Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year Old

Sampled in a Glencairn first neat and then with a half tea spoon of spring water.

My general feeling of this dram was one of being totally under whelmed. I am struggling, even as a novice, to come up with any flavours or smells to describe. It’s as if the makers were simply intending to make the stuff taste ‘whisky flavoured’. There was very little at all in the way of fruit, sweetness, bitterness, finesse, wow factor or even dislike. The whisky was just uninspiring, none descript and dull. I have read and been told that adding water to whisky is intended to open up the flavours, well I’m afraid it didn’t work in this case.

It is like that person you are introduced to (usually at work) who’s name instantly does out of your head and you’ve totally forgotten five seconds after they’ve walked away or left the room.

But here goes:

Colour: Pale amber , no legs to speak of.

Nose: The best I can come up with is a slight nutty odour, like unsalted peanuts.

Taste: Again very bland, at the risk of repeating myself (oops too late) it tastes of…well…whisky and not much else. There’s a very, very, very slight liquorice tinge and the last moment.

Finish: Quite long but that’s not a good thing as again a great void of nothing overwhelms you. I was immediately opening my cabinet to find something more interesting (not difficult) to replace it with.

Luckily I picked this up on special offer at the supermarket, as paying the full price would have increased the sense of disappointment even further. It’s definitely one I’ll be keeping at the back of the cabinet for using in whisky coffees, hot toddies and for those who want something ‘whisky tasting’ to put in their coke.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not bad but it is certainly not good either, it’s just bland (I think you get the message). It’s as flat as the bottle it comes in.

My tip is, even if you find it on special offer spend your money on some BNJ or Aberlour 10yo instead.

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