Taster

Nose: As honeyed as it gets. Mead and mint, stem ginger in syrup. Lovely toffee fudge sweetness. Dried apricots and sultanas.

Palate: Shadows the nose, and the depth of apple/cider/mead layers is really fun. Golden syrup, milky coffee, and plenty of vanilla. With a velvety, slightly cloying texture.

Finish: Long, warming, full of mead, ginger warmth and just a hint of mint and nutmeg.

Comment: Marvellously balanced whisky. Fresh flavours, expressed fabulously. Top dram.

Score: 9

Taster

Nose: Sweetness and rich up front, all honeycomb and milk chocolate, raspberries and meringue. Autumnal leaves, that sweet decay scent (a good thing), warm polished wood in the sun, church pews in the summer heat.

Palate: Wonderfully sweet with a full Blood and Sand cocktail note – citrus tang then maraschino cherries, followed with a little bitter hit. The oak is present with vanilla and a toasted coconut.

Finish: Juicy, juicy and more juice. Keeps on giving. Beautifully long.

Comment: Fantastic. That is all.

Score: 9.2