26 years old, distilled 24th November 1994, 57.4% abv, First Fill Toasted Oak Hogshead, 205 bottles, dram price G

The nose has green apple, peach, apricot, caramel and hints of oranges. The mouthfeel is thin with no cling. The body has peach, apricot, caramel, soft toffee, oranges, and hints of rough leather. The finish has peach and apricot with leather.

Water brings out thin, rapidly expanding whorling that settles rapidly into brief mottling. The nose gains hints of ginger and cardamom and loses much of the peach and apricot. The body gains cardamom and hints of dark chocolate and loses some of the fruit and the leather. The finish gains cardamom, caramel and hints of dark chocolate but loses the leather.

A very unusual dram, which I preferred without water. The slight spice wasn’t preferable to the fruits, but was far from being a problem - many may not even notice it. The richness of the fruits and caramel initially simply mean my next dram will not be watered...

One for winter lunchtimes.

Technical score: 4/5
Personal preference: I’d have another dram.

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.