Rating: 13/23 I'm trying this side by side with Glen Scotia 15 as part of a multi-day Springbank sampling session following a Bruichladdich one. I guess it's terroir time here. N: More youthful than Glen Scotia 15. I get an extra layer of oak here adding a bit more woody sweetness. There's also a surprising carrot scent. A little bit of alcohol bite, but not too bad. There's some wood, grass, vegetal, and toasty notes that all seem kind of squished together. There's also much less malty sweetness than in Glen Scotia 15. P: This tastes like a very dry spirit was finished briefly in a first fill bourbon barrel - or perhaps for a longer period in a second fill barrel. The dryness of the spirit balances the sweetness of the barrel, but it's a tenuous balance. Sweet vanilla from the oak pairs with some dry woodiness turning into carrots. Some spices (cinnamon, white pepper) come out of the wood. There's a touch of tartness that leads into a bit of alcohol, but not too much. Some caramel sweetness at times, but it's a tad artificial. This is a fine palate overall, but there's really not much happening here and the balance isn't amazing. None of the individual flavors particularly speaks to me either. F: Carrot, wood, vanilla, some watered down artificial caramel. The flavors just don't meld together, but there's nothing particularly wrong with any of them. - Conclusion - A quick side-by-side with Bruichladdich Organic Barley 2009 (14) reveals more complexity and balance in the Bruichladdich, while maintaining a surprising degree of comparative richness. There's more of an alcohol bite in the Organic Barley, but aside from that I don't see any way in which this is better. Between this and Dewar's 15 The Monarch (13)? I think that the balance in the Dewar's outweighs its disadvantage of that oily alcohol flavor. I think that this is probably better than Three Scottish Brothers 20 (12) though. I can see myself giving this anywhere in the 12 to 14 range on a subsequent tasting. Right now, this seems closest to Dewar's 15, so I'm going with 13.