Batch 81

Immediate soft fruits: quince skin, medlar, sweet potato, sharp red fruits and a glossy, sticky boiled sweet air. In time, you’ll pick out some light scented candle. Water diminishes this slightly, but does add a creamy undertow. Really lovely.

Lighter than you’d expect and there’s a lavender soapy element (it wasn’t the glass) that obscures much of the action. There is, however, a mineral freshness and surprising acidity on the end. Water stirs in some fresh pear and while the scented element is there, it’s slightly waxier.

Gentle and bright.

Clynelish can be a shy dram on the nose. Here, though, it’s eager to please. It’s just a shame about the palate.

Fumbling in his pocket, he found an old sweetie covered in oose. ‘Needs must,’ he thought and popped it in his mouth.

Integrated, rich aroma with good complexity. Fruity too: black cherries in syrup, heavy red fruits that head towards chocolate (there’s a touch of cigar in there as well), then cooked blueberry and maple syrup, hot raspberry tarts and fruit pies, topped with Demerara sugar and oozing syrups. Water both adds acidity and shows heftier wood.

Smooth and very sweet to start, with those juices the first to emerge, then some crisp oak comes through – that structure saves it from becoming a mere fruit bomb. Black fruits retained alongside some oxidised elements, which provide some nuttiness and an appealing bitter twang.

Very long, juicy and ripe.

The key here is balance – ensuring those dense fruits don’t dominate, or that the wood takes over. A real success.

It’s filthy, but you know you love it.

Light smoke to start, but it’s being exhaled in a really elegant fashion; turfy with scents of wild flowers, wild thyme, heavy lily, pollen and then subtle, slow fruits, such as blackcurrants (it’s spent nine years in a Port cask). Light, but elegant.

Very fine structure with HP’s mid-palate softness and some light orange. Chewy tannins. It’s lovely, but just needs a little more weight to elevate it to greatness. Water adds apple sauce, nutmeg and pepper.

Gentle smoke. 

A lovely, gentle nose which promises much in the build-up, and just stumbles on the final delivery. A bit like Partick Thistle. 

Woozy after the nap, he staggered towards the cliff edge.

A slightly glossy note – it actually smells a bit like UHU glue to start with (not that I mind that) – but after this the more volatile elements fly off, leaving a very intriguing grape seed oil aroma that has some resin underneath. One of those ugly beauties. Give it time and you’ll find peach jelly cubes, and then a powerful scent of rosewater. Drier and slightly metallic (cold steel), then rummy notes of lime zest and starch.

It starts thick and it tastes rummy. It is rum, isn’t it? Banana and soft tropical fruits, coconut and sweet spices. Yes, it’s a rum and a good one at that. Ripe, quite fat, with that slight aluminium note seen on the nose, but the length is good.

Slightly spicy.

A cunning ploy this – get whisky lovers and rum heads at the same time. Lovely stuff. 

Captain Jack Sparrow heads to Inchconnachan in search of the wild wallabies. 

A mix of estery, pear drop/acetone, with some dry cereal in the back. It’s a bowl of muesli with dried pineapple, then there’s some char before we return to the muesli as someone tips in just-opened boxes of Sun-Maid raisins. It continues to dry and becomes more mash-like – especially with water.

Lifted, aromatic start. Fairly floral, with needling heat and those sour apple notes coming through. Initially, the cereal is picked up retronasally, but then it seems to switch to the tongue, giving a heavier feel as it moves to the back palate.

Light crunchiness. 

Sound and a lot of fun.

Trapped in the window seat, his neighbour began lecturing him on the benefits of veganism.

Heady, with peaches and apricots galore, heather honey, some lemon and star fruit, but there’s also this savoury note that you can only get with a long time in a relaxed cask. No water should be added.

The low alcohol (40.1%? That was lucky) means you don’t get the full impact and expansiveness which the nose promises. Instead, you notice the dry underpinning which gives the structure. The length is there, though, as are the fruits, but it’s just slightly hollow compared to the nose. 

Lightly fruited.

A distillery that – as numerous old bottlings show – matures magnificently and deserves greater recognition. This is worth checking out.

Eating grilled gammon steak and pineapple rings for Sunday lunch.