Gordon and MacPhail, Elgin, Shop Tasting, 4th May 2024, whisky #3 Nose: Rum and raisin chocolate, treacle, leather, orange concentrate, a touch of menthol and mint. The nose expands considerably over time gaining malt extract aromas and an enfolding, rich character. Palate: Sweet but drying arrival, this has a classic oloroso sherry palate with aged dark fruits, Brazil nuts and walnuts. When neat it is dry and more like fino sherry cask maturation but with water it immediately gains balance and sweeter notes come to the fore. The texture is mouth-coating and oily but with a slightly grippy quality. Finish: Medium. Dark fruits and some barrel char in the aftertaste. A commanding cask-strength whisky matured exclusively in refill sherry hogsheads. It’s clean and dry when neat but it’s only when you add water that it really comes to life, and come to life it does, most spectacularly. The whisky gains balance, poise and greater textural complexity but is also more approachable and loses nothing in the process. There is a definite, albeit not intrusive, alcohol presence when neat but this disappears once it is reduced to around 50% abv. This is a very good representative of Gordon & MacPhail’s Connoisseur cask strength range of single malts. 241 bottles were produced from refill sherry hogshead #803998 at a stated age of 13 years, and it beautifully showcases both the distillate and the excellent cask used for maturation. Inchgower is another Diageo Speyside distillery that is all too frequently overlooked and its characteristic nutty, dry distillate is wonderful when matured in either ex-bourbon or (as in this case) sherry casks. Recommended, and just a whisker short of 4 stars. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)