Taster

Nose: Robust and cakey: date, prune, cooked fruits, treacle, Dundee cake. Resinous with a little smoke.

Palate: Big and powerful. A balanced mix of (European) oak and rich, sweet spirit.

Finish: Rich and long.

Comment: Good stuff with plenty of rich distillery character. Balance. That's what it is all about.

Score: 7.8

Taster

Nose: Very powerful and seductive. Polished oak. Marzipan. Black chocolate. Candied orange peel.

Palate: Treacle-toffee richness versus burnt-grass peatiness. Big flavours, locked together like boxers punching their way out of a clinch. Long, muscular interplay; one seems to dominate, and then the other.

Finish: Smoky. Oaky. Very spicy.

Comment: In each corner, a fighter rather than a boxer. Not much refinement, but plenty of punch.

Score: 8.8