Given that whiskies take so long to nurture, it can feel unduly dismissive to take these little time capsules of flavour and grade them. I’m delighted to write that tasting through more than 120 Scotch whisky expressions for this Report, very few fell short in any way. The working hypothesis that it’s difficult to make a bad whisky holds weight. And in the cohort of 2024’s whiskies were some extraordinary treasures.

This Report serves as a snapshot of Scotch whisky right now. All whiskies were tasted blind, and I was pleased to find quality across every style and at every price point. New and established producers alike are distilling, maturing and blending spirits that more than hold up under scrutiny. Some of the major standouts are resolutely priced to be everyday drinking whiskies. I put this down to the rapidly expanding demographics of whisky lovers, the widening of drinking occasions. Whisky needs to charm a wider audience than ever – and as a category it is succeeding.

For those with deeper pockets or a specific collecting inclination, there is good news too. Some of the loftiest of bottlings, the old and rare gems, stopped me in my tracks with the riches on offer. Whiskies aged for over half a century were tasted for the Report. For me, this speaks to vast advances in maturation. It is a challenge to keep whiskies thriving in oak for three decades and beyond. The collective effects of evaporation, concentration and extraction from the oak can leave a flat, woody, generally ‘overcooked’ profile. Not here. I consider some of these releases to be feats of science; so fresh, so balanced, so vibrant. When these whiskies are closer to half a century in age, it is all the more remarkable still.

Another trend, if we can call it that, seems to be an embrace of subtlety. Over the last few years, it’s felt like whisky producers have embarked on a carnival of full-throttle flavour. Cask finishes have been bold and loud. Peat levels have been profound and pronounced. There was some debate over whether this emerged from a need to hide flaws in the distillate itself. What’s clear from this tasting is that makers have taken a welcome breath. The effortless elegance of a well-managed bourbon cask is increasingly celebrated. Finishes and secondary maturations have been utilised to add light and shade to a flavour narrative rather than totally dominate the story. Peat smoke, while in places intentionally audacious, was often used as a seasoning. It’s a hugely successful shift – these Scotches were all the more mesmerising as a result.

The last word should go to the blended contingent: both blended malts and blended Scotches. So long misunderstood and maligned – yes, even among a collector audience – these sub-categories have often been dismissed as entry level or dull in comparison to their single malt counterparts. That reputation has been resolutely shaken off. And rightly so. The entire Scotch industry has been built on the trading of casks for blending. It was only really from the 1980s onwards that ‘Project Single Malt’ roared into life. Shrewd marketing positioned malts as the elevated choice. It worked well for the likes of Glenfiddich, which was the first to sniff out the zeitgeist as early as the 1960s. But blends were relegated somewhat, both in the eyes of the whisky drinker and sometimes for the makers as they turned their minds to single malts. Today, blends account for around 90% of Scotch whisky volumes. But most excitingly, as tasting for The Scotch Whisky Report 2024 showed, they have returned to the forefront of the industry when it comes to quality too.

It still all stems from those three ingredients of course. With that side of tradition too. But in this specific era of whisky, we’re seeing arguably a fifth ingredient – a confidence in creativity that we’ve never seen before. Modern Scotch is alive and well.

Tasting notes and scores from Club Oenologique’s Scotch Whisky Report 2024 (featuring only those whiskies scoring 90 points and above) are available to all registered users of The Collection, the online home of our premium wine and spirits content. To register, click here.