Hey, it’s March. The blog will turn 9 towards the end of the month. Which means the Bowmore in the list below will be reviewed for sure—it’s a tradition in these parts. But it won’t be all March business as usual: I am off to Delhi for two weeks in just about 10 days. It’ll be my first time in India—or anywhere outside the US, for that matter—since we came back from Delhi a month before the pandemic closures hit the US in 2020. I am very much looking forward to seeing family and friends again. And, of course, also to eating some good food at home and out. What this also means is that the food content might vary a bit this month. I will have at least two reviews of Twin Cities restaurants and I will probably supplement them with Delhi meals towards the end of the month. And there will be no recipe poll this month. Instead I will clear some of my backlog and probably supplement those recipes with some things cooked in Delhi—I’m looking forward to spending some time in the kitchen with my mother and her cook. So the food stuff is a bit up in the air. But there will be the usual complement of booze reviews. If you get your nominations in early I will either get those reviews done before I go or take some samples with me to drink and review in Delhi.

Speaking of which, left to myself I’ll probably do two weeks of non-single malt whisky reviews, one of them a review of only mezcals (one of these mezcals is distilled with chicken and mole poblano and another with iberico ham!). If this thought fills you with horror, speak now or forever hold your peace. The other themed possibilities include a week or Ardmores (the Ardlair is an unpeated Ardmore), a week of Ben Nevis, another Islay week, a Speyside week—hell, I could even do a 12 yo week.

1. Ardlair 6, 2011 (Signatory)
2. Ardmore 10, 2009 (Single Cask Nation)
3. Ardmore 19, 1992 (Single Malts of Scotland)
4. Ben Nevis 20, 1997 (Berry Bros. & Rudd)
5. Ben Nevis 20, 1997 (The Exclusive Malts)
6. Ben Nevis 20, 1999 (The Daily Dram)
7. Bowmore 21, 1998 (Old Particular)
8. Caol Ila 11, 2007 (Berry Bros. & Rudd)
9. Caol Ila 30, 1982, Archives
10. Cinco Sentidos, Pechuga de Mole Poblano, Mezcal
11. Craigellachie 19,1999, Sherry Butt 129
12. Del Maguey Chichicapa, Weller Cask Finish, Mezcal
13. Del Maguey Iberico, Mezcal
14. Glen Grant 13, 1993 (James MacArthur)
15. Glen Ord 9, 2011 (Signatory)
16. Grander 11, Islay Peat Finished Rum
17. Laphroaig 12, 2004 (OMC)
18. Littlemill 22, 1989 (Glen Fahrn)
19. Mortlach 12, 2008 (Sovereign for K&L)
20. Redbreast 12 CS, 2020 Release
21. Speyburn 15, 2017 Release
22. Tomatin 25, 1994 (Hunter Laing)
23. Tomatin Decades, First Edition
24. Woodford Reserve Masters Collection, 2021 Release

As always, make your nominations to the shortlist in the comments below. And you might want to hurry if you want to change my plans for the rest of this highlands week (I currently have the Glen Ord and one of the Tomatins lined up).