Taster

Nose: Sickly sweet, meek, and a bit too metallic and old holding tank-like to my liking: mildly heathery. The few scents pass by so fleetingly it's difficult to pin them down. Generally nondescript.

Palate: Flavours of sweet malt, sweet corn greet the taste buds at palate entry. The mid-palate stage, in a fit of overcompensation, displays lumpily sweet tastes of sugary grain.

Finish: The sweet-o-rama continues in the overblown, medium long aftertaste.

Comment: Answers the question: why single malts?

Score: 5

Taster

Nose: New leather upholstery. Polished oak. Beeswax. Hint of pine.

Palate: Firm body. Fresh, crisp, toast. Very spicy. Ginger-dusted melon.

Finish: Vanilla. Oak. Slightly piney again. Resiny.

Comment: Decisive, cleansing and refreshing. A civilised apéritif before oysters Rockefeller and a New York strip steak.

Score: 8