IAN WISNIEWSKI (leading whisky authority and writer)

Tasting notes, November 2007

Nose: Big but balanced. Rich sherried notes, toffee and toastness, then plums, prunes and dried fruit emerge, followed by dark chocolate and crème caramel.

Palate: Rich, velvety texture. Distinct dryness and light oakiness leads, then recede as sherried, plum, prune, crème caramel nuances emerge as an integrated package of flavours, followed by dark chocolate and digestive biscuits.

Finish: Rich, dried fruit, toastiness, sherried notes, cherry jam, extending with distinct oakiness and toastiness.

TOM JAGO

Cellar notes, 14 January 2008

Colour: deep warm bronze, with pale ‘green flash’* against the light.

Nose: Complexity of chocolate, figs, pronounced vanilla; faintest echoes of peatsmoke; sherry wood emerges with added water. Personally I detected a memory of ancient bodegas.

Taste: Natural sweetness on the palate, then spice at the back of the mouth. Harmonious combination of new-mown hay, dried fruit, herbs and rich biscuits. The sherry  cask has rounded this whisky to a complex whole. Really spicy, long finish. A great surprise is to find this whisky still so youthfully fresh after nearly fifty years in cask- I would almost say ‘brisk’. Dwells in the mouth for an age.
If one leaves the last drop in a glass for a while, more profound nuances may emerge to the sensitive palate.

* This effect is sometimes, but rarely, observed when a whisky has been a very long time in wood.

Finish: Rich, dried fruit, toastiness, sherried notes, cherry jam, extending with distinct oakiness and toastiness.