Timorous Beastie Blended Malt

Rating: 12/23 N: Fairly light, with youthful meatiness and floral scents. A hint of ethanol, but not too much. Hints of citrus are mixed in with the floral scents. Not a whole lot happening here and unfortunately it isn't particularly pleasant either. I kind of like that sweet, floral citrus, but there isn't anything else good happening here. P: This is richer and fuller than I'd expected, with less of a weird funk. There is a bit of a pretty standard grainy funk, but it's actually kind of nice. I get more of a burn than I'd expected and I taste some spicy ethanol, but it's not too strong. It's interesting how there's a prickly spice to the burn rather than just a a harshness. Hints of lemon and lime. That grainy richness is kind of nice. Faint hints of vanilla. The overall profile is still pretty light, but it's less insipid than I'd expected based on the nose. F: Grain, but not the richest part, citrus, spice with some ethanol. Not much happening here. - Conclusion - This is pretty passable. It has some nice scotch characteristics and isn't overly sulphuric, but it's kind of rough and doesn't have a lot of personality. McIvor 17 (16/23) is much richer and fuller with more woody oiliness. It's smoother and more approachable and is clearly much better. The flavor here is significantly better than that of The Sexton (9/23). I'm thinking that this is around a 12. It's fine. I think it's a bit to burn-ful to be a 13, but I could believe that. I could also believe an 11, but a 13 seems more likely.

Taster #2: bonus for the Bobbie Burns reference. Lighter than the last, notes of honey. Should seek out a bottle of this for the next Burns’ Night supper.

Too Young....Like a Toy

Very good.

Dried fruits, sherry, green apples, fresh bread, malt, and honey. Enjoyable dram. Having tasted this after finishing a bottle of the 24 year old, I have to say that this is closer to the mean of the two than the the 24 year is, vis a vis the price of the two. Bumped 1/4 point.