The first release from Mossburn's Signature Casks Series - a collection of blended malts made to highlight regional Scotch whisky profiles, finished in specially-coopered casks to amplify the standout flavours. For this edition, they've created a whisky using single malts from the Islands, and finished it in 200 litre casks with first-fill bourbon cask staves and heavily toasted European oak cask heads.
Coastal smokiness develops throughout, with a touch of floral malt bringing sweetness to the nose.
Drying spices (think nutmeg and cinnamon), blended with caramelised sultanas and shortbread. Soft smoke continues.
A lasting finish of sponge cake, marmalade and toasted rye.
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No more than six years old I would say, youthful but well blended. Good casks. Maybe some four year old malt in this. Takes water well, two or even three teaspoons. Really opens it up. Custardy, like a Bruichladdich (doubt there's any BL in this), very good mouthfeel, silky and rich. Yellow fruits, pineapple, honey melon, again custard, vanilla. Light, very light, distinctly heather-y peat, hint-hint. Floral, certainly, cornflowers and cow parsleys, hint of sunflowers, violets way in the back there. Honeysuckle! Summer dreams. Hint of minerality. So. One part heather-y, lightly peated, shall we say Orkney distillate, and one part something fruitier and sweeter - shall we say, and I do believe and surmise - south island malt, say from the Isle of Arran, approximately. Perhaps no more than these two - but the thought did cross my mind that Mr. Robert Haig the Master Blender might, just might, have seen fit to add a dash, a drop, of the recently-ready-matured Torabhaig to the early 2020 bottling of this. The amount of such would be small. Then, perhaps not.
