Today we're looking at the Monkey Shoulder blended malt, a budget-friendly whisky from William Grant & Sons. Its popularity has grown immensely in recent years.

This year, instead of a sherry cask, this Octomore received the Sauternes treatment after some initial maturation in ex-bourbon barrels.

Released in 2021, this bourbon should show of plenty of oak notes with its plentiful aging, but to balance that spice, the French wine casks could add some sweeter flavors.

Here we have the Glenmorangie Nectar D'or, a non age stated release (although on the brand's website, it does specify that the total maturation time is 12 years, at least for the current releases) from one of the Highlands' most popular distilleries.

Available in the early 2000s, this 'cask strength' bottling of Caol Ila, coming in at an even 55% ABV, could be found at the distillery.

This is the basic core range version of Yoichi, not sporting an age statement or any details other than a strength of 45% ABV.

Balboa rye is an older variety of rye grain, dating back to the 1940s.

As opposed to most American whiskies, which are mashed using a sour mash process, this rye is made using a sweet mash process, which does not involve adding additional ingredients from previous batches.

New Riff's 6 year old Malted Rye, which has a mash bill consisting of 100% malted rye grain.

Hailing from The Bard Distillery, this bourbon is a continuation of the original 13 year Cinder & Smoke bourbon bottling, which drew widely positive reviews.

A highland stalwart, the 12 year single malt from Aberfeldy. Founded in 1896 and now owned by Bacardi via John Dewar & Sons, this distillery produces a sizeable amount of spirit, with a capacity of 3.4 million liters of pure alcohol per annum.

The third and last Spicy and Sweet bottle we'll be tasting in this series is from Balmenach, specifically an 8 year old bottled at a cask strength of 60.6% ABV.

Another hard-to-find distillate, and another Diageo brand which can occasionally be found in independent bottlings, Dailuaine is another distillery that contributes greatly to the Johnnie Walker blends.

Linkwood distillery, one in the Speyside region that is owned by Diageo, does not generally produce a core range of distillery bottlings.

Glenmorangie's spirit is also known in the community for taking on finishing casks relatively well, so we're hoping for a cohesive, mature experience.

This bourbon is finished in port casks, so we'll be looking for some of those sweet dark fruit flavors along with the classic bourbon notes.

Dalmore's Port Wood Reserve, coming in at a solid 46.5% ABV.

With a mashbill of 51% rye (the minimum allowed), 37% corn, and 12% barley, we wouldn't be surprised if this has some flavor overlap with the 101 Bourbon.

A wheat whisky from Backbone - how will the cask strength ABV battle the softer wheat grain character?

Glen Scotia Victoriana also has the distinction of winning the category of Best Single Malt Scotch Whisky in the 2022 Online Scotch Whisky Awards (OSWAs).