Batch 38

A little closed to start with, but then there’s some sandalwood and vetiver, along with a steady build of sweetness, which in turn leads to First Flush Darjeeling, orange peel and, finally, primed canvas. It’s a little hot. With water, there’s some distant toffee and just a hint of candle wax.

A sweet enough start which is quite hay-like, then comes peanut brittle and the distillery’s characteristic sweet ginger. This builds and moves into Muscovado sugar, then Seville orange. With time and a little water, there’s more rancio elements.

Medium length and slightly drying.

All very well-mannered with this gentle elegance.

Sitting in a railway car listening to Cary Grant talk.

A huge, sweet, even scented start with clotted cream notes given some lift by a sherbety element, which moves towards Space Dust and Jelly Babies, before veering into a timber yard with the aroma of a hot bandsaw. Water keeps everything on the buttery/creamy side.

Naturally it remains sweet, but now has an extra, mead-like element. The distillery weight helps to add a degree of grip and stops it flopping around. Water shows how oak-led things are, but there is balance.

Sweet, hot sawdust and honey.

A great fun whisky that’s been bottled at the right time. Fun? Whisky? It does happen, you know! Phenomenal value too.

Eating a hot buttery with butter and plum jam. For those of you not in Aberdeenshire, try a cronut.

Fat, quite spicy and perfumed with boiled sweets, before some lovely fruit begins to come through: stewing quince, poire william, quetsch, alongside oxidised notes. Fascinating. With water, there’s more barley sugar, then old fruits, but it begins to fall apart.

When neat, all of that hefty, fruit-driven sweetness is retained alongside cardamom and barley sugar, but it is hot. That said, with the water you lose the fruits and the definition. I’d keep it neat.

When neat, fruity and long.

A bold and somewhat left-field Glen Moray from a Sauternes cask. I like it… neat.

Sipping oak-aged eaux-de-vie in an Alsace vineyard.

A very smoky opening and, though it might be a Sherried dram, other than a touch of clootie dumping and candied peel, there’s low impact from cask. All seems well-integrated in that department. As it opens, you get more hot embers and, with water, there’s a little hint of its youth.

Clean, if fairly dry, with a big smoky impact to start, which takes you to a campfire, but that’s soon reeled in by the sweet fruits and the softness of the centre with its melon-like fruits. Rounded, smoky and balanced.

Maybe just a little dry on the end.

A lovely young dram with excellent balance and complexity already building.

Beach campfire on a west coast beach at sunset listening to… this.

Slightly aggressive to start with, but there’s a grassy note and, at this point, very low wood, which opens gently into charred rope and hessian. Elegant and mature, with sweet pear and chamomile. Dry oak begins to pick up in time and with water.

Very gentle and soft, touching very briefly on mango and passion fruit juice before some heat comes in. It does need water, which brings out the most subtle touches of apricot, alongside light wood and some mint.

Dry and slightly fragile.

Restrained in a similar manner to the Bunna’ and showing old cask effect rather than old bottle, with the sensation that oxygen has done most of the work here. Charming.

Walking through hot, dry bracken on a summer afternoon.

Quite powerful for a Teaninich, although the distillery’s oily elements do come through. Initially it’s lemon, rape seed with this mineral edge, then some Vin Santo elements develop before virgin olive oil stars to dominate. It’s Teaninich, Jim, but it’s on steroids. Water seems to be needed, but adding it shuts that part down.

Big, thick and rich (like Donald Trump), with chewiness and also some heat, it oozes and slides along the tongue with pricks of green herbs, then pepperiness. It’s mad, but it’s lovable (not like Donald Trump). The oiliness begins to assert itself with the water, with some sweet dried fruit, but then oak begins to grip.

When neat, long and thick.

Water shows it’s a big beast that plays variations on one theme. Mad and worth a look.

Standing, reeling, beside a working olive press.