Tasting Notes

• Tasting notes by Billy Abbott (TWE)

  Nose: Leather, salty peat, seashells, salted butter and sharp sea-spray. Rounded Crunchie-bar sweetness and fruity notes sat underneath, with sultanas, rich fruit cake and dark chocolate. Punchy medicinal notes and bung cloth are balanced by elegant waxed jacket notes, barley sugar, fruit gums and a hint of barrel char.

  Palate: Elegant, rounded and old, with youthful flashes. The waxed jackets from the nose sit at the centre, surrounded by a first layer of waxy apples and floral notes. Out from there there’s lemon and orange zest, and black pepper. Warm leather, loam and soft barrel char bitterness follow, with bung cloth, soft oaky notes and coal smoke following. Finally, there’s fruit, with apples, singed pears and tropical hints peaking out from behind the smoke.

  Finish: Barrel char, wet peat and dark chocolate, with hints of pine and soft, lingering sweetness.

  Comment: An excellent dram, combining the elegance of old Lagavulin with flashes of youthful feistiness.

• Producer's Tasting Notes

  Appearance: Deep, red-hued chestnut. Slow, lingering.

  Palate: A voluptuous, oily texture, with a bitter-sweet and gingery, slightly drying start. Intense, with masses of charred wood, oak-smoked meats, honey, burnt treacle tart and ash. Then, refreshing spearmint. Salty, then sweet, with water; gentle peat and spearmint. Now it’s soft, comforting and relaxed.