Nose: Oak, light but noticeable peat, chocolate digestive Palate: a bit thin, peat, developing to sweet berry fruit Finish: light pepper, chocolate, Darjeeling tea _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Last 16, Match 4: Isle of Skye 12yo versus Ben Bracken Highland Isle of Skye is a blend from Ian Macleods and you’d be forgiven if you thought the name meant this was solely Talisker malt blended with grain whisky. Their website says however that it contains a high proportion of carefully selected Island and Speyside malts, so maybe Talisker is in the mix – maybe not. I did not get the signature Talisker pepper kick until the finish. But it is a well-crafted, steady blend. In the matchup with the discount supermarket’s “finest” it wasn’t really an even bout, Isle of Skye winning handsomely. _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Qtr Final, Match 2: Isle of Skye 12yo versus Old Pulteney 12yo In addition to previous notes I get caramel and tobacco on the nose and a sinus-clearing menthol burst on the palate. Not bad all round but no match for OP12 and so it goes no further. Mar sin leat. _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- The intolerable torment of a whiskyphile. Faced with a large array of samples and miniatures I can suffer from analysis paralysis - deciding on a dram can often take twice as long as drinking it. I have selected 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