABV: 41%
Find here: £39.95

The second gin we sip on is the Punjabi Chai Gin, another very tasty gin, this one taking inspiration from their Grandma’s secret Chai tea recipe. It has botanicals of vanilla, black cardamom, green cardamom, cloves, juniper and black pepper and is fat washed with coconut. It also has a unique colour derived from the use of not just any old saffron but ultrasonic saffron!

Size: 500ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: £39.95

Drinks News

There’s nothing like having a pint at a pub and company ‘Nothing on Events’ have taken this well-loved past time one step further, introducing naked pub meets! First held in Guildford, Surrey, the aim behind these meet-ups is to put an end to body shaming. Listen in to see whether we’ll be participating…

Buy it or bin it

This week’s wonderful treat for our buy or bin it segment is a warm no-low drink. It’s vegetal, smoky and seaweed-y. It’s very earthy and has a taste of kale and spinach to it. ‘What is it?!’ we hear you ask, why it is organic, premium ‘Duckshit’ tea from the Guangdong province in China! The question is who decided to buy it and who is binning it?!

Drinks Doing Good

We love a good chat about drinks that do good and this week we are giving a shout out to wine brand ‘Madame F’ as they have donated money to the founding and building of Britain’s first LGBTQIA+ museum, Queer Britain. That’s not all though, they are also holding a yearly bottle design competition where they give a cash grant to artists from the LGBTQ+ people to help them explore their artistic nature and the winner then has their art placed on the bottle.

Mailbag

Finally, it wouldn’t be a podcast without one of your mailbag questions and this week we tackle ‘What is London Dry Gin?!’ Listen in to hear the answer!

If you want to listen in to more of our podcasts just follow this link!

The Best Sipping Rums for Summer

Words by Colin Hampden-White

When most people think of rum, they think generally of rum and a mixer or a cocktail. Rum and cola, or a Pina Colada, or one of my favourites, a Zombie, with all three main styles of rum mixed together over crushed ice with Wood’s 100% proof floated across the top. Not for the faint hearted, but delicious.

There are also brands which are synonymous with rums you can find in a supermarket such as Bacardi, which are very good. Most of these rums tend to be white rums. They are not really designed for sipping. In contrast, many dark rums are also made for mixing. Lamb’s rum comes to mind. My suggestions today are oak aged rums, but not too dark, and are rums I would happily sit down on a summer’s evening, pour over ice and sip.

Suncamino

Sumcamino comes from South Africa and means a journey to the sun, so seemed completely appropriate for this article. It is most definitely a summer rum. It is the world’s first floral rum. Unlike other rums which use all sorts of botanicals, Sumcamino literally uses flowers to flavour the rum. They have used hibiscus, orange blossom and honeybush, which is a flower and not a type of honey. These botanical flowers lift the rum giving complex sweet floral notes as the types of flowers would suggest. This rum makes very good cocktails, but I think it stands out on a hot summer’s day over a little ice in a tumbler. A rum not just for the beach, but rather a country garden.

Size: 500ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: £29.95 

Market Row Botanical Rum

Market Row is a rum with five years of aging in ex-bourbon barrels. Being a blend of rums from Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Barbados it is complex and very well balanced. A selection of botanicals is then added when the rum is re-distilled at the Brixton Distillery. The flavours include vanilla and lots of spices like cloves, black pepper, allspice and mace, but there are also floral notes of hibiscus, Turkish delight, and black tea with a background sweetness of caramel. It’s complex, yet easy going with a light touch on the palate. Another good summer sipping rum.

Size: 500ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: £29.99

J.G. Thomson Bold Jamaican Rum

When I think of Jamaican rum, I think about the classic funky flavours they deliver. There’s an almost indescribable nose and flavour which is created by leaving the fermentation tanks open so that all sorts of things including wild yeasts can sit on top of the fermenting liquid and fester away. It’s a flavour profile that you’ll either love or hate, but it is very worth buying a bottle to find out if you love it or not because if you do love it, you’ll really love it and be joyous you’ve found it. This rum is pot distilled with maturation in ex-bourbon barrels for three years in the tropics and then more time in barrels in Scotland. With flavours of overripe bananas, acetone and very nearly vegetal, there are also sweet chocolate and caramel flavours to balance everything. It’s a little crazy, and I’m very glad J.G. Thomson went the whole hog and didn’t hold back. Brilliant rum for summer and if you haven’t yet. Find out if you’re a lover or not.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 46%
Find here: £37.50

Admiral Rodney Officers release No.2

This is the second release in the Officer’s Release series. It was distilled in 2009 and finished in ex-Irish whiskey casks, which is a little different. This gives the rum some summer fruit flavours of raspberries, cherries and plumbs as well as spicy flavours of cloves, allspice and a little nutmeg in the background. There is a little sweet chilli too. All these flavours lead to quite a rich rum, especially with the good long aging, but it somehow manages to be delicate and smooth, and perfect for summer. Perhaps a rum to sip later in the evening by a fire pit. It is a little more expensive than others but is certainly still good value in terms of flavour and experience.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 45%
Find here: £69.95 

Havana Club 7

I reckon this is the bargain of the aged rums. Having had seven years of tropical aging in Cuba, it has a lot of flavour and has won loads of awards. This was the first Havana Club expression to be created for sipping rather than being placed in cocktails. Mind you, if you wanted to upgrade a cocktail, then this is a cracker to do it with, especially using it instead of whisky in an Old Fashioned or Manhattan. For me, I’d be quite happy pouring it over a couple of large ice cubes, kicking back and relaxing!

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: £24.95

Hampden Estate 8 year old

Now it wouldn’t be right for me not to include Hampden in a line-up of rums. This is a rum which although not very dark in colour, has eight years of aging and is full-bodied. There is a decent dollop of that typical Jamaican funk, which is a style the Hampden distillery excels at. There are lots of punchy, estery notes giving fresh mango, and very ripe banana with lots of creamy vanilla and oak spice. With all the esters, this rum does well over ice for a little cooling and dilution. One of my all-time favourites. But I could be biased!

Size: 700ml
ABV: 46%
Find here: £55.69

Decorrum

This is a spiced rum, with loads of flavour - a selection of spices and honey with a little ginger, vanilla cloves and orange peel. The bottle is designed in an art deco style hence the name. But what I really like about this rum is the abv. With all that flavour, the abv is only 37.5% which makes it perfect for summer sipping. Either over ice to let it dilute slowly, or neat, as it isn’t too strong. Either way, it is a great, flavoursome all-rounder.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 37.5%
Find here: £40

Abuelo XII Two Oaks

My last offering is a big rich rum, which for me is a late-night rum sitting out under the stars with a fat cigar. Having been aged in two different types of casks, there is lots of complexity. This has also been aged for over a decade, firstly in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in heavily charred virgin American oak. This gives a little smokiness in the background. There is also lots of creamy sweetness alongside dried fruits and soft spices. It is sumptuous and satisfying.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: £46.95

If you’re more of a rum cocktail fan, then why not have a read of The Best Rum To Elevate Your Cocktails or how about checking out these 7 Rums That Scream Luxury?

The Bring a Bottle Podcast: Episode 85

Another week, another fun-filled podcast to listen to! This week we discover two gorgeous Californian wines from Talbott Vineyard, chat about why playing music to vines is important, taste test a Mastiha spirit distilled from the resin of the Mastic tree, and share with you some must-try canned wines for your summer picnics! 

What’s in our Glass?

We’re not strangers to Talbott Vineyard, in fact, this time last year we were exploring the Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay (Episode 55). In Episode 85, however, we are sipping on Kali Hart Chardonnay from Monterey in California. It is a beautiful wine - not too oaky or tart, it has notes of vanilla and marshmallow on the nose and gentle peach, apricot, pear and vanilla to taste.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 14%
Find here: £19 // $19.99 

Not wanting to leave out the other grape California is renowned for; we also sip on Talbott Vineyards Kali Hart Pinot Noir. Named after Rob Talbott’s daughter, this 2018 pinot noir is a delicious glass of strawberries, raspberries, hints of vanilla and a kiss of oak. It is amazing value for a premium Californian wine and would pair perfectly with pasta.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 14.5%
Find here: £19.99 // $22.99

Drinks News

Did you ever wonder why some winemakers play music to their grapes? Well, this week we have the answer! Studies have shown that the baseline very subtly causes the wine to move in the barrel which increases its contact with oxygen making for a more complex and tastier wine! Music is also played in some vineyards as apparently there is a certain pitch that stops aphids from attacking the vines!

Drinkers Discovery

This week our drinkers’ discovery is wine in cans! Let’s face it, they used to be very mediocre with a bizarre smell and a sulphury taste, however, this is not the case anymore and in fact, there are so many tasty cans out there these days you are spoilt for choice! Listen in to see which Helena rates!

World Drinks

Have you tried Mastiha spirit?! Well, this week we popped open a bottle of Axia and did just that in the studio. Mastiha spirit is a clear spirit from Greece distilled from the resin of the mastic tree. On the nose, it’s smoky and spicy but in an elegant way that doesn’t jump out of the glass at you. To taste it is very aromatic, with savoury notes. It’s almost herbaceous with a slightly aniseedy flavour, liquorice spice and fennel. We reckon it would make a cracking variation of a Bloody Mary!

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: £31.95

Mailbag

We love your mailbag questions and this week’s question did not disappoint as you asked us which rosé wine, other than those from Provence you should have in your glass. Listen in to find out what we recommend!

If you liked this you can find this episode as well as previous episodes via this link.

The Bring a Bottle Podcast: Episode 84

Welcome back to another episode of our Bring a Bottle podcast! This week we chat about tasty mixers for your rum, give a shoutout to brand new vodka brand, Vodka 4 Peace, taste test a drink that looks like alcoholic pink chocolate milk in buy it or bin it and Aidy catches up with the wonderful Briget from Étän Rum! Listen in to hear all this and more via the player below!

What’s in our glass?

We’re taste-testing mixers for rum this week and we’ve got our hands back on Franklin and Sons Pineapple and Almond soda*. When you drink this mixer on its own the pineapple really stands out, however, we found that when mixing it with rum there is a real marzipan note to it as the pineapple is toned down and the almond shines through. The mixer itself is a great drink to enjoy if you just fancy a nice drink that isn’t alcoholic but we’re curious to see what it would taste like with mezcal…

Size: 200ml
Find here: £17.50 for 24 bottles

* For our American friends, soda in the UK is flavoured water.

Drinks doing Good

We love to shout out about drinks brands that are doing good and this week we’re putting Vodka 4 Peace in the spotlight. Set up by peace-loving entrepreneurs including Anastasiia Rosinina who was forced to leave Ukraine this year, the brand has been created to help Ukrainians in need and to support humanitarian organisations worldwide. The vodka itself is a premium grain-based vodka, triple-distilled under German quality standards and 100% of all the profits made from sales will go to charities to help until 2026 with £5 from every bottle also being donated.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: £29.90

Personal News

Helena has been busy helping Wines of New Zealand with their petition to get a white wine emoji. You can find out more here. Aidy on the other hand has been getting into the art of journaling!

Buy it or Bin it

Buy it or bin it is back and this week we have a drink that looks like alcoholic pink chocolate milk and smells like raspberry blancmange! ‘What is it?!’ we hear you ask… it is in fact, Dead Man’s Fingers Raspberry Rum Cream Liqueur! A definite guilty pleasure, this would taste amazing poured over ice cream, be that vanilla, strawberry or chocolate!

Size: 700ml
ABV: 17%
Find here: £15 

Third Drinker

Aidy catches up with Briget, one of the five fabulous sisters behind rum brand Étän, to discuss where the idea of Étän rum came from, what it tastes like, the BEST street food you can find in Cameroon and the most underrated rum cocktail you need to try. Listen in to find out more and if you want to get your hands on a bottle of Étän rum, here are the details…

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: £40

Mailbag

Finally, it wouldn’t be a Bring a Bottle podcast without one of your fantastic mailbag questions. This week you asked ‘What are the differences between light and dark rum?’.

Listen in to all this, and a whole lot more, by clicking on this link!