After liking the Sovereign and really liking the 225, excited for what this 228 brings to the table. The nose is understated and slow to leave the glass, just meandering around the glencairn forcing me to work for it. When found there is lots of dark jammy fruit followed by rich malt. There is some pepper and leather notes just way in the back. The palate starts off with some of the sweetness that the other expressions showed, then explodes into cereal and baking spice notes, far more aggressive and spiky than I expected. The clove,cinnamon, allspice doesn’t let up and makes it hard to discern much else. Finish is medium long, and only here does the pepper and baking spice bomb let up enough to get at some of the barrel notes hiding from being in the burgundy barrels. After the previous two from Tullabardine I wasn’t expecting this much life jumping out of this. The spice level is definitely reminiscent of a similar proof Rye, minus the anise and herbs. It’s not super complex, (and if it is I can’t tell) but it’s not boring, so give it a try.