Rating: 21/23 N: There's an interesting syrupy richness here that makes me think of a port finish. Specifically, it's reminding me of Kavalan Soloist Port. It's balanced with sweet, tart, and rich fruit. I get candied orange peel, but also just straight-up oily orange peel. I get a dash of something in the cherry spectrum as well, but not so much. There's something a little spicy in here as well and a richness that I'm struggling to place. P: Wow! This is big and bold! It's bursting with flavor. The richness here is incredible. It's almost syrupy, but also terrifically balanced. I get the orange flavors from the nose with a bigger emphasis on the oily peel and tremendous port sweetness and richness, as well as some bold but restrained woody bitterness and mature tartness to balance this all out. I get a little bit of cocoa at one moment, but it doesn't start to taste chocolatey. F: It's a nicely balanced finish. That port flavor sticks around and it stays pretty strong. There's a sort of sticky sweetness balanced by some tartness and rich bitterness. - Conclusion - This has a way bolder flavor than I'd expected from a 10 year old Welsh Scotch. If you'd told me that this was 10 years old and asked me where it was from, I would have guessed Southeast Asia (with the US as a second choice, I guess). Why is 10 year old scotch never this full of flavor? The quality of flavor is terrific, as is the balance. To compare with another madieraed malt whisk(e)y, this is way full, bolder, and more complex than Tyrconnell 15 Madiera. This is clearly quite superior. I'm looking at no less than a 19 for this for sure. I think a 22 might be pushing it and I can't see a 23, but a 21 is definitely possible. Side-by-side with my bottle of Kavalan Soloist Port Cask, this is clearly less bold and mature, with more of a fruity sweetness. That doesn't leave me thinking "oh wow, the Kavalan is vastly superior" though. Comparing the two reminds me a bit of comparing A De Fussigny XO (this) with Delord 25 (Kavalan). While I gave the nod to the Delord and think I'll be doing the same with the Kavalan, the two ended up quite close. I currently have the Kavalan at a 20, which I think might be a tad low. I'm thinking of going with a 20 for this too, with the Kavalan possibly getting bumped up to a 21 in the future. I don't know, I kind of want to give this a 21 right now. Let's go a little off the rails here. How does this compare with A De Fussigny XO? Well, I think that the A De Fussigny is more refined and floral with a lot less fullness (in no way surprising). This is kind of half way between that and the Kavalan. I'm sort of tempted to mix the two to compare with this, but also I'd die a little inside. OK, I did it. I tried half a milliliter of the Kavalan with 1 milliliter of the A De Fussigny. First off, it was terrific. Second off, it was closer to this than either of them was, but it was also not nearly as full of sticky fruit (it was more woody and floral). The astounding thing is that this absolutely held its own in that head-to-head. OK, taking a bit of a moonshot here: I've got this side-by-side with Glenfarclas 25 (one of my all-time favorites, which I currently have at a 23/23). My immediate reactions are two-fold: (1) The Glenfarclas is more complex and sophisticated (2) The lower proof on the the Glenfarclas really sticks out here and makes me wonder whether I should lower its score and reserve the 23 for a Glenfarclas 25 Cask Strength. I think that between the two I prefer the Glenfarclas, but this is much closer than I had ever expected. I had been thinking that this was in the 19 to 21 range previously, with 22 being a pipe dream, but now I'm thinking a 20 or 21. A 22 still seems unlikely here, but I wouldn't bet the farm against it at this point. I'm frankly baffled by how good this is. OK, I'm now thinking in the 21 to 22 range. I think I need to go with a 21. Huge thanks to @pkingmartin for sharing a sample of this one!