An unpeated Highland whisky. This expression has been matured in hand-selected sherry casks crafted from European and American oak.
Appearance: Dark dirty gold. A thin film coats the inside of the glass. There’s a decent (thick) swirl mark and some very slow forming short thick legs.
Nose: Nose: It’s quite light on the ABV (unsurprising at 43%). Some fragrant spice and confectionary sweetness emerge first.
There’s also an arable element. Grain, corn and hay barn. As the glass matures so too does the sweet side of the nose.
A touch of banana and shrimp foam sweets, pear drops and aniseed twists. There’s an undercurrent of oak which is ever-present and works nicely with the sweeter elements.
Palate: A semi-viscous mouthfeel. Again, quite light and floral at first. A nice spice tingle and then the sweeter notes hit the side of the tongue.
The ABV presents more noticeably on the palate, I’d guess slightly higher at 46% if tasting blind. There’s a more herbal quality to the palate too. A touch astringent but it’s balanced and counteracted by the sweet side. Blood orange and lemon zest now.
Some barrel char and bourbonesque notes appear late on and into the finish.
Finish: Short to medium in length. Those bourbon notes linger most prominently and longest. Cherry, caramel and charred caramelised oak.
Overall: Oddly, the finish is my favourite stage of this whisky. The bourbon notes take too long to appear for me and, if they were more evident at an earlier stage, I’d most likely really enjoy this. As it is I’m not a huge fan.
It’s pretty average but inoffensive and a fairly easy sipper.
