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A Dornoch single cask release (if you can get your hands on one) is never dull experience. This is especially true when you're sampling one of the small octave casks from their early crowdfunder days – every cask is different, and the early ones can be wonderfully wild.

Adelphi is mostly known for bottling high quality single casks of single malt whisky from Scotland. However, over the years they've also released some bottles that are not scotch because, of course, Scotland isn't the only whisky-producing country in the world. Let's pay a visit to Wales, England, Sweden, The Netherlands, and Japan.

The manufactured mythos of Johnnie Walker looks to me like an alcoholic, somewhat lascivious Mickey Mouse wearing a top hat, but I can't deny just how agreeable the JW blends are from yesteryear. It's an old trope at this point, but they really don't make whisky like they used to.

In between distillery visits, I had a wee bit more downtime than usual to explore the island. These explorations led me across a few tantalising single cask bottlings that ended up being the inspiration for this Bruichladdich vertical whisky tasting. However, I knew I needed an Octomore...

Earlier this year, while spending some long-overdue quality time in Australia, New Zealand, and California, I hatched the notion for a Pacific Rim whisky tasting. The idea was to feature excellent, interesting/exotic whiskies from a variety of producers/countries situated along the so-called "ring of fire" which frames the vast Pacific Ocean.

These "Solist" expressions are considered the best of what Kavalan produces. In 2015, Kavalan won "Worlds Best Single Malt Whisky" at the World Whisky Awards, at which point Kavalan seemed to absolutely explode in international popularity.

While California is celebrated for its wine, entertainment, and natural beauty, it is certainly not known for whiskey. When I lived on the central coast, I often used to see Re:Find products at my favourite cocktail bar. I had a dram of their small batch rye, and I enjoyed it. It had personality.

New Zealand has been producing whisky since the 1830s, when Scottish settlers arrived in the country. It is one of the very few western societies where home distillation is legal. Ironically, I had to come home to Scotland to find a New Zealand single malt that was nerdy enough to go on the "Pacific Rim" Tasting!

I had a flying visit to the Spring Bay Distillery production site, which is located just a couple of miles from Hobart International Airport in a nondescript industrial park. If you threw a ball, you could almost hit international whisky darling Sullivans Cove Distillery, which is just up the road.

The eucalyptus forests, the cool mist, the quietness – Kinglake has a tremendous sense of place. The natural oils in the air scatter blue light in the spectrum, casting a sometimes errie pall over the landscape. Rumor has it that Melbourne-based organised crime in the 20th century used to disappear bodies in the hills in and around Kinglake.