9 years old, distilled May 4th 2005, 57.0% abv, first fill ex-bourbon barrel, 231 bottles

The nose has grapefruit and vanilla ice-cream, along with a hint of custard cream biscuits. The body is sweet and hot - vanilla, custard creams, banana, horseradish, a hint of mustard. The mouthfeel is thin but coating. The finish is long and sweet, with vanilla and a little mustard seed.

After water (which produces quickly expanding thin whorls), the nose has banana and sultanas on top of the original grapefruit note. The body has less mustard and horseradish, more custard , caramel and honeycomb - and a lot more banana. The finish much the same, but with a little ginger.

Despite some hot notes, this whisky has a decent composure and holds itself together very well - a decent dram to drink with dinner.

3.5/5