The dry and nutty style of the single malt from this renowned Speyside distillery finds a perfect match with the equally dry and winey influence from the warm Sicilian wine: this time we experimented with a record time of 10 years in the Marsala cask, so it’s actually a double maturation rather than a simple finish! It’s a very old whisky with a heavy oak presence, and as such it requires time to let it breathe and evolve in the glass. At the nose, the influence of Marsala is immediately evident: walnuts, raisins, a pleasantly sour touch from the dry wine, and a deep oaky note of old bookstore. The taste is inevitably dominated by Marsala, although the result is not that different from a more traditional maturation in dry Oloroso: very astringent, very winey, with lots of red fruits, raisins, and of course the expected huge nuttiness. But we also have coffee, bitter chocolate, and balsamic vinegar too. Intense and powerful, it’s a perfect pairing with strong matured hard cheeses.