Rating: 14/23 I've never had whiskey from New Zealand before. And this is 18 years old! I don't even know what grain this is made with, but at least I know it's mature. N: There's a cleanliness to it that's lightly spicy with plentiful mild (though not exactly mellow) wood. Giving it a minute, a bit of sweetness comes out, adding some richness and fullness. There's some sweet corn, paper, and a touch of vanilla. Something a tad herbal brings in just the faintest mint. It's not that complex of a nose, but it smells reasonably tasty at least. P: Wow, this is much more tart than I'd expected! It's lemony. I was getting I.W. Harper 15 on the nose, but now I'm getting single grain scotch. It isn't so much corn as it is unmalted barley and it comes with some really dry wood with a definite tannic character, though not a blod flavor. There isn't a lot of that grain character though. Sipping this a bit more, there are suggestions of some other citrus fruits and red fruits, but they're faint. The slightest floral presence at times - though all of the flavors here are slight. Actually, I get just a hint of rummy molasses. I got it on the nose too, but it was so faint that I wasn't confident it was really there. It's tannic in a drying sense, but it's at a good level. It certainly isn't a punch in the face. It's also far smoother than most single grain whisky I've tried, especially considering its age. F: Faintly waxy with some lingering barley (?) sweetness. That paper and hint of vanilla stand out here too. - Conclusion - My bottle of 29 year old Caledonian from 1987 by Signatory (12/23) is harsher than this, but also sweeter and fuller. I don't know what the ABV on this is, but I'm confident that the Caledonian's 54.7% is higher. The Canedonian's flavors are less refined than the ones here. I wouldn't say that I love this dram, but it's more refined than the Caledonian without being as challenging and while retaining some interesting character. Side by side, the rum flavor really stands out here. It's surprising. Still, the flavors here are so subtle that it's difficult to make it through a pour without the complexity fading. In comparison, I.W. Harper 15 (14/23) has a bit more character to it (which say a lot about how little character is here), though it's again rougher around the edges. Still, If I.W. Harper 15 is rough around the edges. I might be mis-calibrating my nuance scale here because IW Harper 15 is really a fairy drab dram. The I.W. Harper is definitely closer to this than the Caledonian is. I think that the slightly over-oaked character of the I.W. Harper puts it a little behind this though. What do I have around here that's a 15? Hmm... Ah! Dalmore 12 (15/23). I'm inclined to say that the Dalmore is better than this is. I think that this is closer to the I.W. Harper, so I'm going with a 14. If this had the harshness that I normally associate with single grain whisky, I'd probably be giving it more like a 10 or 11. I do wonder whether this avoided that simply by being bottled at a low enough proof, but whether that's it or not, it finding the right proof improves the quality and I can appreciate the smoothness here. Thank you, @PBMichiganWolverine , for sharing this!