From Suntory's mountain distillery, found deep within the forests of Mount Kaikomagatake, Hakushu is a single malt that takes liquid and from the pure waters of the Southern Japanese Alps. This gives it a terrific fresh flavour, many considering it as a uniquely liberating malt whisky. The 25 year old is deep amber in colour and a winner of numerous prestigious awards. Super rare and hard to find, only a few opportunities exist in Australia to add this to any whisky lovers collection.

The Glenfiddich Distillery was founded in 1886 by William Grant in Dufftown in the Speyside region of Scotland. The name Glenfiddich derives from the Scottish Gaelic Gleann Fhiodhaich meaning "valley of the deer". Once the spirit has matured, the whisky is cut with pure Robbie Dhu spring water. Glenfiddich has a bottling hall onsite along with a large bottling plant in Bellshill. It is visible in a rocky valley’s many solid strata; laid down over millennia, worn smooth by wind and rain. And with layers comes complexity. Which is why Glenfiddich 40 is so much more than an exemplary single malt. This rare single malt is made through remnant vatting, a pioneering process in which the Glenfiddich malt master carries one batch over, time and again, and marries it with the casks selected for each subsequent release. Cask after cask, season after season, it absorbs the evolving flavours of the passing years. It is time, age, experience accumulated. It’s a unique process that isn’t commonly used. In fact, Glenfiddich is the only distillery that still makes use of the remnant vatting process, which is a testament to the label’s traditional approach to distillation. Since the first release of Glenfiddich 40 Year Old in 2000, its special marrying tun has never been emptied, with some of the previous batch saved to provide the backbone of each new release. This year, Brian Kinsman added two butts and five hogsheads of whisky to the mix, creating a rich and sherry-led expression, weightier than previous editions. The sculptural packaging design is inspired by geological metamorphosis and made from jesmonite (a resin-based material used for sculpture and decoration), which is streaked with both upcycled copper, which represents Glenfiddich’s stills, and green glass, which nods to the ever-popular Glenfiddich 12 Year Old, giving a stone-like appearance. Luxuriously full and silky smooth, with memories of past releases in every nuanced note. Evolving from deep dried fruit notes to rich fruitcake, dates, raisins and stewed apples, with sweet cooking spices and vanilla, before giving way to dry oaky notes, with subtle hints of bitter chocolate and peat. The finish is complex, memorable and exquisitely long-lasting.

One of the greatest names in all of Burgundy, dating back to the 1930s when Armand was one of the first of five domaines to defy the negociants and bottle their own wine. The Rousseau name is synonymous with Gevrey-Chambertin; Armand passed the reins to Charles who on retirement passed control to his son Eric.

I was shocked at the quality of the 2014 Châteauneuf du Pape Hommage A Jacques Perrin and I can’t think of another wine that comes close to this level of depth, concentration and richness in the vintage. Its inky color is followed by sensational notes of roasted herbs, licorice, caramelized meats and layers of black and blue fruits. Rich, full-bodied, thick and unctuous, hats off to the Perrin family for this incredible effort! Give bottles 4-6 years of cellaring and drink over the following two decades. Jeb Dunnuck, Robert Parker 97 Points