The Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar - Door Number 15
Each day in December until Christmas Day we are opening a door on The Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar and posting our tasting notes on our blog.
What do we have here, behind door number 15? It's our first single grain whisky from the calendar. This is a 1991 Invergordon 24yo from AD Rattray. If you don't know what a single grain whisky is, go and Google it now. Go on, I'll wait...
Okay, got it? Great. This one's 59.9%. Let's crack on...
On the nose there's red apples, vanilla, toffee and crème brûlée. Grain whiskies tend to be a lighter spirit and show up more of the barrel character. This is from a bourbon hogshead so these sort of notes are to be expected. There's apple pastries sprinkled with brown sugar and drizzled with syrup. If this doesn't make you hungry nothing will!
On the palate there are dark sugars, caramel, vanilla: we're definitely talking dessert whisky here. It's sweet and juicy and a little bit syrupy. There's a suggestion of oak and something fruity that I can't quite get. A hint of charred wood is lurking underneath the sweetness.
The finish is medium length and has a sort of spicy dryness that you get from a rye whiskey. Treacle toffee lingers.
A lovely whisky, and a great alternative to a malt for an after-dinner dram.