Just a sketch, as usual, and an indication of whether I think you should buy (if you were so inclined!)
13.46, Dalmore, Something sweet for a beekeeper, A
Nose – Lovely cereal and toffee balance, intensely honeyed and floral, backnote of musk and dandelion. With water, intensity remains but better poise, a little more citrus, extremely sweet and pastried.
Body – Herbal and wooded. Intense sweetness but balanced by wood and a slight peat note. Some overt citrus and wood spice. Rather good. More bitter with water.
Finish – Citrus, wood sour, stewed tea. With water, numbing, raw wood, some musk develops but doesn’t hold together at the end.
A bit young.
1.184, Glenfarclas, Few and far between…, A⊕+
Nose – Sweet tobacco, pencil topping rubbers, sherried ?? Absolutely beautiful, fruity, balanced and darkly sweet.
Body – Intense, sweet and biscuit
Finish – Long, fresh, sexy and balanced
BUY
35.122, Glen Moray, Perfumed lady at a garden fete, A⊕
Nose – Beautiful floral toffee, dark oily and satisfyingly sweet. Clean, planed oak, coffee.
Body – Sweet, spicy, wooded and perfect balance
Finish – Spiced, quite long, beautiful. A little stewed tea at the end and unsettled but very good overall.
BUY
50.55, Bladnoch, High class luxury, A⊕+
Nose – Dark, complicated, the honeycomb middle of a crunchie (debate over what this is called –hokey pokey??), soft toffee, buttery flapjack, lightly herbal with parsley. Softly beautiful. Some chocolate.
Body – A little spice, acrylic paint, complex.
Finish – Lovely and gentle but a little short.
BUY
9.89, Glen Grant, Balanced and harmonious, A⊕+
Nose – Balanced tobacco (Marlboro Red), boiled sweets, fence, cherry and apple, a lovely thread of wax (floor polish). Just beautiful – the balance between sweet and masculine is spot on.
Body – Massively sweet, spicy and wood balance.
Finish – Long and fabulous, not cloying.
BUY
53.210, Caol Ila, Fantastic stuff, A⊕+
Nose – Islay perfection: dark, spicy salami, loads of toffee, ancient smoked ham, old bandages, burnt newspaper, green unripe pear. Exquisite.
Body – Spicy fennel, boiled sweets.
Finish – Long, ashen, balanced and excellent. Intense ashes.
BUY
29.157, Laphroaig, Heidi's holiday to Islay, A⊕+
Nose – darkly peated, loads of sulphur, ham and mozzarella, parsley and rolling tobacco. And massive sherry peat!
Body – Massive ash, peat and hugely sweet. Burning logs, sherry, sulphur and ash. Still balanced.
Finish – Long, sweet, a little vegetal.
BUY
39.101, Linkwood, Sophisticated adult sweetness, A+
Nose – Golden, sweet berries, honey toffee, remarkably sweet, very balanced but a bit one dimensional.
Body – Toasted oak on top of the sweetness and balanced.
Finish – A little cloying at the end, but seriously drinkable. Very oily, quite balanced before that.
121.73, Arran, A layered sponge fruit cake, A+
Nose – More beery than normal, more cherries and tobacco
Body – Immense toffee Finish – A little odd savoury edge
44.60, Craigellachie, Growing on you, A⊕
N – perfumed, flower stalks, floral and lovely
B – Sweet tobacco, beautiful
F – Lovely and long, marshmallows
BUY
26.103, Clynelish, Fresh and Lively, A⊕
Nose – Bold, intense, wooded, balanced by restrained sweetness and tobacco. Stunning Clynelish.
Body – Delicious toffee and tobacco, extremely sweet.
Finish – Long, tobacco, fab.
Light on the nose, epic delivery, quite dry, sappy and tannic.
BUY
53.184, Caol Ila, Fairground on the beach, A⊕
Not from the August outturn.
N – dark and rich, toffee smoke, b – sweet and ashen, f – long
BUY
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