This bottle was labelled #3031 from Batch 0887 and bottled at 45.2% ABV. The nose was very nice, herbal tea with mint and sweet vanilla notes. The mouthfeel is fresh, light and oily, bittersweet on palate with more vanilla, candy, black coffee and dark chocolate. The finish has peppermint, wood and grassy rye notes. With water it gets sweeter, even honeyed, while heat builds in the finish with chilli spiced dark chocolate. Overall very delicious; a light and subtle of straight rye.
Read MoreThis is good. The nose has sweet orange, almost like a Fanta, and little a sherry. The taste is smooth, creamy and sweet. The orange from the nose is there, and toffee and chocolate, spices in the finish and some subtle, subdued oak (considering 25 years in a cask). There is also some smoke in the finish.
A great smooth, sweet and complex dram... the only problem is the price. I bought a dram in a whisky bar and it cost over $40!! However on balance I have to say this is a spectacular whisky and once again it shows just how good blended whisky can be.
We visted Skye in 2009 and I drank the local whisky for the few days we were on the island. The jagged Talisker whisky was a good choice considering the terroir of Skye and the jagged Cuillin hills which over shadow the distillery. The 10 year old Talisker has a peaty and smokey nose. The taste has lots of spice, pepper, cinnanom and cloves and in the background there are some sweet malty notes. Smoke and peat dominate the finish with some bitter oak but I don't find any great complexity here, just lots of spice, pepper and smoke. I prefer the more subtle and rounded 18 year old. Back in the cask for you and call me in 8 years.
My first comment is that I have classified this as single malt, though I am not sure technically it is as the wash fermented at Brain's Brewery in Cardiff and not on site at Penderyn. Second comment is to decare my bias for Wales, as I graduated from the University of Wales in 1990. The nose has a cereal notes and is reminscent of new make spirit. The mouth feel is smooth and creamy and it has a nutty sweetness, fruit and vanilla. Complex and different, this is a delicious whisky.