hs305 scored this whisky 85 points

...which is a simple and easy sippable dram but way too expensive (imho). The recipe is pretty good, actually - but the quality of the selected casks does not match that ambition, unfortunately.
-
The colour is deep gold and the nose offers a fruity-peaty mix which is nice to sniff without being as complex as the recipe promised. The wood is quite strong, a little too much according to my olfactory cells. Unfortunately, the powerful impressions with the first sniff vanish quickly so I suggest to start the nosing right after serving the dram. After around 15 minutes the nose vanished almost completely. My score started at 87 points but quickly fell to 84 due to the disappearing impressions.
-
The taste is very sweet on barley sugars and honeys with some shy fruits and surprisingly little peat notes. I do not get a lot of winey flavours, to be honest. After some chewing interesting nutty flavours (walnuts, almonds) pop up and the sugars combine to a white chocolatey note. This is easy drinkable stuff, not more and not less.
-
The dram arrives a little hot and without any coating effects on the palate. The finish is rather short and adds no new impressions beside an increasing drying-astringent woodiness. Water turns the nose more punchy and the taste gets bitter, so forget about any reduction.