GLEN ELGIN 18 YEAR OLD 70CL/54.8%

Sophisticated Speysider from the little-known Glen Elgin distillery. Vanilla-toffee sweetness and a splendid fruit salad on the nose, joined by butter, wood and spice on the tongue. This 18-year-old whisky is made by combining whisky matured in two types of casks: sherry-style butts and refill European oak. A balanced and enticing dram.

This whisky was made in experimental fashion and some of the spirit was distilled using a yeast more commonly found in the production of millet beer.

NOSE

Mild, rich and sweet initially, with vanilla toffee giving way to leafy, green and herbal notes of fennel and fresh cut grass. The sweetness remains, moving through candied nuts to polished oak and sweetened cream. With time, it becomes a fresh-fruity aroma overall, with hints of orchard fruit, dried apple rings and baked apples joined by poached pears in a fruit salad that also features melon, orange, nectarine and banana with a crunch of sweet pastry. Water introduces a cooling, floral note, but the fruitiness remains.

PALATE

Smooth and very sweet, A burst of sweetness washes over the palate, with traces of spun honey and honeycomb, followed by sour apples, oaky spice and brown sugar . The fruit stays centre stage, with icing sugar sweetness, butter and wood at the edges. The spice builds, with light cinnamon joined by dark clove and dried orange peel. Water calms the spice to reveal sweet notes of cream, sherbet and almond nuttiness, with orchard fruit and fruit jelly.

FINISH

Of medium-length, quite dry, with oak and woody spice fading to leave brown sugar and hints of anise. As the anise dies away, dried apples and spice reappear momentarily, before at last revealing sweet oak.