Lindores Abbey Commemorative First Release MCDXCIV

Last summer the long-awaited first release of this new Lowland distillery appeared (at least the one that was made available to the general public). I confess that I don't really know what the difference is with that other release that appeared at the same time under the name 'Lindores Abbey Single Malt Scotch MCDXCIV', because the composition is the same, the alcohol percentage is the same... Let's put them H2H.

The nose is pleasantly sweet, a tad candy-like and young. But in a good way. As I like it. Quite a few esters translate to Granny Smith apples in the pan and quite a bit of vanilla. Something like hazelnuts. Soft touch of yeast, but by no means disturbing. Gooseberries, kiwi, lychee.

Nice and oily, sweet and candy-like again. I have to think about champagne for a moment, really. But without the bubbles. Banana, pear, apple and some spiciness that I assign to the wine barrel. Caramel and toffee appear. This is pretty tasty, though.

The finish is fairly short, it's true, but nothing wrong with it.

Fine youngster. The only difference I can detect is... the label (and the number of bottles of course, of these 12,500 have been released). Apart from that, they are, in my opinion, identical whiskies. Well, no, not quite. This is just a bit tastier than the general release. But since they are both very friendly priced, it does not bother me that they are so similar.