The first thing I got from the nose was the sauce that usually accompanies chicken satay -- a thai peanut sauce. There's also notable plums and caramel, with cider vinegar and... yeah, I'm pretty sure I smell pork ribs. Really kind of an intriguing nose... and comparatively, the palate is a letdown. Mainly mild spice and light caramel, on a background of restrained sweetness. The finish is lengthy, and spice comes and goes in nice waves. Oak is present in an expected amount, keeping this semi-dry while not over-oaked. This is a single malt that doesn't really excel at anything flavor-wise, yet it remains eminently drinkable. B/B-
N: Fairly unimpressive initially, takes a while but then some gamey sherry and mixed nuts. P: Smooth and very drinkable, but not nearly enough character for a whisky this old. F: A gentle and pleasing sting and light sherry. Enjoyable but below expectations.
N: Nutty and spicy. Trail mix with dried brown fruit ( pears and apple) and caramel sauce. Light vinegar lingers. P: more brown fruit and caramel but there's a hint of smoke and lingering peat. F: Sweet yet tart finish of green apples B/B-
n: dark cherry juice, wheat toast, resinous and full of sherried oak; like mixing strawberry jam with varnish. Deeper is vanilla ice cream with butterscotch drizzled over.
t: starts woody and leather with dense plums. Middle is where the dark cherries and other red fruits show with a nice mouthfeel and caramel. Finish is long and delicious. Heavy sherry cask influence but doesn't overtake the malt and other flavours. The smoke seems to have been overtaken by the cask, but this is a full-flavored whisky and very lush and rich.
tasted current release:
[46.3% ABV, non-chill filtered, no color added] B+.
p: Rotten fruit. Bit of musty funk. Hint of white pepper. Certainly not bad in the way cheap whisky is but some of the legitimate complexity just doesn't strike me as my preferred flavors.
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