Taster

Nose: Earthy. Dried mint and bayleaf with some eucalyptus, even enamel paint and hot clay. With water there’s baked apple and shoe wax but the slightly grubby earthiness remains.

Palate: A strange mix of the sweet and the bitter. High oak extracts. Moves in two directions: the intense and the bitter but and doesn’t resolve the issue.

Finish: Cacao.

Comment: Too dry and bitter for me.

Score: 7.2

Taster

Nose: Pungent and woody. Like opening a humidor, fresh tobacco. Black treacle and leaf mulch.

Palate: Toffee and vanilla. Dried fruits, almost coffee like. A nutty quality.

Finish: Short and fresh.

Comment: Complex and intriguing as an old whisky should be.

Score: 8.4