Tastes

Honey, a waxy quality referenced by many other reviews, and for me, a salty, flavorful "bump" when it hits the palate. A long, tasty finish that is hard to describe. Very interesting malt.

Interesting - heavier than Oban 14, with more orange and spice. Surprisingly good for an NAS. I'd still probably choose the 14, but this is a credible single malt. The crazy part is that it usually costs more than the 14.

Honey, brine and caramel. Speyside by the sea! A favorite stand by.

Tastes very similar to the great Highland Park 12, but everything is a little younger, a little less integrated. A very good dram, but the pricing is out of wack. In my area, HP 12 is $42 and this is $37. For $5 more, I'll take HP 12 every time. But this is a great value.

Light, heathery peat on nose - very welcoming. On the palate, a rush of pineapple, a little peat, a little pepper on a lengthy finish. Water makes it much sweeter.

Smooth sherry, brine and pepper, complex. A follow up bottle was a bit rougher and not as enjoyable. My original impression was that this was miles ahead of Talisker 10, but the rough notes on my follow-up bottle were disappointing. Clearly some batch variance.

Sherry, fruitcake, raisins and spice. Really nice, deserves a 3.5 at least. However, I don't reach for it first for some reason so it gets a 3 instead of a 4.

Beautiful Speyside with caramel and honey notes. I use this as a benchmark for Speyside drams. I've found that as it gets older and oxidizes, the nose gets even better. Really like this one.

A vatted malt mix of some of my favorite single malts, including Cragganmore, Caol Ila and Talisker, but aged 15 years. There is a little bit of everything here, from honey and caramel Speyside notes from the Cragganmore, to a touch of peat from Caol Ila and a peppery kick on the finish from Talisker. At $43, less than even the 10 year versions of any of the component malts, it's a screaming deal. And its a reasonable 43% ABV. The best deal in Scotch for my money.

Toasted caramel and butterscotch. We tried it as part of a flight with Oban 14. Yellow Spot blew it away. And I really like Oban.