Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Gradation: 56.8%ABV
Ageing cask: Finished in ex-Bourbon first fill
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Dram Mor Group
Average price: € 75,00
Official website: drammorgroup.com
Vote: 83/100
With Spring just starting, here come Viktorija and Kenny Macdonald’s seasonal bottlings, which thanks to their ever exquisite kindness I will have the opportunity to try on these pages.
I start with a distillery that I appreciate a lot and of which, for the first time, I will try an independent and so young edition, with a 2013 single cask from Buffalo Trace, aged in a cask from Buffalo Trace, which produced 294 bottles at cask strength.
Tasting notes
A very sweet and pleasing nose, devoid of any alcoholic exuberance, a sugary and creamy candy (likethe Italian candy Rossana) tossed among the hyacinths with almond syrup, vanilla, toffee (and here it recalls me of another Italian candy, Alpenliebe) and a drop of honey. The risk of going off the deep end is very high and is averted by a mineral note that emerges at length, even if it is hard to contain such an explosive wave of sweet softness.
In the mouth it is more balanced, pepper and ginger bloom on less complacent tones that veer towards licorice root, anise, green apple, tobacco and citrus. The sweetness ends up in the aftertaste, with notes that are still creamy and caramelised but much less pushed, completely reversing the taste priorities. Still mineral in the long term.
The finish is quite long and dry, still mineral, with apple, liquorice, marzipan, a touch of cinnamon and leather.
Surprising for the dichotomy between nose and palate, it betrays the youthfulness influenced by a very strong finishing cask but does not give up its character, which prevails with a certain obstinacy overturning the initial expectations. Educational.