Taster

Nose: Chewy with some complexity: stewed fruits (apricot), barley sugar, sealing wax, sultana, coconut, light sweet spices and crystallised fruit.

Palate: Perfumed start, dried apple and a hint of smoke. Bitter chocolate. Layered, honeyed.

Finish: Oaky, mature.

Comment: Broader than most. Great blending of old, mature whiskies.

Score: 8.5

Taster

Nose: Heady. Artificially flavoured sweets. Fresh paint. Then much better. Drying hay. Freshly squeezed orange. Marzipan. Milk chocolate bar.

Palate: Creamy, chewy. Fresh oak. Pear and almond pie. Eau-de-vie cherries.

Finish: Hot, dry, slightly bitter.

Comment: Quite ordinary. Surprisingly firey for the strength. Lacks delicacy.

Score: 7