Disclaimer: this review is not for the 27 year old but for the 10 year old single barrel from The Creative Whisky Co. Stop number 35 on the SDT is Girvan. A Lowland distillery, and unlike all of the other stops thus far, this is a single grain scotch whisky. Single grain meaning it is made from grains (of any variety), and not of 100% malted barley like a single malt would be. BTW, the term "single" refers to the fact that 100% of the whisky is from a single distillery and not a single type of grain. This single cask is an ex bourbon hogsheads, aged for about 10 years and then finished in rum barrels. This is an independent bottling from The Creative Whisky Co. as part ad their Single Cask Exclusives line. Bottled at 50% ABV, non chill filtered and a natural color of pale gold. The nose on this one is very harsh up front. Strong alcohol and solvent notes. I'm battling a cold right now and it nearly cleared out my sinuses completely! This one needs a few extra minutes to settle down. Very grainy. Some rum sweetness and a fair amount of oak. Green apples, floral, honey and a little vanilla. Wood glue and old rubber, not horrible though. Dried banana and Windex. I had to add water to see if it would help. It did but not much. More apples and honey, but not much else. A strange dichotomy of smells, but the bad outweighs the good here. The palate arrives hot, even at 50%. It's better than I expected after the craziness of the nose. Silver or light rum and oak. Cinnamon apples, vegetal notes and some bitterness. Bourbon notes, but not good ones. Water takes away much of the heat, but washes away most of the flavor. A very hot mouthfeel, but light at the same time. A little oily. Medium length finish that is dry and consists of rum flavored glue and oak. A less than mediocre whisky for me. The alcohol and solvent hits on the nose were too much to overcome. It's like a cheap rum mixed with cheaper bourbon and a few drops of acetone in there to complexity destroy your palate. At $40 a bottle, this is $30 too much. It's not the worst thing I've ever had, but it's light years from the best. Thanks(?) to Pranay for the sample. Glad I can move on from this one. 2.25 Cheers