Sampling this beside the 12 you can easily tell it is from the same distillery; but, this is the grown up beauty while the 12 is the young teenager. The orchard fruits are there, but more well rounded and perhaps slightly caramelized. The sherry influence is more pronounced and is underlain with the vanilla. (This is still not a sherry "bomb" if that is what you seek.) The wood spices are still there as well but don't come across as bitter, but as a spice to accent the ripe fruit and malt notes. Overall this is a very good and well balanced malt that is easy to drink, but complex enough it deserves contemplation.