4,000 up!

I recently reached a bit of a milestone with my 4,000th different whisky tried a 1999 25yo Springbank from Decadent Drinks which I tried at the 2026 Independent Spirits Festival in Leith.

Here's an overview of my stats to get to that 4,000!

I've kept a record of every whisky I've ever tried since my first in 1999, a bottle, a dram or a sample at a whisky festival, usually by taking a photo of the bottle. I started recording them in a book and then a spreadsheet. As my hobby grew so did the complexity of the spreadsheet and there's some geeky stats in there I thought I'd share!

My first ever dram was an Edradour 10yo at the Distillery Visitor's Centre after a tour in April 1999.

I recently re-tried it at Leith!

Dram 1,000, in June 2020, was a Braeckman 2019 10yo Single Cask #218 Single Grain

Dram 2,000, in June 2022, was a Glen Scotia 2013 9yo Single Cask #47 (Ex Bourbon) - the 2022 Festival Dinner bottling!

Dram 3,000, in June 2024, was a White Peak Amarone Wine cask

Dram 4,000, in March 2026, was 1999 25yo Springbank from Decadent Drinks

So what do the stats look like year on year:

So I've tried 4029 different drams.

This year I've tried 182 drams of which 146 were new.

(It's only the 'new' ones which could towards the total)

Which distilleries?

Unsurprisingly I've tried more Loch Lomond drams, 212, than any other distillery. That's 6.3% of the dram's I've tried. Glen Scotia and Bunnahabhain finish the top 3!

What am I drinking?

Single Malts (SM) are nearly 43% and Single Malt Single Casks (SMSC) 41%

RY : Rye, BL : Blend, SG : Single Grain, SGSC : Single Grain Single Cask, BM : Blended Malt

Where are they from?

Which Indies?

Unsurprisingly SMWS are way out in front with That Boutique-y Whisky Company and Cadenhead's in 2nd and 3rd

Which countries are they from?

How are they Matured?

How Old are they?

10yo and 12yo jump out as the age I've tried most of.

The oldest dram I've tried is a 58yo Carsebridge from Claxton's

When were they distilled?

The earliest distilled dram I've had is a MacPhail from 1946.

When were they bottled?

The oldest bottled dram I've had is a Wine Society Special Highland Blend bottled in 1975

How strong are they?

Year on year stats.

How do you score whisky?

Which were your least favourite?

What were your favourite?