Colour: gold. Nose: a really smoky nose at first, before oranges and perhaps ripe guavas start to blend in. In the background, old copper coins, tin boxes, old toolbox and all those sorts of greasy/sooty/metallic things, then more ink and carbon paper. There might be some OBE, especially since there’s also a little pinesap arising, cough medicine, leather… All that is quite complex, let’s only hope the palate won’t be a bit tired and flat. Mouth: tired? Not at all, quite the contrary in fact. Starts tarry and smoky, a bit salty as well, with an obvious ‘old Highlands’ feeling, displaying plenty of waxes and oils, a refreshing acridness (chewing tobacco) and all these sappy notes that we already found in the nose. And it wouldn’t even lose steam, rather remaining firm and phenolic/metallic, without ever becoming dusty or cardboardy. As for the fruits, they’re still oranges. Finish: granted, this isn’t the longest finish ever, but everything remains in place, with the salt and the smoke dancing in the aftertaste. Comments: not a surprise, but quite a bit of a surprise, still. Big fat malts never die, apparently. This starts well.

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