This is the whisky which really ignited my love of a dram. It wasn’t my first whisky, but my first high quality whisky.
We bought a bottle for my father in laws 70th birthday in 2001. At the age of 39, never had I tasted something so complex, unctuous and deep. It was so good that I treated myself to a bottle for our wedding day in 2003. When my father in law passed I was lucky enough to grab another bottle to share at his wake. This really started the journey and is one of the only bottles I have ever bought multiples of.
V – Light brass, old gold, honey, thick ring and slow legs – 9 N – Malted Shreddies, cocoa, choc, runny malt, bbq meat, cream, forest floor/ damp wood – 14 M – smooth, mid, light tongue tip prickle – 14 T – smoke, wood, malt, malted shreddies, oaked chardonnay, white grapes, clotted cream, malt, breaded ham, dark choc, varnish, bees wax, bbq chicory/ leafy veg, tobacco, seaweed, saline, rocks – 28 F – salty rocks, peaty mud, dark choc, tobacco, bbq chicory, bees wax, cream, malt, leafy veg, oaked chardonnay, malted shreddies, ham, stewed apples, finally a smoky hint – long but mellow, like a great wood aged chardonnay (my reference point at the time) – 28 = 93