Lovely bottle with some kind of mermaid, would go well for suntan lotion too. No, really. I hope the wood treatment remained kind of moderate, because I think I have noticed that they've been cranking them up with last year's SRs. For example, this is ex-bourbon (good) and wine (bad) casks. Wine casks, wazzat? What is 'a wine cask'? Could we remain focused on the whiskies? Colour: gold. Nose: cask-driven. Vanilla, cakes, Nutella, macchiato. Starbucks whisky. With water: more Nutella. I just hope no orang-outangs have been harmed along the process. Mouth (neat): good for sure but indeed, there is a lot of Nescafé and Nutella. With water: roasted hazelnut and more Nescafé. Finish: medium, very dry, pretty oaky. Comments: I can't quite see how and why this would be 'Rare and Exceptional', but indeed it is rather 'Fair and Okay'. Now I've heard they'll soon launch new expressions of Ord that will be much closer to the Distillery's brilliant own character, in the vein of the magical official 28 and 30 of old. Unless I've been dreaming once more… … …
Words of Whisky (81)
efill American and European oak and wine seasoned
Nose: The wine is rather present, with immediate notes of candy-esque red fruits, such as strawberries and raspberries. And there’s a slight lactic quality too, accompanied by a tinge of chalk. Soft notes of cigar tobacco, nutmeg and pepper too. Finally a hint of decaying leaves, as well as some acidity.
Taste: A somewhat cloying, wine-y first impression. Touches of black pepper, allspice and cloves, while the candied red fruits are here for an encore. Wine gums, prunes and apricots. Slightly fizzy almost, but that might just be some wood tannins.
Finish: A sweet, bitter finish. Or bittersweet, shall we say? Slightly herbal too. Medium in length.
CONCLUSION
You can’t quite accuse The Singleton of Glen Ord 15 Years of being particularly well-balanced. As is often the case with ex-wine cask maturation, it lacks proper integration between spirit and cask.
