46 years old, distilled October 1971, bottled July 2018, 41% abv, 154 bottles

Available at Master of Malt

The initial nose has unpolished oak furniture, dried fruits (apricot, apple, banana) and vanilla with a hint of marzipan. The mouthfeel is thin with no cling - to be expected at 41% abv - but there’s still presence on the palate. The body has candied orange cake decorations, cinnamon spice, old unpolished oak, marzipan and hints of pipe tobacco. The finish has marzipan, dried apricot and banana, and old unpolished oak.

I’m torn about whether to add water. At 41% it seems unnecessary. I decided to leave the dram to sit for a while.

Slowly the fruit fades from the nose and is replaced with bready notes. The body gains more fudge and loses some of the marzipan and cinnamon. The finish gains more oak. Eventually a hint of acetone begins to permeate, and the dram is finally done.

At 41% this is delivering quite a bit of flavour on the nose and palate, with the finish being the weakest spot. It seems volatile, so could be sensitive to temperature and should probably not be left in the glass for long periods of time. I poured a little over 1cl and gave it a couple of long breaks to see how it developed. At 46 years old it’s still spritely, but also definitely not a youngster.

Technical score: 4.5/5

Personal preference: I’d like more a bottle.