A limited edition 10-year-old single malt from an undisclosed Speyside distillery. It has spent its decade of maturation in bourbon casks, un-coloured and non-chill-filtered.
Appearance: Very light gold/white wine. Lovely and thick film forms around the glass, a substantial swirl mark with plenty of teardrops and oozy thick legs.
Nose: A nice gentle ABV wave greets the senses. Honey cereal, red apple skin, stewed red berries and pastry.
Orchard fruit and the red berry aromas increase as the dram matures. It’s a very pleasant nose indeed.
Oaty digestive biscuits also feature prominently in the nose, the longer the dram rests.
Palate: A pleasingly viscous mouthfeel. Pine freshness, honey, cereals and those apples.
It’s quite cloying, not dry though.
Subtle black pepper tingles on the tongue, along with a touch of liquorice and icing sugar.
That digestive biscuit element is also consistent. As with the nose, it gets stronger as the dram ages.
Finish: Short to medium in length. The apple and pastry notes linger for some time. The slight liquorice and digestive notes are there too.
Overall: If I were to taste this blind I’d swear it was an Irish whiskey. It has that lovely and friendly sweet honey cereal character that is just really enjoyable and easy.
There’s no real complexity or depth, but that’s not a problem in this case as it doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a very satisfying and easy sipper.
For £35 it’s a no-brainer.
