Secret Highland 10 Year Old 2010 Watt Whisky

This unnamed Highlander is a single malt, one of the first releases of the crowdfunded new Campbeltown Whisky Company, with Mark and Kate Watt at the helm. Everything that I have tried from Watt so far has been jolly good, so I presume this malt will also be very pleasant.

A very waxy nose on nougat and marzipan, a truckload of vanilla, Granny Smith, green banana, quice jelly and meringue. Sour gooseberries. Raw rhubarb. Grand? No. Interesting? Absolutely.

Immediately very sweet and piquant on the palate. It remains waxy on the palate as well. There is a lot going on here. Goes up and down like a yo-yo from sweet to salty and back, with a hint of peat smoke and cardboard, beeswax and citrus fruit.

The finish is very good. Long, feisty on cardamom, salt & pepper and even some green garden herbs, while the smoke – and this is very peaty indeed – fades gently. At the death it turns into liquid pineapple candy for a second.

How nice! To be honest, this reminds me a mostly of Clynelish. But nobody can or will confirm nor deny.