Tasting notes by Serge Valentin (WhiskyFun.com) 91/100

Colour: amber with green hues.

Nose: very similar to the 1981 but a tad more discreet and more marked by the sherry (but not by the wood) at first nosing. Maybe a little more tobacco and old leather. Great menthol as well. Gets a little beefy after a while. Hints of lovage and dried parsley. Gets really bigger after a while and maybe a little more complex than the 1981. Frankly, this is great. With water: it got more mineral, ashier, maybe a tad more austere now. Funny how it diverges from the 1981 with water. Also notes of ham. Excellent anyway.

Mouth (neat): very, very close to the 1981, with maybe an extra-roundness (sultanas) and a bigger fruitiness (dried bananas, figs). It’s superb, I must say, but let’s not tempt fate and add a little water to it: it got even closer to the 1981, with maybe just a little more orangey notes and a little less spices and oak.

Similar finish. Just as excellent I think, no reason to give this one a different score