Bruichladdich, Dalmore & Jura 3 x 33cl 1990s / Connoisseurs Malt Gift Set

A wonderful set of three classic whiskies from the 1990s.

• Bruichladdich 15 Year Old 1990s 43% 33.33cl

Like its Islay neighbour Bunnahabhain, Bruichladdich has traditionally been an un-peated single malt, mostly owing to its requirements by the blenders who owned it. The last of these was Whyte and Mackay, who eventually shut it down in 1995, deeming it surplus to requirements. They sold the distillery to Murray McDavid in 2001, who launched the peated Port Charlotte and heavily-peated Octomore single malts in 2006 and 2008. A recommissioned Lomond still also now produces the popular Botanist gin there.

• Dalmore 12 Year Old 1990s 43% 33.33cl

Dalmore is undoubtedly the prize single malt in the Whyte & Mackay portfolio. This was not always the case though. The blenders purchased it from the Mackenzie family in 1960, having been long-standing customers. Due to the long-running importance of it to their blends, their distillery bottlings of its single malt were limited to a 12 year old expression. Nowadays however, it is positioned as a luxury brand, rubbing shoulder with the likes of Macallan, and is globally recognised.

• Jura 10 Year Old 1990s 43% 33.33cl

The Isle of Jura is one of the most isolated in the Hebridean archipelago, and by all logical accounts an unusual place to build a distillery. However, the historic site was re-opened in the 1960s, in part to provide jobs to what was a declining population at the time. The rebuilding of the distillery was backed by blenders Charles Mackinlay & Co, so like Bruichladdich, despite the island being covered in peat, it produced an un-peated spirit to meet the needs of their blends. This continued into the 1990s when Whyte & Mackay became its owners, although they did eventually introduce some peated malt to their distilling, launching the Jura Superstition in 2003.