A young island distillery that grew up fast. Bourbon barrels only, so it's orchard fruit and vanilla — an easy start to the night.

Some of the tallest stills in Scotland make a light, fragrant spirit, then twelve years in bourbon oak. The Highlands at their gentlest.

From an island with more deer than people. Bourbon casks first, then a finish in sherry for something rich and rounded.

Made the old Irish way — malted and unmalted barley in the one mash — which is where that creamy, spicy pot still character comes from.

From a Cork bonder named after Douglas Hyde, Ireland's first president. Bottled at 46%, with a bit more weight behind it.

Distilled in the Liberties, at the first new distillery Dublin had seen in well over a century. Fresh, bright pot still spirit.

Malt and grain blended together and bottled strong, in a small square bottle. A lot of flavour in a very small package.

Suntory's blend built for harmony, with some of it aged in Japanese mizunara oak — rare wood, and famously hard to work with.

From Nikka's distillery on the cold northern coast of Hokkaido, where the stills are still heated by coal fires.

From a Frankfort distillery that kept working right through Prohibition. Sweet, soft and easy — a good first pour.

The lighter proof of a famously bold bourbon — 81 in American terms — with plenty of rye in the mash for a spicy kick.

Wheat instead of rye for a softer, rounder bourbon, then finished with seared French oak staves dropped into the barrel.