14 years old, distilled 11th July 2003, 59.0% abv, Refill Chardonnay Barrique, 275 bottles, dram price B

The nose has strepsils - or a remarkable imitation of them! - and hints of honey, menthol and warm toast. The mouthfeel is thin with no cling. The body has ginger and honey, building in intensity towards the finish - where cinnamon and ginger linger for a while.

Water brings out thin, rapidly expanding whorling that settles into brief mottling. The nose loses the strepsils and gains more honey and menthol. The body gains more of the honey and some hints of cherry and lemon, but the ginger is also more dominant. The finish is unchanged.

There's a dram I'd like trying to break out here - but that ginger is just too dominant. One for a hipflask on a crisp winter's day.

3/5