Batch 191

Gorgeously mature, rich and sweet baked fruits: rhubarb and apple crumble (with custard) and an airily light mintiness – Fox’s Glacier Mints, to be more precise – on top with some dry oak in the background. Next comes a lift of Poire Williams before things flick back to the mature depths. Water adds in almost winey black fruits, warm cinnamon buns and toffee apples. Eventually, there’s a drying nuttiness.

Clearly mature. Thick, with some bung cloth, light tobacco, but there’s still some bright acidity as those top notes kick in. The mid-palate is lightly oily, while retronasally you pick out oxidised fruits. This slightly discreet yet gently soft quality continues when water is added, though by now the tannins add a dry cedary note.

A little touch of rhubarb but things are now drying and becoming rather grave.

An elegant and mature single cask.

Slowly it starts to Envelop you.

Clean and quite intense with a distinct apple quality (one of this week’s themes) that takes things into a Calvados-like realm mixed with cider press and apple vinegar. There’s a little Muscat grape, a drying twist of mealiness and then some pine honey starts to seep in alongside wet moss. With water you get a light funkiness and bluebells in the woods.

Has a gentle touch with a mix of freshness that’s surprising for its age. There’s some vanilla and a thick palate, but also some heat, then things become increasingly spicy and acidic (sumac and goji berry), adding an underlying tension which slightly knocks the overall balance. Water allows the sweet fruits more space and gives a better coherence, adding in some barley sugar.

Slightly hard.

Burnside is a teaspooned malt: Balvenie with a splash of Glenfiddich. While this never quite expands fully, it remains a good glass.

Biting into the Ripest of Apples.

Sweet and gentle, with some light cereal, fresh fruit and a slightly herbal quality, mostly dill. In time you get cream and apricot jam with some lemon. Water brings fresh barley forward while at the back there’s notes of violet. Soft.

It starts in a lightly perfumed, floral manner with elements of elderflower before unsalted butter comes in along with biscuity warmth. The mid-palate is nicely chewy, while water stirs in marzipan and nougat. Subtly complex and well balanced.

A light mix of blackberry and strawberry jam. Silky.

Easy drinking (and that’s not a criticism, but an asset). The weight in the middle shows that this is a distillate with legs.

Drawn in Like Bees to Foxglove.

Fairly hot with a needle-sharp quality, a tiny touch of straw and a florist shop (with wet oasis), then some coconut as the cask starts to show. It’s still edgy, green and flinty when water is added. Young.

A pure and quite sweet start with lots of estery fruits (banana, green apples and pear drops) and a green vegetal element. There’s a scented sweetness that’s just a little hidden by the fierce heat. In time you can discern some lime marmalade. Water produces hazelnut crumb and some cream, but things remain somewhat racy.

Citric and acidic. Fizzy.

There’s a feeling of things not being fully formed, which is OK for a new distillery showing a work in progress, but why do the same for a well-established one?

A salad with Green Onions.

Light and, like its slightly younger brother, starts hot and intense with a similar green grassiness and green banana. Here there’s a tiny touch of char, orange pith and green apple. This lean quality is calmed with water, which allows light creamy wood to come in.

This character continues on to the palate – citrus, green (unripe) fruit, gooseberry, then an unresolved mix of dustiness with a softer cask influence trying to assert itself. It does become more buttery with water. Just lacking in mid-palate sweetness and weight.

Bright, acidic and slightly hot.

There’s a little more development here than on the nine-year-old, with softer cask influence, but things remain resolutely distillery forward.

A world of Apples and Oranges.

Heady and mead-like, with plenty of quince, stewed peaches and then a savoury edge of sesame oil, beeswax polish, boiled sweets and even a hint of pear drop. A highly complex melange of aromas that deepen into yew, then Lamingtons and red cherry. Things are relaxed, but there’s a pulsing energy at its heart. Rancio is released with a drop of water, which also takes the aromas into freshly-ground coffee, black banana and Cognac-esque fruitiness. Excellent.

It’s not surprising that this has a very gentle start, but that doesn’t mean that there’s any lessening of overall complexity. You’re now getting a clearly mature mix of praline, chocolate, lightly bitter citrus peels, some wax, tropical fruit and more of the almond element seen on the nose. Water makes the tannins more evident, adding a lightly drying grip alongside cigar leaf, fruit skin, toffee and caramelised fruits.

Long and rancio-filled – there’s even some of the sesame again.

Truly elegant and fascinating… if you have a spare £10k.

Memories of A Summer Long Since Passed.