Nose: Nice stuff. Sweet malt, vanilla and light stewed fruits. The nose could easily be mistaken for something little more expensive. Taste: Forward driven sweetness and light tannin spice. There is abundant burnt caramel and sugars mixed with a light herbal funk….hinting at the presence of smoke but I haven’t detected any. For a cheap blend this is big on flavour and decent enough to drink straight. Having said that its not outstanding in any way as the taste profile is a bit up and down and it lacks subtlety. Still at least this is not like many cheap blends where the malt is diluted to a whisper. Finally the grain whisky base is good. I think if you approach this as bottle shelf blend there is much to like and admire in this bottle. Finally the idea that this built around Cragganmore certainly doesn’t seem like fake news after tasting it and thanks to Cascode for the sample.