A huge sherry monster, with a darkly winey style that is hard to find nowadays: this is the result of a very long finish applied on two hogsheads of a robust Speyside single malt, vatted together for 52 months in a first fill Oloroso butt, of which we bottled half for this release. As expected, it is bold, big and flavourful, and its ruby red colour is a telltale sign. At the nose it is markedly winey, dominated by the sherry, but not exceedingly dry: on the contrary, it is juicy, with rich notes of red and black cherries, cola, chocolate. The same profile is found at the palate, and once again we are delighted by how sweet and creamy it tastes, with no astringent excesses even if it’s definitely an extreme Oloroso profile. Again lots of sherry, again the juicy cherries and the chocolate, with a late touch of spicy tannins, black tea and orange rind. The finale is long, deep, increasingly tannic but also thick and mouthcoating.