ABV: 40 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and sour. At first there’s a layer of malt and honey up front and a candy sourness in the back. The sweet front slowly evolves into a butterscotch note, while the sour background eventually turns more into a green fruit sourness, like sour green apples, but the candy-esque feel to it remains. There is a sprinkle of dust and just a hint of liquorice coming through near the edges of the glass. This is a very nice and easy approachable nose.

Mouth: It starts out a little less sweet than on the nose but still has honey and malt up front. A tiny spicyness slowly buildsup but never really amounts to anything. There’s vanilla and a sour note, but the sourness is slightly different in taste and it’s somewhat complex. A thin line of something that isn’t so pleasant accompanies the sourness. There are grapes and the candy notes are still in there and with time it comes floral. In the background a metallic note is coating the back of the mouth.

Finish: A quick visit from the sweetness pass by and then it becomes very sour. It’s sour green apples and grapes. There’s a lemon note as well and it’s attached to the metallic note in the back which lingers all the way through the finish. It’s an ethanol driven finish and the oakiness fight to come through. It’s a dry oakiness and it somewhat lacks in character, but it’s not bad at all. The metallic note stays long after everything else dies down. This is a decent whisky, but the Chardonnay finish isn’t the best companion to this single malt.

Additional information
This expression has been double matured, first in ex-bourbon american oak barrels for an unknown period, then finished for 8 months in Chardonnay casks. This version of the Elgin Classic was released in January 2016.