Tasting Notes

• Nose

  It's afternoon tea time and a festive spread awaits. Candied-peel-studded vanilla sponge with lemon cream is surrounded by a scattering of sugared almonds and crisp spun sugar. Nutty Florentines – before they're dipped in chocolate – are topped with an extra handful of glacé cherries. Creamy malt notes drift across the table, followed by a touch of chamois leather and musky incense – a pair of freshly-unwrapped, last-minute-gift driving gloves sat on a nearby chair.

• Palate

  Sweet and malty notes lead, dusted with spicy cinnamon and lightly drizzled with toffee and lemon – cinnamon swirls with a zingy glaze. The toffee notes continue, with the apple and sultana cake following, covered in crisp crystals of brown sugar and topped with lemon zest and candied lemon peel. A bunch of herbs sits ready for the kitchen: bunched mint and tarragon.

• Finish

  The leafy herbs are the first to be taken away, with candied nut brittle quickly consumed not long after, leaving a scattering of sweet Christmas spices and polished oak.

• Comment

  Sweet and citrusy with a core of fruit and festive spice – a beginning to a day of traditional excess. A whisky for Christmas afternoon, before dinner. Pairs well with a big box of biscuits, marzipan fruit and unwrapping presents.

• Style

  • Body
  • Richness
  • Smoke
  • Sweetness

  Character

  • Mint
  • Cinnamon
  • Lemon
  • Apple
  • Toffee
  • Sultana