From an undisclosed distillery on Orkney, this single malt displays the conflicting character of the whiskies from that island: do they technically belong to the Highlands stile? Orkney malts have a character of their own, and this bottling confirms it. At the nose it’s deep, a bit dark, with a touch of old books and furniture, and a whiff of overripe fruit. Its taste is a whole array of contrasting impressions: grapefruit juice, then freshly sawn oak, then apricots, then again nuts. Very spicy, lively, with plenty of orange rind. It’s a great “all rounder”, very multifaceted, and the 42 months of finish in a refill Pedro Ximenez cask only gave it a touch of extra fruitiness while retaining its complex and unpredictable character. It grows spicier and woodier in the end.