A Fine Christmas Malt 2021 16 Year Old

Billy Abbott, The Whisky Exchange

• Nose

  Barbecued apples and a touch of fruit jelly to start: lemon, orange and pineapple. Smoky cocoa nib notes develop, along with wisps of wood smoke and dark milk chocolate. The orangey notes take over, joined by damp oak, singed raisins, and dark and spicy fruit cake. Candied cherries poke out of the cake and drag things towards nutty Florentines, mince-pie filling, candied lemon peel and dark-chocolate-covered orange segments.

• Palate

  Chocolate biscuits, smoky orange oil, sweet apple and soft wood smoke lead. Coal smoke floats underneath and hazelnut-studded chocolate notes roll through the middle. The damp oak of the nose reappears with a touch of forest floor, oat cakes and toasted rye bread, before being sweetened up by plump raisins, brown-sugar-dosed baking spice, a thin slice of rich fruit cake and a cinnamon-spiced oatmeal-and-raisin cookie.

• Finish

  Soft charcoal notes linger as candied apple, chocolate biscuits and cinnamon spice slowly fade.

• Comment

  A softly smoky rollercoaster through festive flavours, from the more traditional fruit cake and pudding notes to Christmas stocking apples and oranges, sweet and savoury biscuits, and even a posh chocolate orange. The perfect accompaniment to wintery weather, whether in a glass, a hipflask or even a hot toddy.