The nose on this scotch reminds me more of the vineyard itself rather than the winery, if that makes any sense. The scents are earthy and suggestive of hard work out in the fields: fresh sapling wood, leather, dark soil, farm funk, and some permanent marker. I did not experience much sweetness on the nose. This felt like a slight twist on that dry, chalky distillery character. The palate is dry and slightly astringent, with a big dose of medicinal minerality again, bittersweet apple skins, mint, and herbs. On the swallow, more of the same: brine, spearmint, and dry minerality. It seems as if that distillery character or signature powered through the cask selection, or even gained strength like a hurricane over warm water, drawing the earthy and dry notes from Burgundy wine rather than the sweeter, fruitier notes. One final curiosity is that I haven't seen any discussion out there about whether the casks used were red or white wine, or a mix of both. Given that this is not a single-barrel release but in fact was several thousand bottles, the distillery easily could have done a mix of a few different types of casks (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, etc.). My personal guess would be that there's more white than red in here, or that the reds were quite dry, because there is not a huge amount of fruit in this release. That being said, the dark color suggests that a decent proportion must be aged in red wine casks. Thanks to Telex for the sample!