Wolfburn Northland

Well, Old Pulteney's been beat out on the northernmost mainland distillery front...but how's the booze from Wolfburn? The nose is pleasant, with a more tropical vibe than one would expect from the far northern coast of Scotland - in addition to sea spray and vanilla, there are banana chips, coconut, lime curd, and green apple. The palate is very obviously young (this barely meets the legal definition by age for Scotch whisky), but is at least a fun, playful kind of dram, with salted caramel, vanilla, a light fruitiness, and some young spirit burn. This is not something I would want to drink on an ongoing basis, but as a taste of good things to come, I'd say that Wolfburn is one to keep an eye on as their stock matures. A little more time in the barrels, and this is going to be some seriously good stuff. I'd call this a 3 on its own merits, but I'm giving it 4 stars due to its youth - it's still better than the vile 36 month old crap that composes most cheap blends.