Deanston 19 Year Old Single Cask (Master of Malt)

Here we have another Deanston - a second one in the Whisky Advent Calendar (and both are Master of Malt bottlings). This single cask malt was distilled on December 16 1992 (too bad we didn't taste this two days ago!) and matured for 19 years in a single refill hogshead. 260 bottles were drawn from the cask on November 20 2012. Like all of MoM's Single Cask Bottlings, this is cask strength, non-coloured and non-chill-filtered.

The colour is a light golden. On the nose, quite malty with some light honey and fresh mint. A little bit soapy (combined with the mint, is that toothpaste?), almond paste and milk chocolate. The vanilla is fairly strong. Complex but a little too perfume-y for my taste. Water helps a little by bringing the malt notes forward.

On the palate, quite sharp, thanks to the high ABV combined with toasted oak notes. More minty freshness but with a bit more caramel. Some tropical fruits and plenty of spice; even spicier with some water. Lots going on there but they are not really in harmony.

The finish is a little rough - and again, a lot of minty perfume-y qualities that I'm somewhat iffy on. At the death there are some nice honeyed malt notes. I can appreciate all of these various light but powerful elements at play but they don't gel together for me, it's all a bit of a mess. However, it is a very interesting bottling from a very interesting distillery.

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