Royal Brackla Duncan Taylor Dimensions 14 Year Old 1997

My third of three Duncan Taylor Dimensions samples - this one a 14 year old from Highland distillery Royal Brackla. They don't have much of a profile, with few bottlings - they were founded in 1812, and were the first distillery to receive a royal warrant, in 1835, apparently to help boost sales. I have no idea whether or not it worked. It currently belongs to Bacardi.

The colour is very very pale, almost clear! The nose is very muted - I really have to breathe in to get those minty, herbal notes, marshmallow...and not that much else. Very little cask influence here, and adding water does little.

The palate is also muted - very smooth and unassuming, malty, a little tangy, with some papaya and green banana. Water brings out a little spice.

The finish is medium length, where some cinnamon and nutmeg finally make an appearance. A quite disappointing single malt - much like the other two samples (Glen Elgin and Glen Moray), the idea seems to be to display as much of the spirit as possible, using what seem to be very well-used bourbon casks. While the cask influences on the other two are very quiet, the revealed spirit was enjoyable. Not so much this one - there is very little going on, and I get the sense that the casks were very tired indeed.

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