Taster

Nose: Sweet, smoky and with a hint of seaweed and brown sugar. There’s a lovely fruity side to this too, lemon wedges baked with trout, poached apples in cider, spaghetti vongole.

Palate: All those fruits come flooding in to the palate, tinned exotic fruit salad, vanilla sugar and then a really salted ham edge takes over.

Finish: All the smoke and seaweed from the nose returns to dry nice and slowly.

Comment: Initially this is like hugging a wet dog from the sea, but is nicely balanced with this fruity, sweet side too. Great stuff.

Score: 9.1

Taster

Nose: The sweet, fruity and estery aroma of well-made new make, gentle maritime smoke and subtle vanilla cask influence. Lemon zest, crisp green apples and cooked pears. Then clamshells and the faint smoke of a bonfire.

Palate: More fruits with a creamy texture, like a zesty lemon meringue pie. There’s poached pears and vanilla ice cream before the smoke builds to centre stage.

Finish: Salty, meaty, all grilled fish and bonfire.

Comment: Youthful but with precise balance. A peated Irish single malt to rival the might of Islay.

Score: 9