Nose, Taste, Finish and Balance are graded out of 2.5 each:
Nose: A wave of honey and apple-smoke hits the nose upon first approach. A second visit reveals layers of juicy burnt raisin and malty oak. Complex, yet one could argue it doesn't quite make enough of the various strings to its bow. 1.5
Taste: Light-bodied and very fluid on the tongue. The malt and oak patiently form a gentle base, from which the apple slowly grows, all under the watch of a restrained layer of soft smoke. The elements from the nosing seem to come through here in a more sophisticated performance. 2.0
Finish: Delicious and intense apple once again to the fore, exploding gracefully in fruit-liqueur fashion, before morphing back into a more bourbon-like layer of liquorice and honey, with the trusty oak coming through at the end. 2.0
Balance: A very entertaining and approachable Speysider, with complex layers of flavour that give this whisky no shortage of character. At times a classic speyside, at others an apple-liqueur, and even at the end more of a bourbon. One suspects that a few more years in the barrel would allow these various faces to morph together into a more married entity, however at 12 years-old this nonetheless remains an enjoyably eccentric whisky. 2.0
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