MWHGL105
£52.50
£58.25
Nose: Heavy, thickly oaked and complex: some curious barley-sugar notes here shrouded in soft smoke. Big, but seductively gentle, too.
Taste: The delivery, though controlled at first, is massive! Then more like con-fusion as that smoke on the nose turns into warming, full blown peat, but it far from gets its own way as a vague sherry trifle note (curious, seeing how there are no sherry butts involved) - the custard presumably is oaky vanilla - hammers home that barley - fruitiness to make for a bit of a free-for-all; but for extra food measure the flavours develop into a really intense chocolate fudge middle which absolutely resonates through the palate.
Finish: A slight struggle here as the mouthfeel gets a bit puffy here with the dry peat and oak; enough molassed sweetness to see the malt through to a satisfying end, though. Above all the spices, rather than lying down and accepting their fate, rise up and usher this extraordinary whisky to its exit.
£47.75
Nose. Distinctly confidant liquorice-Bourbon notes with near perfect bitter-sweet balance; burnt honeycomb and toffee also abound
Taste. Outstanding richness and sheen to the enormous barley-oak sweetness; again there is a big Bourbony cut to the cloth with all the liquorice and molassed sugar normally associated; but the barley adds that extra dimension
Finish. Long, wonderfully layered oak offering variations of a sweet dry theme; a touch silky with some cream toffee at the death