Chivas Regal 18 Year Gold Signature

Cinnamon, vanilla, cherry. Dry woody finish, lingers of wood and sweet toffee

For the first time on the nose of a whisky I can really smell the baked apple. Seriously, like baked apples and cinnamon. Vanilla and fruit in there too. Taste is spice, apple sauce, fruity sweet, but also dry with wood on the end. Pretty great!

I think the current 3.5 user average is just about perfect. This is kind of the scotch I'd build in the lab if I wanted to give someone a good overview of the spectrum of scotch flavors, but turned to about a 4-5 in intensity. I get honey, malt, and a bit of musty newspaper and pencil shavings on the nose, but the 18 years that all the components aged have clearly mellowed this dram out -- it's very understated. I taste honey again, a healthy bite of apple, and some almond on the palate, which is smooth, sweet, and malty again. The finish is probably the best phase, with a tiny bit of smoke or coffee that reveals there's been some peat here all along. It's a little thin, but sweet, of decent length, and enjoyable, like a muted version of Highland Park. For the price, you could do better, you could do worse -- I'd probably vote for a Talisker or Highland Park myself, either of which features a more distinctive and punchy, but similar, profile.