No Age Statement
43% ABV, $70

I picked this up in Denver a couple of years ago, but it’s now available in Texas.  This was the first lot that received enough praise to generate some interest, so I sought it out for a while before landing this bottle.  A new lot has since been released, although I haven’t seen it anywhere yet.

This single malt has a very fruity nose with notes of apple, pear and maraschino cherry complemented by marzipan, hazelnut, fresh cut straw and a hint of cocoa powder.

The taste is light, sweet and mildly spicy.  There’s some lemon drop, pear, candied fruits, short bread cookie, cocoa and graham cracker.  It’s a lighter profile with none of the thick caramel or vanilla flavors, but it’s still got a nice oily feel to it.  The spice is mild, mostly ginger, and fades into a finish of hazelnut and short bread cookie.

It’s clear that the spirit has been influenced by the wood greatly, but there’s no tannic effect or woody finish.  That means that it doesn’t really taste very young (I guess at around 8-10 years, but I don’t know the age of the whiskey).  I like the unique flavor (more like some younger Linkwood bottlings that I’ve had without any farmy flavors) and the bold, yet light flavors.  It’s a good change of pace and I’m looking forward to see what they’ve done with Lot 13.