ABV: 57.6 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and medicinal. At first there’s a mix of iodine and peppermint sitting on top of sweet vanilla and liquorice root. There’s also a fruitiness coming through in the center. It’s a mix of lemon and lighter red berries. There is a charcoal as well but it’s not especially peaty or smoky. With time the charcoal and vanilla mixes with an oak note and the liquorice note now shows up in the center. The fruitiness moves forward as well. It feels maritime and there are notes of salt and seaweed as well. This is great, complex nose with a lot to offer.

Mouth: It starts out with a sweet mix of vanilla, honey and oranges. It’s quite spicy from the get-go and it really packs a punch. At first, it feels very fresh despite the 23 years in casks, but after a while there’s a thin veil of dust sort of sprinkled on top of everything on the palate. There’s also a black coffee bitterness showing up in the background. The fruitiness becomes quite sticky and complex and for those who wait it becomes assorted dried fruits and bitter orange peel.

Finish: The peppermint spicyness flare up and then settles down quite quickly. First out after that are the dried fruits with orange peel and coconut flakes. It’s still quite dusty and the age is really shining through. There’s a tiny toffee note in the center. The oakiness moves slowly forward together with the bitterness. It’s a nice old and grey, nutty oak which matches the fruitiness very well. When all else fades the maritime and medicinal peaty notes peeks through once again. This is an absolutely fantastic dram with a nice journey and great complexity.

Additional information
This was aged for 23 years and released in 2004. It was limited to 1300 bottles. It’s made from both unpeated and lightly peated barley. Cask type(s) isn’t disclosed. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.