Looking to achieve an “old sherried Speyside malt” profile, we picked the casks for this bottling after a finish for 34 months in first fill Oloroso butts, which to our palate was the perfect moment. Very aromatic and deep in its olfactory impression, it truly has a “vintage” style: a bit of beeswax, some ancient wooden furniture, a touch of honey, ripe peaches, and the nutty astringent note of sherry. At the palate it’s actually sweeter than expected: chestnut honey, rose petals, a hint of raisins, ripe bananas and dried apricots. It’s rich and chewy but not fat, with the dryness of the Oloroso keeping it tight and lively. In the finale it becomes very mineral, but still quite smooth and only moderately oaky.