Tasting Notes
ABV
43%
Region
Speyside
Bottling
Gordon & MacPhail
Cask type
--
Nose
The nose starts off with subtle sherry flavours, followed by fruity notes of banana, apple, pineapple and plum. Sweet with vanilla and butterscotch, milk chocolate, and a hint of liquorice and ginger in the back.
Palate
Lovely sweet and creamy on the palate with sherry, vanilla and red berries, followed by a slightly warming spiciness of oak, black pepper and ginger. Notes of red apples and milk chocolate emerge, while the spiciness increases with a second sip turning pepper almost into chili.
Finish
The finish is long and warm. Becomes slightly dry with oak, dark bitter chocolate and a lingering oily nuttiness on the tail.
With Water
Fresh and clean on the nose with slightly bitter fruity notes of grapefruit and orange peel. Less sweet with tamed notes of vanilla and chocolate. Less rich and somehow reluctant on the palate with sweet vanilla, a tamed spiciness with white pepper and subtle prickling oak. The finish is a bit shorter but stays warm and creamy with honey and prickling oak.
Comments
A very nice and quaffable Speyside single malt. Pleasant fruitiness on the nose, lovely balanced with a creamy sweetness and warming spiciness on the palate. Not overly complex but well-matured and layered. Water, however, calms the delicate flavours down.
I thank Gordon & MacPhail for the sample and the photograph (displaying the bottling of 2015)!