Stop number 93 on the SDT is Glentauchers. Yet another unknown Speyside distillery, Glentauchers is nearly exclusively used for blends. Only once (at least in the modern era) did they release an official distillery bottling, a 15 year old back in 2000. To find any single malts of theirs you need to look to the independent bottlers. This brings us to Duncan Taylor and their Battlehill series. This 7 year old is a vatting of at least two, if not more casks. I have no official info on this, but based on the high ABV and the fact that there were 1200 bottles released I would say it is most likely the case. Bottled at 56% ABV and is non chill filtered and natural color (both are assumptions) of yellow gold. The nose has lots of fresh berries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. Vanilla, nougat, chocolate, powdered sugar, very confectionary. Honey, malty, oak with some candle wax and a cooling menthol feel. Green grapes, raisins, kiwi, baked apples and, strangely enough, watermelon gum. With water there is a strong note of Grape-Nuts cereal, olive oil and grainy bread. Lemony citrus and a touch of sulphur. Letting it sit a good long while after adding water there are some tropical fruits that appear in the form of pineapple and mango. I spent a number of nights tasting this one and each night seemed to produce a different experience on the palate. The first night was sweet, confectionary, blueberries, banana chips and light sherry notes. The second night brought odd and unpleasant notes I couldn’t quite identify, along with some light, green oak, allspice and almonds. The third night was more of the same. The fourth night brought the sweetness back I enjoyed it. Today was a little of both. Water brings pepper and it comes across like an unpeated Talisker. Barrel char and a hint of cantaloupe. A medium bodied mouthfeel that is oily and mouthwatering. The finish is long, semi dry with berries and cereal/malty notes lingering on. Quite the chameleon this one. One day it’s good, the next it’s, not quite bad but let’s just say less good. Maybe it was just me and the mood I was in or whatever I had eaten that day, but whatever the case may be, it was an overall pleasant experience. At $55 it’s not that bad of a price considering the high ABV. The good days could have pulled a 3.75 or a 4, but the bad days were more like a 3. Total experience is worth a 3.5 here. Cheers