Taster

Nose: Fresh, fragrant, peat-smoke.

Palate: Peaty, tar-like, against an oily, cereal-grain sweetness.

Finish: Rooty, liquorice. Medicinal. Soothing. Extraordinarily long.

Comment: Robust as ever, but much more peatiness than I associate with this distillery. Oaky, too, for a relatively young whisky.

Score: 7.8

Taster

Nose: Light but complex: an apple orchard after rain with pear, baked apple, cream and raisin and a balancing smoky sootiness.

Palate: There's lots going on: butter, cream, apple, fruit blossom, white pepper. Great balance and youthful vigour.

Finish: Long sooty, kiln.

Comment: What will happen now that Allied has ruined the new make by ripping out the coal fires?

Score: 8.8