Whether you’re toasting by the fireplace, pairing a dram with Christmas dinner, or tucking these beauties under the tree, these festive whiskies promise to bring flavour, warmth, and a touch of magic to your holiday season.
When it comes to holiday gifting — or simply indulging in some well-deserved festive cheer — few things embody the season like a carefully chosen whisky. Whether it’s the warming embrace of a sherried Scotch or the nuanced elegance of Japanese and Irish whiskies, there’s a dram for every palate and occasion particularly during the year-end holiday season.
From the spice-laden decadence of The GlenDronach 15 Year Old to the ocean-kissed salinity an Old Pulteney 15 Year Old, each bottle in this roundup tells a story worth sharing especially around the festive table. For the adventurous, there’s Bart’s Irish Whiskey, a love letter to Ireland’s whiskey renaissance, or a trio of standout bottles that elucidate the growing dominance of Japanese whisky.
So, let us raise a glass and proclaim slàinte mhaith – or kanpai – to the end of 2024 this festive season with these whiskies!
The GlenDronach 15 Years Old
Sherried whiskies – particularly those aged in casks that once held Oloroso, Amontillado or Pedro Ximénez – are renowned for their rich indulgent profiles, often offering notes of dried fruits and warming spices which we recognise as flavours synonymous with the festive season. And few other Scottish distilleries champion heavily-sherried whiskies like Aberdeenshire-based The GlenDronach.
Take The GlenDronach 15 Years Old, for example. Matured in both Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez from Andalucía for all of its 15 years, this is a whisky that simply explodes with flavour. On the nose is a symphony of dried fruits such as raisins, dates and figs, layered with dark chocolate and orange along with undercurrents of warm baking spices such as cinnamon and clove. And on the palate? Christmas fruitcake in a glass, with rich and velvety notes of ripe plums, candied cherries along with chewy treacle and spiced gingerbread.
This 15 Year Old from GlenDronach may sit innocuously in its core range, but really is a quintessential expression that embodies the warmth, depth, and holiday cheer of the season. So whether it’s a festive gift for a seasoned whisky aficionado or simply to lounge over with a cigar in hand, this is a delicious, surefire winner.
The GlenDronach 15 Years Old is available from Malt & Wine Asia or Brown-Forman’s official Shopee page at a recommended retail price of S$289.
Old Pulteney 15 Years Old
Another 15 year oldie and also a goodie.
Old Pulteney may not be as well-known as some of its contemporaries, but this under-the-radar Scotch whisky brand is actually highly-regarded among whisky aficionados for its specific maritime profile. Indeed, this ‘maritime malt’ from among Scotland’s northernmost reaches – Wick in Caithness, to be exact – is prized for a signature salty tang, thanks to its windswept seaside surroundings.
Such as the Old Pulteney 15 Years Old. Matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and Spanish oak casks, this release in Old Pulteney’s core range is an exceptionally well- balanced dram that encapsulates the rugged charm of Scotland’s northern coastal heritage. The sea air brings ocean breeze and salt spray on the nose, along with vanilla, caramel, and the rich aromas of dried fruit and candied peel, while the palate offers flavours of creamy toffee, toasted wood spice, as well as hints of cocoa and hazelnut. We may be imagining it, but there’s also a subtle underlying salinity in the finish.
The name may not sound particularly festive, but it makes a standout Christmas gift for a whisky lover, or as the perfect digestif in the aftermath of an expansive festive feast.
The Old Pulteney 15 Years Old is available from Asiaero Wines & Spirits at a recommended retail price of S$170.
Bart’s Blended Irish Whiskey
Yes, you read that right. Irish whiskey.
In fact Irish whiskey is having quite the whiskey renaissance, with the Emerald Isle now home to some 40 distilleries from just a measly four back in 2010 despite its rich distilling tradition especially during the mid-19th century.
Bart’s Blended Irish Whiskey is among the shining examples of how Irish whiskey is emerging from the ashes of an industry once decimated by temperance and famine. Produced by County Longford-based Lough Ree Distillery deep in the country’s heartlands, this whiskey is actually a blend of whiskeys procured from other Irish distilleries – running the entire gamut of Irish styles from grain and pot still to peated malt and single malt whiskeys – that’s then finished in rye and Oloroso sherry casks. The result is an incredibly complex drop that’s also shocking easy to go down, with fruit-forward flavours reminiscent of cherry pie, berries and cream, with a biscuity sweetness that’s rounded out by sweet cinnamon and nutmeg spice and just a hint of woodsmoke.
This bottle is the perfect gateway whiskey for those exploring Irish for the first time, and makes for an excellent choice to share among whisky-loving friends catching up over the festive period. We’d also happily turn this into a refreshing highball (garnished with some sliced apple), or an Irish Coffee to usher in the New Year.
Bart’s Blended Irish Whiskey is available from Resaca at a recommended retail price of S$138.
Nikka Taketsuru Pure Malt Whisky
Fans of Japanese whisky no doubt will be familiar with Nikka. Founded in 1934 by Masataka Taketsuru – the man credited for bringing whisky-making knowledge from Scotland to Japan in the early 20th century – Nikka has played a vital role in defining and elevating Japanese whisky on the world stage, and is today considered one of the most eminent names in the global whisky industry.
The Nikka Taketsuru Pure Malt Whisky is named for Taketsuru, the “father of Japanese whisky”. This non-age statement expression is a blended malt, made exclusively from malt whiskies produced at Nikka’s two distilleries, Yoichi on Hokkaido, and Miyagikyo, which is located near Sendai. The whisky embodies Taketsuru’s dedication to the art of blending, in this case artfully melding together the rich, lightly-peated style from Yoichi with the softer, fruitier profile provided by Miyagikyo.
This whisky is bold yet finessed, its bouquet full of orchard fruit in orange and pear leading to charred herbs and hints of toasted oak, while the palate is dessert-like with poached apples and pears, shaved chocolate, grated nutmeg and lashed with caramel.
What we love about this whisky? It’s approachable for those new to Japanese whisky, yet is intriguing enough for seasoned drinkers. The Taketsuru is excellent paired with dessert, which makes it an absolute treat at the tail end of a Christmas dinner when you’re munching on your Christmas log cake, fruitcake, or the limbs off the poor, innocent gingerbread man.
The Nikka Taketsuru Pure Malt Whisky is available from La Maison du Whisky at a recommended retail price of S$120.
FUJI Single Grain Japanese Whiskey
Another emerging player in Japanese whisky is FUJI Whisky, produced at Kirin-owned Fuji Gotemba Distillery. Located in Shizuoka Prefecture at the foot of Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji, the distillery uses a wide array of different stills – ranging from regular pot and column stills but also American-style doublers – to produce not only regular malt whisky but also different grain whiskies, specifically the American bourbon, Canadian multi-grain, and Scottish single-grain styles.
The FUJI Single Grain Japanese Whiskey is a great example of grain whisky artistry, celebrating what is an often under-appreciated – and indeed, much maligned – style of whisky. This is a blend of three different grain whiskies (we suspect it’s predominantly corn with a touch of rye), produced from its various stills. Here you have a whisky that is delicately fruity both on the nose and palate, proffering complex yet mellow notes reminiscent of an English high tea – shortbread cookies, berries and cream, pound cake, scones with orange marmalade, for example.
It’s certainly a refined, celebratory sip to toast with in the new year.
The FUJI Single Grain Japanese Whiskey is available from Asiaeuro Wine & Spirits at the recommended retail price of S$168.
Kanosuke Single Malt Japanese Whisky
Then there is Kanosuke, a relatively new entrant to the Japanese whisky scene. And located in an entirely different, unexpected part of Japan too, no less. Nestled in Kagoshima on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, an area far better known for making shochu – in particular, imo shochu, or shochu made from Japanese sweet potato – Kanosuke was founded in 2017 as an offshoot of shochu maker Komasa Jyozo.
Despite being an upstart, Kanosuke has blazed a rather impressive trail in Japanese whisky making, bridging traditional Japanese spirit-making and contemporary thinking with its own unique approach. The Kanosuke Single Malt Japanese Whisky, its signature release, is proof. Combining spirit from its three pot stills of varying shapes and sizes – manipulating, among other factors, reflux and distillation times to create a diverse range of different spirit expressions – that undergoes an aging regime in a sub-tropical climate which includes the use of ex-bourbon and sherry casks but also barrels that once held shochu.
The result is uniquely Japanese. You’ll find aromas of tropical mango and pineapple, along with some ocean salinity, while on the palate is caramel and dried fruit, along with oak influence in vanilla and wood spice.
This may surprise you but pair this whisky with fried chicken from KFC, a very Japanese way of ushering in Christmas. You’ll find them a match made in heaven.
The Kanosuke Single Malt Japanese Whisky is available from Mizunara: The Shop Singapore at a recommended retail price of S$199.
[Photo credits: Joel Lim Photography]
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