Campbeltown 6 Year Old 54%. A Tea-spooned single cask malt with an outturn of just 364 Bottles. Non-chill-filtered and natural colour.
Appearance: A light gold colour. A medium-thick tide mark forms with a few teardrops initially. With a few more swirls, a number of thick trails form around the glass.
Nose: A decent ethanol wave greets the senses, that lovely cask strength ‘hit’. Plenty of orchard fruits, slightly fermented apples and pears. Confectionary sweetness compliments the fruits, with icing sugar, fruit salad sweets and bananas in custard. As the dram matures, the flavour elements merge to form a more ‘fruit pie and custard’ profile, mellowing a little. I like how this one is evolving.
A subtle sweet spice note emerges now. As well as raspberry-encrusted chocolate.
Palate: Pleasingly viscous. The palate carries the ABV well. Honey, black pepper & some citrus. A slight drying. A little liquorice, dark chocolate and menthol fade into the palate after a few sips. This dram is multi-layered and evolving really nicely, I’m intrigued as to how the bottle will change over time.
Finish: Medium to long. The chocolate and menthol linger for some time, Mint Aero springs to mind. That sweet spice tingle also lasts a short while too.
Overall: This bottle was a real punt from Top Whiskies and I’m really glad I grabbed it. It’s a very pleasant and friendly CS whisky that has plenty going on. For £60 it’s a no-brainer!