Nose: sherried nose, raspberry, creamy, oak, blackberry jam, and a bit of toffee and vanilla. Palate: rich tannic sherry, white pepper, oak, and a fine sweet taste of honey and stewed apple. Good, but not as good as the nose. Finish: medium-long that reminded me of a 15yo Linkwood I had. Not surprising given 8% is Linkwood in sherry casks. _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Last 16, Match 1: Compass Box King St. Artists Blend versus Dewar’s The Ancestor 12yo The Ancestor 12yo never stood a chance. Beaten on all three fronts – the Dewar's grainy nose was rather nondescript, the palate was grain, butter, shortbread with some tart citrus, and the finish was short and dry. Do kids say “wipeout!” these days? _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Qtr Final, Match 1: Compass Box King St. Artists Blend versus Ben Nevis 10yo Raspberry and cream are what pop out when trying this again, but I also got toffee and blackberry jam. The palate is good but not as good as the nose. Up against Ben Nevis 10yo it betters it on the nose and finish, but it lags a good way behind on the palate. Reluctantly, I have to concede that Ben Nevis may be on the losing side to this great blend. _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- The intolerable torment of a whiskyphile. I have too large a backlog of samples and miniatures to go through. Like selecting what to watch next on Netflix, often selecting a dram can take twice as long as drinking it. Taking inspiration from @Milliardo and the Filmspotting podcast, I have picked sixteen scotch whiskies that are 12yrs or younger or NAS to battle it out in a Scotch Deathmatch. It’s my incentive to lighten the logjam. Follow along if you care (and really why should you?). Oh the drama! https://challonge.com/ScotchMadness