Clynelish – The Maltman / Meadowside Blending Co – 15yo bourbon – 46%.

Rich gold in colour, more like the colour you could expect from a sherry matured whisky, but it’s definitely bourbon.

On the nose you get slight salty sour hints, it’s not particularly sweet, woody notes come through nicely with some vanilla spices.

The mouth is fairly full and spicy, but at an abv that makes it fairly easy drinking. The 15 years has certainly given this a maturity, but has also left a playful youthfulness as well, it’s a good balance tempered by subtle wood notes that add a great roundness to the malt, it’s neither too sweet or too sharp, it’s right in the middle of where you want it to be.

This is surely the darkest colour bourbon matured whisky I’ve seen so far, you keep expecting fruity sweet sherry notes and not getting them, which is vaguely odd, but also rather captivating.

A very moreish and high quality dram from this north eastern distillery.

At 15yo you’d often expect a slightly higher abv for an independently bottled whisky, it’s possible this isn’t quite cask strength but at least it is most certainly naturally presented. The lower abv may mean that this is a more affordable dram, which is always a plus in a world where prices are rising very quickly.

Sample provided by Meadowside Blending – Forth Wines is the UK distributer who will be selling to specialist whisky retail stores soon. Price unknown at time of publishing.