Nose: Butter, sweet sherry, malt extract, very good oak, pipe tobacco, leather jacket, nut n’ raisin milk chocolate, anise and black tea. There is the faintest possible note of peat smoke, but it just adds depth and does not stand out. It’s certainly not what you would call a “peated whisky” and although the smoke note does increase a little over time in the glass it remains a facet of the tobacco and leather notes. Palate: Exceptionally soft arrival with caramel, vanilla and fudge carried on a wave of malted sherry. Exquisite and captivating from the first sip. The palate develops rich dried dark fruits, black cherries, red berries, sweet citrus and a touch of mixed spice. The texture is creamy and there is a luxurious, seductive and mouth-watering juiciness to the palate. Finish: Medium/long. Soft, supple malt that drifts off on a carpet of sherry, chocolate, tobacco and vanilla. This whisky reeks of very good oak cask. It’s not cask-dominated (although the profile is certainly cask-driven) but it presents fragrant aromas that remind me of walking through a dunnage warehouse, full of the smells of earth, black mould and sherry. It is, simply, a superior sherry-bomb and remarkably it also presents a great deal of bourbon-oak quality. I do not know the provenance of the barrels but I bet they were first fill sherry casks raised up from ex-bourbon staves. There appears to be little or no European wood influence here. There is a family resemblance to the 12 year old GlenDronach but this is a more assured and “mature”whisky in every sense. It is also very like Macallan 12 from back (way back) in the day. It also has similarities to the 18 year old GlenDronach (not surprisingly) but that has a more austere, dry and nutty profile. This tasting is from a 2020 batch, which was matured in a combination of oloroso and PX sherry casks. The previous version of this whisky that was produced up until 2015 was exclusively oloroso cask matured but that changed when the expression was reintroduced in 2018. I have not tasted the pre-2016 expression for a long time but I think these new bottlings are a little more “floral” and sweeter. It’s still a great whisky and one I would recommend. At the price it is fair value for a 15 year old single malt in 2023. “Very Good”: 86/100 (4 stars)