The first year unpeated spirit has been used for a festival bottling. Matured in first-fill bourbon barrels & finished for 5 months in Bordeaux red wine casks.
Appearance: That orangeade hue is present again here, very inviting! Lovely viscosity and beading, good medium/thick legs.
With the Festival Releases we are being more experimental with Glen Scotia using casks with maritime trade links that we dont use in the core range. We have a few more things to try before we need to go back to any but it's been noted how well this one went down #thewhiskeychaps
— Michael Henry (@LLBlender) January 6, 2022
Nose: Quite delicate, especially given the ABV. Lots of berry sweetness, raspberry ripple ice cream, cream soda (which I now pick up thanks to @StillSurreal) and quart jar foam sweets. I really like this nose, I love the confectionary and berry aromas.
Palate: After an initial spice hit there’s lots of the berry sweetness, stone/gravel (don’t get that much!), mild chilli, some chocolate notes too.
I also get the milky coffee note from the previous dram too. Nice.
Finish: A touch of drying on the finish. The berries last the longest on the medium/long finish. There are some coastal notes too now.
Overall: I’m torn between this, the Tawny and the Seasonal, which are all exceptional. That said, all 5 are very welcome in my cabinet!
