Tasting Note

Colour: Orange copper.

Nose: sample, powerful. Particularly peppery, the first nose presents a peat of great floral elegance (purple lilac, lavender), fruity (orange zest), honey (acacia, heather) and apricot. On aeration, it becomes chocolatey, iodized, saline and camphorated. Further still, aromas of spices, wheat and ripe fruit (mirabelle plum, kirsch) rub shoulders with burnt rubber and cocoa beans. Superb.

Palate: Lively, dynamic. A blend of gooseberries and plums, the attack on the palate flies over fields of peat which crash into a crashing sea. This strong image is bathed in a light that is both radiant and cloudy. In the middle of the palate, lava ashes rain down on the palate as well as on citrus zest (lemon, orange, grapefruit). In the aftertaste, black fruits (blackberry, blueberry) highlight the maturing in Burgundy wine barrels.

Overall: Long, tight. Exceptionally smooth, chocolatey and earthy, the start of the finish is simply impressive with power. Ballechin took over Caol Ila. Indeed, an oily, fatty, lactic, floral (lilac) and fruity (strawberry) peat underlines all the nobility of a refining which is also deliciously peppery.At the end of the palate, slices of bacon and bresaola add an animal touch to the palate. Exotic, the retro-olfaction is dominated by notes of flambéed bananas and mangoes. The empty glass is earthy, rooty (gentian), vegetal (agave) and ashy.