Jake Mountain
Jake Mountain, resident 'doer of things' and MoM OG
With well over a decade's experience in the spirits industry, Jake's worked across all areas of Master of Malt's retail, trade, editorial and marketing teams, and much more besides, managing various award-winning campaigns and initiatives. As well as Scotch whisky, he's an expert who loves a single pot still Irish whiskey, Japanese drinks, and boozy stirred-down cocktails, plus some funky agricole rhum or cachaça. Jake's passed the new, advanced WSET Level 3 in Spirits with a Distinction, and his comments have appeared in publications such as The Guardian and Jeff Cioletti's Drinking Adventurously. You can also speak to him about second division German football and an eclectic array of music from Britpop to rare funk breaks.
Jake's Whiskies of the Month (March 2026)
Mac-Talla Mara
Scotch single malt whisky, Islay region
Mac-Talla Mara is an Islay single malt which is focused on the coastal deliciousness that you often find in whiskies from the famous Hebridean island. Though the exact distillery on Islay isn't specified, we do know that it was drawn from American oak casks, and bottled at cask strength. Mac-Talla is the Scottish Gaelic for ‘echo’, and these independently bottled Islay single malts are said to reflect (get it?) the Morrison family’s connection to the island and its whiskies spanning five generations, as well as different sides of the Islay whisky's character.
"A big month for the Morrison family, with the release of their distillery Aberargie's inaugural single malt. It jogged my memory, however, of sharing this entirely different single malt with their MD Niel Hendriksz in our Pour & Sip club. It's the classic maritime one – and the cask strength one – of four core Mac-Talla Islay releases."
Jake Mountain
Resident doer of things, spirits buff & MoM OG
Tasting notes
Salted lemons, caraway, toasted teacakes with melted butter, seaweed.
Cask char and burnt ends, with a touch of honey. Still packed with sea breeze and maritime malt notes.
Petrichor, sea salt, a touch of smoky bacon.
New Riff Straight Balboa Rye
American rye whiskey
Apologies if you've got Eye of the Tiger stuck in your head. This Kentucky straight rye whiskey has nothing to do with the popular film franchise and everything to do with a rare heirloom 'Balboa' rye grown exclusively for New Riff distillery! 95% of this whiskey is made up of this Balboa variety, with malted rye making up the other 5%. Matured for a minimum of four years, and bottled without chill filtration, it's bursting with fruit and spice.
"The mission: Find a totally badass rye that Dave 'the rye guy' Worthington hasn't worked his way through during his JanuaRye & FebruaRye Insta extravaganza (or in these Top 10s). I think I've smashed it. Mind you, there are only a handful of bottles left..."
Jake Mountain
Resident doer of things, spirits buff & MoM OG
Tasting notes
Oaky char, with crunchy plums, dried cranberries, pepper, and allspice.
Drizzles of caramel, with vanilla, redcurrants, cinnamon, more rye spice.
Plenty of spicy rye character, pepper, nutmeg, clove, and nigella seeds.
