Nose: 23/25 the oak may be on the attack but firm malt, aided and abetted by the most docile of smoky backgrounds gives it just the weight and edge it needs;
Taste: 24/25 the delivery is dense and silky and now the smoke really comes into its own, adding weight and seeing off any inquisitive oak; butterscotch and honey add to the brilliance;
Finish: 24/25 long with vanilla and the softest molassed sugar imaginable pitched in the glowing embers of all that has gone before;
Balance: 24/25 a genuine masterpiece of an ancient malt showing improbable integrity and finesse. The only whisky tasted so far this year (and this is number 1,263) that I have not spat a single drop out. I don’t know if this was a 1957 cask, or ’58. On one hand I hope it was the ’57, as that was the year I was born, and on that basis it should be stunning. On the other, a pang of regret that I didn’t find this cask first and bottle it for my 50th birthday celebrations…
Score: 95