23 years old, distilled 27th October 1995, 53.6% abv, First Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel, 197 bottles, dram price F

The nose has toffee, strawberries, water soaked sultanas and hints of violets. The mouthfeel is thin with no cling. The body has toffee, violets, sultanas and hints of strawberry chews. The finish has toffee, dry oak and building cinnamon and cardamom.

Water brings out thin, rapidly expanding whorling that settles into lingering mottling. The nose gains vanilla, more toffee and strawberry and loses the violets. The body gains toasted bread, vanilla and hints of cinnamon and loses the violets. The finish gains toffee and toasted bread, and the cinnamon and cardamom take a lot longer to build up - but they still do.

A simply delightful nose and body, but that finish is far too much for me. Even when tempered with water, it’s just too much. But I could nose it all day...

One for summer evenings.

Technical score: 3/5

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.