14 years old, distilled 5th February 2007, 62.2% abv, First Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel, 166 bottles, dram price C

The nose has fresh, sappy spring forests, baked apples, and hints of pot-pourri. The mouthfeel is thin with no cling. The body has baked apples, oak sap, cinnamon, and hints of ginger. The finish has cinnamon and ginger with some baked apples and fresh oak in the background.

Water brings out thick, rapidly expanding whorling that doesn’t really settle into mottling. The nose gains more wood notes, lemon and hints of ginger. The body gains more baked apple and some lemon. The finish gains some lemon and a little more cinnamon.

A decent dram with quite a bit of wood spice, but not too much. Certainly not too hot, but dominated by the spice notes a little.

One for spring evenings.

Technical score: 3.5/5
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.