Nose: Grass, hay, grapefruit, green apple peel. A little honey and vanilla with some planky, fresh-sawn wood as it opens in the glass. It’s a light, bright and breezy nose but it does gain a little heft with time. Palate: Brief sweet arrival mainly featuring barley-sugar and herbal lozenges. The development follows quickly and sees grassy notes predominating and an emerging bittersweet tang of tart citrus peel and unsweetened black tea. The texture is full but there is an overall astringent note to the palate. Finish: Medium/short. Grassy, spicy and bitter-sour on the aftertaste, reminiscent of bitter orange or even gentian. An average Flora & Fauna bottling of Mannochmore that shows all its typical grassy notes. It’s not the most elegant expression I’ve had from this distillery and it supports my opinion that Mannochmore is a distillate that is great for blending but can be safely ignored as a single malt. There's really not much to see here. Adding a dash of water diminishes the nose but improves the palate by bringing out some buttery sweetness but the spicy, bitter notes never retreat. Adding sweet soft drink makes it agreeable, but that reduces it to little more than a grassy mixing whisky at an inflated price. You would be a lot better off with three bottles of Jameson for the same money. For what it's worth I disagree with almost every word of the official Distiller review for this. It's not a deep nose, it's not a sweet palate and there is only the faintest wisp of something resembling smoke. Tasted from a 30ml sampler. “Average” : 76/100 (2.5 stars)