Origin: Speyside (Scozia)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 43%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Diageo
Average price: € 50,00
Official website: –
After so many independent expressions, it was time to try the only official bottling from this distillery I love so much, just to see how Diageo interprets its distillate when it is not pouring it into its own blends.
It cannot be said that the packaging is attractive, especially if it ends up on supermarket shelves, perhaps in the midst of the parent company’s dazzling Special Releases, but be that as it may, you look at the contents and not the container, and although I know I cannot expect the sparkle of the various single casks I have tasted, I pour confidently into my glass what is a whisky with a distinct personality.
A funny note: the label boasts that the whisky is ‘hand crafted’, as if every other single malt were completely mechanised. Marketing wonders.
Tasting Notes
The nose is quite elegant, with white and yellow fruits (apple, white melon, peach, banana, pineapple), yoghurt plum cake, malt, floral notes (hyacinth), acacia honey and a delicate but persistent waxy note. A vein of fresh minerality runs through the aromas, which are enriched with time by marzipan, coconut cream and a subtle sweet presence of citrus fruit, such as Jaffa Cake marmalade. A richness and complexity not expected from a base malt.
On the palate, it becomes more acidic and less pleasant, with the vegetal spirit dominating, pushing the fruit and pastry into the background, with spicy touches (pepper, ginger) over propolis, almonds, lemon peel and cereals. Time rounds it off a little, but not too much, allowing flashes of vanilla and honey to emerge, but the bitter astringencies win in length.
The finish is quite long and continues along the bitter but less aggressive line, bringing back honey, yellow fruit, citrus, spices, wood and a hint of chocolate, with the vegetal note well present.
More or less what you might expect from a ‘tamed’ version of such an exceptional malt, which explodes on the nose and recedes on the palate, but still manages to bring out its qualities.
Vote: 83/100