Strathenry 5 Year Old 2016 Carter’s Whisky #1 Top Pair MEUG

Strathenry? Never heard of it. InchDairnie? Huh? Carter's Whisky? Uh... who is that? Don't panic! InchDairnie is a new distillery, built in 2014, with the aim of providing some blenders with enough malt whisky for their products (especially those from Macduff International such as Grand Macnish, Lauder's and Islay Mist). They will not bring their own whisky, which they understandably call InchDairnie, to the market until 2029, when it has matured for at least ten years. They have named the recipe for the blenders Strathenry and MEUG, the most fun Flemish taste agency, has been able to get hold of a cask. And who is Carter, you ask? Carter's Whisky is a delightful pun on ‘card player’s whisky' (kaarterswhisky in Flemish), because the men of MEUG hope that this whisky – next to its incredible drinkability – will bring people around the table. A long story to indicate that we are dealing with a unique thing here, because normally this cask would be blended away. So we can call ourselves lucky. Fun label too (apart from the misprint – it's only 102 bottles and not 150).

That's a liquid candy on the nose! Caramella Mokatine (famous Belgian coffee-and-caramel candy with the Arab on the wrapper), supplemented with semolina pudding with raisins and nougat, hazelnuts and applesauce.

Firm start with considerable spiciness. Then nice and sweet on apple pie, cinnamon rolls, sweet coffee, hazelnuts and candied apricots. Snickers and Twix at the same time with apple fritter on top. Man, this is sweet! The fruit flies in the house are having a ball. But I think it's very tasty, indeed!

The finish is pleasantly long, remains spicy until the last moment and makes me secretly long for another dram.

It's great that I scored three bottles of this, because in the meantime they are all sold out. But hey, 79 EUR for this gem, that's a no-brainer.