Choosing whisky flavours by type can be a great way to find a new favourite – here’s an introduction to Floral Blooms

Bottles in the Single Malt Shop are categorised in many different ways, but a popular feature is our Shop by Flavour experience. We have organised our bottles across six major whisky flavours groupings: Sweet Treats, Floral Blooms, the Lighter Side, an Array of Richness, and Holy Smokes. 

Each category is designed to help you follow your own palate and find whiskies that are similar or complementary to those you already enjoy. 

The Floral Blooms category, dominated by notes of grasses, heather and other flowers is a gentle grouping but still stuffed with flavour. Bottles in this group tend to be lighter, fresher and with herbal notes. 

Here are three Floral Blooms entries from our shelves to help you get to know the category better. 

BenRiach 25

Owned by Brown Forman and under the tutelage of Dr Rachel Barrie, BenRiach has risen to ever greater heights. A maverick in that it creates both peated and unpeated whisky it also triple-distils. 

This bottle is a triple-cask release also, having matured in ex-sherry, bourbon and virgin oak casks through its two-and-a-half decades in wood.

A 46.8% release, it celebrates Benriach’s signature fruit aroma on layers of honey, spice and apples. The palate is equally rich, bringing a wonderfully sweet and silky personality from the sherry and port influence. These, in particular, carry the floral and herbal elements that the flavour category demands. 

Oak itself is, of course, ever-present, with lots of vanilla, cocoa and spice notes emerging from the virgin oak.

Hibiki Blossom Harmony 22

It’s no surprise to find this delicate Japanese whisky in the Floral Blooms category. Japanese whisky makers are devoted to nature, and the Sakura wood used to cask this malt and grain blend is a testament to that.

Using whisky from three of its parent groups’ distilleries, this Suntory release blended Yamazaki, Hakashu and Chita whisky to create this limited edition release. 

Sakura is better known as cherry blossom, and this light and fragrant flower survives to the finish of this fine Japanese bottling. A non-age statement release, it was bottled in 2022 at 43%.

On the nose, you’ll find lots of spring and summer fruits, oak, and cherry blossom. This carries through to the palate with layers of plums, spice, and vanilla. It’s a wonderfully floral pour.

Midleton Dair Ghaelach Kylebeg

Midleton’s Dair Ghaelach series is an exemplary approach to the maturation of Irish single-pot still whiskey. Virgin Irish oak is one of the rarest woods in the country and while deeply embedded in the history of Ireland, a very small amount of it is left. 

This series celebrates native Irish oak by sustainably harvesting oak trees to forge casks for maturation. This edition is the Kylebeg bottling and uses a strictly limited amount of casks made with wood from Stradbally in Co Laois. 

After an initial maturation in ex-bourbon casks, the pot still whiskey is transferred to virgin Irish hogsheads, where it receives a lengthy finish before bottling at 56%. 

On the nose, you’ll find fragrant spice, cinnamon and nutmeg, while the palate whisky flavours rich in wood tannins and velvety tones of caramel, citrus, dark chocolate and vanilla.

This is a decadent and truly rare whiskey that will never be repeated with such provenance and impact on the whiskey.

Visit the Shop by Flavour section