The Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar - Door Number 9

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.

We've got another fine-looking dram from AD Rattray for the 9th day of December. It's a 2007 Glen Moray 8yo. The label states that it's from a sherry butt and is at...64.8%!

On the nose it's obvious that this is whisky matured in an ex-sherry cask: it's all rich, plummy fruits, jams, dates and sultanas. This is a strong contender for the most Christmassy whisky so far! Lots of notes you'd expect in Christmas cake mix including spices and citrus peel.

On the palate...woah! That packs a punch. A big, fizzy, fruity bomb just went off in my mouth. Delicious, but will probably need a splash of water. The fruit jams and woody spices are there along with a bit of treacle and a hint of marzipan.

The finish just goes on and on, with treacle toffee, dark chocolate, a tingle of white pepper, orange peel, cinnamon...this is fabulous stuff!

With water there's more cinnamon and wood on the nose and the sweet fruits have become a touch more floral. On the palate the fizzbomb has gone but still plenty going on here with that wonderful balance of rich, sweet fruits and wood spices. Maybe a hint of chilli too. The finish loses the length and depth it had before but it less punchy. Still very well-balanced.

This is a Christmas cracker of a dram. Shame there's not more of it for Christmas Day!