22 years old, distilled 23rd April 1996, 59.2% abv, First Fill Ex-Oloroso Hogshead, 239 bottles, dram price F

The nose has treacle, toffee, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a little bit of cherry. The mouthfeel is decent with a little cling. The body has rye whisky(!), toffee, treacle, sultanas and ginger. The finish has ginger and hints of both ginger and peppercorns.

Water brings out thin, rapidly expanding wholring that settles quickly into lingering mottling. The nose gains madeira cake and loses the toffee and cinnamon. The body gains more of that madeira cake, and loses the rye whisky note. The finish gains more sultanas and loses the peppercorns.

An interesting dram, with some truly unexpected notes - and yet it held it all together very well. The sherry fans should all try this...

One for winter afternoons.

Technical score: 4/5

Personal preference: Just the one dram, thanks.

This whisky was provided by the SMWS in a preview session - thanks to them for that. Full editorial control has been retained in the tasting process.