Whyte & Mackay Special Blended Scotch

Nose: Toffee, caramel, brown sugar, butter - it's a heavy and sweet nose and there is an odd note that takes a while to track down - it's chicory, which is a seldom found aroma in scotch whisky. Palate: A firm, strident arrival that has dark fruits and molasses in abundance. As it develops, vegetal spiciness appears together with a tense flavour of hard toffee - it's like peanut brittle that was cooked too long and almost burnt. This lingers throughout the taste. The texture is OK, but nothing to extol, and a little ethanol tinge is discernable. Finish: Medium/short. There is not much length but there's a lingering bittersweet note of horehound, which is a very rare thing to notice in whisky. This is big old-fashioned bruiser of a type you don't see much anymore. It's not subtle or nuanced at all - you know the expression "a bull in a china shop"? Well, yeah, that's this whisky. It has a robust brown sugar core and a slightly unusual herbal quality (I can't think of any other whisky where I've noticed both chicory and horehound) however the foundation malt is unfortunately rather flat, dull and has an unmistakable stain of sulphur. The palate is harder to like than the nose as it has a really uncompromising burnt sugar quality, but again it's not actually bad - just kind of rough (Jim Murray famously compared this whisky to the enjoyment of rough sex). I can't hate this as much as many folks here, and I think it's worth more than the official rating of 65 (but maybe not much more, and it's certainly a sub-70/100 whisky). I'd drink it at a bar in a pinch, particularly if Grants was the only alternative. Don't take it neat - it's not up to it and you'll only hurt yourself - restrain it with cola or dry ginger and lots of ice and it goes down just fine. "Inferior" : 69/100 (1.75 stars)

Very poor. Mostly alcohol burnt. No finesse, no end. Very light nose. Bad.

Vanilla with a hint of peat. Enjoyable neat or on the rocks

Not very enjoyable. Got headaches from drinking it.

Nice blend Good sherry influence and without grain spirits smell