A natural cask strength Single Malt Whisky from a highly-regarded Speyside distillery that deserves to be better known. With a highly sophisticated, classic Speyside taste, this intriguing fusion of two experimental batches, made with different yeasts and matured in different woods, makes a fine dram. A fresh, yet voluptuous aroma and layers of fruit make this an enticing dram.
APPEARANCE
Pale bronze autumn sunlight. Good beading.
BODY
Medium.
NOSE
Mild, rich and sweet initially, with vanilla toffee giving way to leafy, green and herbal notes of fennel and fresh-cut grass. The sweetness remains, moving through candied nuts to polished oak and sweetened cream. With time, it becomes a fresh-fruity aroma overall, with hints of orchard fruit, dried apple rings and baked apples joined by poached pears in a fruit salad that also features melon, orange, nectarine and banana with a crunch of sweet pastry. Water introduces a cooling, floral note, but the fruitiness remains.
PALATE
Smooth and very sweet, A burst of sweetness washes over the palate, with traces of spun honey and honeycomb, followed by sour apples, oaky spice and brown sugar. The fruit stays centre stage, with icing sugar sweetness, butter and wood at the edges. The spice builds, with light cinnamon joined by dark clove and dried orange peel. Water calms the spice to reveal sweet notes of cream, sherbet and almond nuttiness, with orchard fruit and fruit jelly.
FINISH
Of medium-length, quite dry, with oak and woody spice fading to leave brown sugar and hints of anise. As the anise dies away, dried apples and spice reappear momentarily, before at last revealing sweet oak.
