Tastes

The oloroso sherry influence really shines in the nose, nutty, dried apricots, cloves with earthy peat appearing towards the end. On the palate, that earthy peat, much more prominent now, balanced out by raisins, dried apricots and red apples, honey, nutmeg and a lovely heat. A medium length, oily finish, warm and inviting, a dash of honey and savoury as the heat fades away.

A beautiful nose, rich, sherry, very creamy and a light dusting of lemon rind. Light and sweet on the palate, vanilla and slightly overripe pears compete for your attention, with expected oak and malty notes playing second fiddle. A very short finish of, you know it, more malt and oak and this unexpected heat that's over way too soon, with an almost salty end note.

On the nose cigar leaves, stewed apples, orange peel and dried raisins. On the palate, it's a little thin but the sherry influence is very obvious with plenty of dried prunes and apricots, raisins, a little dark chocolate and a hint of spice. A short, astringent, finish of raisins, dried apricots, orange peel and lots of oak. There's a slight... metallic, coppery tinge as the finish wraps up that I'm not too keen on.

The nose (the best part of this dram), is rather oily, with toffee, marzipan, green apples and lime. The palate is more subtle, lime rind, almond dust, straw, cereal and sweet but is just very... light. A very short finish, malt and peppery and almost astringent but vanishes too quickly to tell.

On the nose, green apples, freshly squeezed lemon juice, cracked black pepper and a faceful of sea spray. On the palate, a creamy mouth-feel, salty, green apples and lemon with a dash of vanilla essence and wrapping up a little oaky. Leaving it to open up for 15-20 minutes, an interesting sweetness develops, raspberries and raisins. A medium finish, with cloves, cinamon, spice, more oak and a little dry.

The nose is fairly special, a real pine quality to it, reminiscent of bourbon as well as orange peels, sea-salted chocolate and a hint of oak and leather. The palate's the star of the show, dry, salty and very rich, dried raisins, a touch of honey, spicy and ending with an interesting ginger-infused oak note. A medium length finish, oily, dry and plenty of spices carrying through right to the end.

The nose has a damp quality to it, reminiscent of a pile of leaves left for too long, as well as brine, lemon peel, vanilla bean. Fairly gentle for a peated whisky, the palate brings sea salt and a tinge of burnt driftwood, tart pears, vanilla and ending with an almost nutty note. Surprisingly medium finish if a little thin with brine, smoke from that burnt driftwood, vanilla and just a tinge of sweetness to round if off.

On the nose, brine, a little smoke, barbecued bacon and a spritz of orange zest. The palate has a lot more going on, salty, iodine and a real tropical bouquet of orange zest, peaches, maraschino cherries, almost hinting on sherry notes, but ultimately rather thin. A fairly short, dry finish of sea-spray and smoke, those sweet notes evaporating a bit too quickly.

One of the worst use of a sherry cask I've tried, unsure what went wrong but hated this even more than the 12YO.