Rating: 17/23 N: There's a rich, grainy earthiness. I can smell the terroir coming through here. It's really nice. There's a touch of that sweet sort of tangerine peel is brushed against slightly light caramel scent that I associate with Buffalo Trace, but not much of it. Floral hints turn into mild vanilla, which turns into dry wood. A little citrus goes in and out. Some nice, restrained herbal and vegetal whiffs come out of the terroir. A pretty interesting nose. Not the most decadent and it takes a bit of work to get all of what is there, but there's a lot happening and it all fits together. It doesn't come across as super old, but the balance is nice. P: Surprisingly bold. Fruity (apricot, tangerine, citron, lemon, a hint of grapefruit) with that classic Buffalo Trace dry caramel sweetness. Some herbal bitter funk with a bit of richness and kind of chocolate makes me think of peat, which is interesting since this is unpeated. A bit nutty and certainly toasty at times. It isn't that in-your-face buckwheat nuttiness, but it does blend nicely into the maltiness. An interesting waxy flavor comes in here too. Actually, it's stronger than Clynelish in that regard. There's also a sort of youthful yet full malty character that I associate with Copperworks. I'm not describing that well, but something just rings a small bell there. Maybe there's a faint sort of sherry-cherry note that's doing that. There's more heat (though not harshness) than I'd expected and also a bit of alcohol flavor. Glancing at the label, I now realize that this is 50% ABV, so that all seems reasonable. There is a little sharpness in places that suggests youth, but there really isn't much. The complexity, depth, and balance here are all quite good. This is kind of making me think of Buffalo Trace, Clynelish, and Copperworks all mixed together with some terroir flair. It's fascinating and really good. F: The Buffalo Trace flavor hits first, then some of that unaggressive herbal, lightly vegetal, somewhat chocolate peat-ish flavor comes in. Very nice; a good hedonistic ending. - Conclusion - This blows Bruichladdich Organic Barley 2009 (14) out of the water and I think it even takes Loch Lomond 12 (16) to task with its greater complexity. This is at least on the level of Loch Lomond 12. I'm looking at a 16 or 17 here. It's very impressive, especially for such a young spirit. Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2010 (16) gets close with its fascinating peat flavor, but I think that this is my favorite of the Bruichladdich barley experiments. I think I'm going to land on a 17 here. This is incredibly impressive for its age. And, really, it's quite impressive overall. I'd love to try an older version of this. OK, I'm actually considering an 18 now. This is really good. For a last-second comparison, I pulled out Glen Grant 18 and Cárn Mór's Glen Grant 26 (1992). This was highly competitive with both of them. Right now, I'd probably take this over either of them, suggesting an 18, but I recall this being a little rough, so I think that a 17 is still the most appropriate score.