“I fear I must blame the french for this. Not because I’m English…” N: Oak tannins are immediate and slightly mask a stewed fruit compote with lightest vanilla. This nose is delicate, light and softly warming. P: Drying, astringent wood leads with some light citrus and the beginnings of a dark figgy and jammy body that almost hits a lovely cherry flavour. But then tannic wood cuts back in and stops further development. A syrupy texture is enjoyable. F: Short. Peppery and oaky and then gone. I have wanted to try this last frontier of geographical whisky for some time now. The price has come down and the opportunity presented, so I was glad to get in on this. I had really high hopes and wanted this to be excellent. It sadly wasn’t. It was just ok to good. There are two oaks going on here and unfortunately the tannic wood flavours are too powerful. I fear I must blame the French for this. Not because I’m English, but I’m starting to find that European oaks are, if not tempered carefully, aggressive beasts. Six years in American oak and then 12 in French Oak, ooooph. What is here though is light, delicate, and very interesting. It’s a clean spirit and I think these Kiwis may even know what they’re doing, but they’ve let this oak influence build to be a little out of balance in the end. Distiller whisky taste #82