Tasting notes Ruben Luyten - WhiskyNotes: Score 86/100

Nose: lots of dark candy sugar, caramel and sweet tobacco leaves. Milk chocolate coated raisins and prunes. Whiffs of red candy. Roast coffee beans and warm smoke that has a hard time getting over the sweetness. Hints of pumpernickel and gingerbread. Certainly very aromatic and not immature, but compared to the Caol Ila from the same batch this feels a little more bloated and more fleshy / unclean. Maybe not a fair comparison indeed.

Mouth: overwhelming sherry again. Figs, date loaf, dry tobacco. Hints of earthy liquorice and tar. Turkish coffee and caramelized notes again, like a good stout. Gingerbread with some salty notes. Touches of herbal bitters. Some hints of seared meat and tobacco underneath.

Finish: long, sweet and sour with woody hints. Red berries, caramel, smoke and coffee.

A proper sherry bomb which even manages to overtake the peaty side. It suffers a little from the comparison with the excellent Caol Ila 2011, which I think is playing in a higher league. Nonetheless this is a very intense, rich whisky with good value for money. Around € 60, now in stores.