World Whiskies Awards 2008
World's Best Blended Malt Whisky

Wow! Boom! A standout even in this company. Citrus, specifically grapefruit. ~ Charles Cowdrey

Fruit and heavy perfume, aged, thick, frest vinyl. Fruit taste and shortish finish. ~ Charles MacLean

Vanilla, biscuit, alcohol sneaks out. Tad too rich with lusher, sweeter front and then oak comes through on dry finish. Finishes on flapjacks, butterscotch, then hit of wood and left with alcohol bite, even diluted. ~ LeNell

Sweet tinned pears, crystallised pineapples on the nose. Asummer fireworks display of a palate, all sparkling, zesty and sweet with citrus fruits, aniseed. Finishes with sweetness and aniseed – like those little coloured bits you sometimes get given at the end of an Indian meal. A wacky and wonderful whisky – a trend-setting delight. ~ Dominic Roskrow

Dominic Roskrow

Nose

Rich sherry,marzipan,sweet berries, Christmas mince pies.

Palate

Pure class! Marachino cherries, almonds,nutmeg,melon,tangerine.

Finish

A procession of fruits from cherry to ripe melon and eventually to apples. Long and lingering.

Comment

By definition vatted malts are designed to iron out blemishes but rarely rise above the good or very good. This is exceptional not just against this competition but in any categoryof whisky. Outstanding.

Robin Laing

Nose

Big deep sherry notes. Cough medicine. Dried fruits (prunes,figs, peaches and pears) in syrup.

Palate

Rich,satisfying,complex. Spicy fruit cake.

Finish

Like the endless warmth left by Victory V's.

Comment

Wonderfully balanced. A stonker of a fireside dram.