Free smiles in all round

$130

193 Left

Flavour Profile:

Sweet Fruity & Mellow
Age:

12 years
Region:

Speyside, Deveron
Cask:

Second-fill barrel
ABV:

57.8%
VOL:

700mL

Notes

About Free smiles in all round: I’d like to think this is the kind of dram Damon Gough, known to us as Badly Drawn Boy, was sipping when he wrote “The Shining” (don’t know the song? Go find it). Not a harsh edge to be found, the second-fill ex-bourbon barrel strikes again! I say this because we have all been consistently impressed with malts from this cask type. Just a beautiful balance of distillate and cask influence that sends us (and probably Mr. Gough) to a happy place.

Tasting Panel Note: A ridiculously easy start tempted us with meadow flowers, banana and marzipan, then before we knew it, we were surrounded by butter melting on toasted tea cakes, gooseberry jam and vanilla ice cream in a cone. On the palate a big tingle of ginger spice quickly sweetened into damson jam, lime marmalade and vanilla cheesecake served with toasted marshmallows dipped in cocoa powder. A few drops of water unveiled softer fruits of baked orange, plums and tinned fruit salad while marmalade on rye bread deepened to dark chocolate and molasses. All the fruits combined on the palate with a tropical theme as we also discovered almonds, hazelnuts and cinnamon on the finish.

USA allocation: 120 bottles