95 The Whisky Advocate

Well-structured aromas with floral top notes, seasoned oak, vanilla, peat smoke, banana chip, and pecan bars. The interaction of oak, smoke, cigar, and deep-toned wood sugars makes this pretty special. Smooth to sip, with toffee, vanilla, citrus, bountiful fruits, smoke, and spice, burgeoning with burnt heather, toasted nuts, oak char, malty chocolate, coffee, and black fruits. Simply stunning blending.

5 The Whiskey Wash

I could exhaust a majority of superlatives in my vocabulary lauding this whisky. It is quite simply a masterful evocation of what imaginative blending can be when conjoined with a precise understanding of balance and the unique ways that terroir manifests in Scotch. Here we have a representative sampling of multiple regions, each bringing their own idiosyncratic traits to the whole and allowing them to shine individually while also creating a harmonious depth that is greater than the sum of its parts. And yet does so with a subtlety that seems the peak of elegance. --------- Whisky enthusiasts should find it worth every penny (and then some) of its $300 or so price-tag, and with a mere 5,400 bottles produced, I imagine collectors will jump at this rarity that I believe will come to be regarded as a genuine classic.