Bottled exclusively for the UK, this 14-year-old Single Malt is matured in 1st and 2nd fill American Oak Barrels before being re-racked into Oloroso Sherry Puncheons for over 2 years.
Appearance: Another lovely invitingly dark orange (bordering on brown) dram! An instant film coats the glass. Many short medium legs quickly form and stick to the thin tidal mark.
Nose: A lovely ABV wave emanates from the glass and warms the senses. Pleasing sweet woody notes, cowboy strength black coffee, leather, vanilla and caramel present first for me. It’s a very nicely balanced nose so far.
Brown sugar dusted forest fruits next, along with wet leaves and dusty library air. Some spicier notes emerge as the glass matures, in the form of cinnamon, clove and mild paprika.
Palate: Ooh, that’s nice! Buttery mouthfeel. Cherry encrusted chocolate, red berry tartness (if that’s a word?!), vanilla, mild chilli heat and a touch drying. It tingles on the lips and tongue. Some wood notes emerge as the glass matures, along with a more apple edge.
Unusually, I’ve now added some water to see how it transforms…. More floral and woody with water. Caramel and butterscotch come forward too. Dark fruits and an almost smokey note. It’s got a lovely depth and richness, plenty going on but all married very nicely.
On the final slurp to get the tiny bit at the end I got bubblegum and blueberry
Finish: Toffee apple and cinnamon doughnuts. Caramel popcorn dusted with dried chilli flakes. It’s a plethora of flavours that, on paper (screen) don’t sound like they should go together, but they do. This is the best of tonight’s drams but a long way for me.
Overall: A lovely dram but unfortunately not worth the current price tag. It’s got a lovely depth and complexity to enable you to sit and explore for over an hour or so but I feel the only people buying this now won’t be opening it.
