This highlands whisky was matured in an ex-bourbon barrel, NCF and an outrun of 309 bottles.
Appearance: White wine spritzer, very light. A hairline swirl mark appears, with a thin film around the inside of the glass. Barely noticeable trails appear along with a few teardrops.
Nose: Initially light and summery, not too much ethanol, an easy sipper. Honey, vanilla, slight citrus and a whisp of sweet smoke. The nose has a lovely balance. A touch of barley sugar too. There’s not much more to the nose for me, and that’s not a bad thing.
Palate: A pleasing mouthfeel and an initial concentrated almost sharp hit of lemon, grape and berries. The sharpness almost verges on bitter, but then fades. I actually find it a bit chocolatey encrusted with dried berries. Some of that sweet smoke and faint oak drying and that blood orange bitter note is slowly building too.
Finish: The sharp sweetness, vanilla, honey and a touch of black pepper last for a decent length of time. The final notes are the blood orange and still that sweet smoke is there, subtle, but there.
Overall: A very pleasant dram, I’d quite like to explore a whole bottle as I think it will develop well over time and with oxygen. A nice balance and the sweet/smokey/chocolate elements are very nice.
