Whiskey swap – Four fan-favourite whiskies get matched with an equally tasty pour

THE FAVOURITE: Blue Spot 

If Blue Spot is your pour of choice then we can make some pretty good assumptions about your palate and preferences: you like a richly-flavoured whiskey and enjoy the oily mouthfeel and black pepper notes that come with pot still whiskey. You choose the smooth layers of this triple-distilled Irish whiskey because of the drinking experience that triple distillation delivers: rounded, smooth and creamy. Naturally, cask strength matters to you, as this seven-year-old is bottled at 58.4%.. 

Blue Spot is matured in ex-bourbon, sherry and Portuguese Madeira casks, creating oceans of aroma that mix tropical notes like pineapple with green banana, toasted nuts and oak. It’s got a beautifully creamy mouthfeel from the 50% green barley used to make pot still whiskey while notes of cinnamon, vanilla and sweet cloves combine on the palate. It’s an excellent whiskey.

THE MATCH: Aberlour A’Bunadh Batch 80

It’s hard to choose which Scottish whisky might be a match for Blue Spot and its pot still heritage. To find it, we travelled to Speyside to select from the vast array of sherry-matured single malts it offers. After a lot of consideration, we settled on Aberlour A’Bunadh Batch 80. 

This single malt’s full and complex body will suit Blue Spot fans well. Matured entirely in oloroso sherry casks, this is a dram that drips with dark fruit, chocolate and spice. There are lots of roast nut notes here, too. It’s also a cask-strength bottling. At 61% ABV it’s slightly higher than Blue Spot, creating an incredible intensity of flavours. 

But the sherry notes grab the attention in this bottle the most – think fat raisins, marmalade, ginger and toffee apple, all wrapped up in a wonderfully malty taste experience. The sweet spices and heavy oak personality of Aberlour A’Bunadh puts this Speysider shoulder-to-shoulder with Blue Spot. 

THE FAVOURITE: Redbreast 12

The Redbreast family of Irish single pot still whiskey grows all the time – and not just in popularity. There are now seven core bottles in this world-beating whiskey family (as well as special editions and single casks), but for lots of us, the 12-year-old is the firm favourite. Yes, the 27-year-old is outstanding, and the 21-year-old remains a cherished special occasion pour, but in a price/flavour standoff, the 12 works every time.

Redbreast is famously smooth, and its ex-bourbon and oloroso sherry maturation creates a whiskey that is deeply flavoured and incredibly elegant. It has all the raisin, Christmas cake, malt and spice profile that you could wish for, and its 12 years in oak have shaped a complexity that rolls in layers across your palate. Bottled at just 40%, it seems almost tame compared to some of its higher-strength siblings, but that’s the key for many. Everything about Redbreast 12 is soft, tasty and smooth.  

THE MATCH: Glenallachie 12

To find a match for this famous Irish whiskey, you’ll need to visit the work of one of Scotland’s most renowned distillers, Billy Walker. With one of the most experienced teams in distilling, Billy has created a global brand in his Speyside operation, Glenallachie. 

Just like Redbreast, Glenallachie 12 is a young sibling of a much more mature family of single malts but if it’s the first bottle you try in the range, you’ll likely return to it with pleasure again and again. 

Matured in oloroso and PX sherry casks, this superb whisky from the Valley of the Rocks is a stellar pour that bursts layers of dried fruit, roasted coffee, spiced apple and cocoa powder. It’s a full-bodied whisky with acres of personality and stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Redbreast 12. Bottled at 46%, it’s a little higher than Redbreast, which can be felt in the texture and finish – a worthy partner to one of Ireland’s most famous pours. 

THE FAVOURITE: Glengoyne 18 

Glengoyne claims to operate the slowest stills in Scotland, and if there’s a slower way to do things, they’ll find it, they say. They air-dry their barley, spend six years seasoning and preparing their casks and, once they’ve put the lid on a barrel, it stays that way for as long as possible. And so it is with this very special 18-year-old release that first appeared on shelves in 2012. Part of a revamp of their entire range, Glengoyne 18 replaced a core 17-year-old bottle that had been a fan favourite for a long time. 

This Highland single malt is a proper special occasion pour and bottled at 43%. Matured in ex-bourbon plus refill and first-fill sherry casks, it has a beautiful gold colour with a rich and spicy flavour. It’s sherry-forward, so you can bank on lots of fruit and sweet layers. It’s wonderfully warming and floods the palate with honey, butterscotch, custard and caramel.

The MATCH: Glenrothes 18

We travel Glen to Glen for this matchup featuring Glenrothes 18 as an alternative to Glengoyne’s 18-year-old. This terrific sherry-driven single malt from Glenrothes is a perfect winter pour. Matured entirely in sherry-seasoned oak (with a high proportion of those being first-fill casks), this is a whisky cloaked in the dark fruit, sugar and spice of Jerez, Spain’s sherry heartland.

The aroma of this 43% Speysider delivers first, with tons of vanilla and almonds. You’ll encounter ginger, ripe pears, and lots of dark fruit notes on the palate. The vanilla and pear maintain throughout the finish with lots of peppery notes to close out this decadent single malt. It’s silky smooth and a pleasure to drink. 

Bottled at 43%, this superb single malt is bursting with personality, demanding attention at every turn.