Ardlair 2011

Nose: Malt, light citrus and creme, almost like a key lime pie. meringue, lemon, cinnamon, light dense floral. Apples, light pears, apricots, vanilla Taste: This is almost impossible to drink neat. It needs a lot of water to open up. Once you add it, hold it up to the light to see just how dense and oily it is. Malt starts on the palette and quickly fades into oak and spice. It then goes to a dense honey, slightly floral and very fruity mid palette. The spice comes back in force after a bit, almost getting to the rye spice territory of slightly herbal and strong spice. Its almost like eating something actually spicy. On the one hand this feels like a really good and complex malt. On the other, it seems a bit younger than it should be. It is very rough around the edges. May be worth it just to try it especially if you don't mind strong bold flavors. Maybe even suited to convert a rye drinker. Obligatory: was a neck pour may rereview etc.

smokey, a bit sweet, hot from high abv, but it drinks so nicely.