Rating: 13/23 N : Unlike most scotch, there's really no sulphur on the nose. It's mild and sweet with some strong floral presence and some sweet (but tamed) red fruit like strawberry and cherry. There's brown sugar and a bit of oak from the American oak barrel (who are we kidding? it's obviously bourbon). There's a bit of slightly bitter alcohol, but it doesn't intrude too much. P: Oh, right, I'm supposed to taste it too. That nose is just so nicely perfumed though. The palate is light, delicate, smooth. I get a little bit of alcohol, but it's minimal. I get some prickly spice from the barrel along with it and a faint hint of that brown sugar from the nose, but not much. The barrels were clearly tired. There's quite a bit of a river water minerality to it that fits nicely with the floral sweetness. Sort of elderflower, rose, dried strawberry, dried cherry, and maybe a touch of raspberry and the faintest waft of pomegranate. The sherry flavors are light, so some of their more floral flavors come out. I think that the vanilla from the American oak is bringing out the floral character too. Not what I'd normally go for in scotch, honestly, but good in its own right. It kind of works with the low proof, but I'd like to try it at a higher proof and older age. It was probably a good call leaving the excess heads and tails out of this, but I hope there are more in the older age statements. F: A little more bitterness comes out here as the sweetness from the flowers and fruit fades a bit. It's similar to the effect encountered when tea is over-steeped, but is less pronounced in this case. I'd prefer for the sherry to be the dominant flavor here rather than the bourbon, but it's a decent enough finish. Surprisingly, this has grown on me to the extent that I now understand why people like it. It's quite enjoyable and makes for a great scotch from the early spring to the late summer. Maybe it's because I realized how much I like St. Germain. It still has a delicate flavor that strikes me as fairly immature, but it also has a mellow sweetness that reminds me of Irish whiskey like Green Spot with a bit more of that Yellow Spot maturity. For the money, I don't think I can call this a winner, except maybe if it's on sale. Still, it's nice and I've enjoyed having it. I'm thinking of upping my 12 to a 13 to 14. 14 seems a bit too generous though considering the lightness and alcohol (though there have been moments when I seriously considered it), so 13 seems the most appropriate.