Yet another whisky from the Fiddler’s Advent Calendar. And a bottling from the yet-to-be-visited Thompson Brothers. As in, I still need to visit the Dornoch Castle Hotel and its whisky bar.

Of course, with this being a blended malt, there’s no information as to what went into the bottles to make the blend. They do tend to work out well, the last couple of years.

Let’s just dive in, before I start rambling.

Sniff:
Barley and tropical fruit. Not too much fruit, but definitely sherry, with its spices. Stewed apples, tea and blackberries.

Sip:
Very sherried and rather gentle at first. It gets more intense after a few seconds. Very fruity with stewed red fruit and apples. Blackberry juice and a hint of black tea. Some oak and baking spices.

Swallow:
A medium length finish with a bit more dryness, more oak. The fruit lingers quite a while. Nice and warming, without being hot.

It’s a very gentle dram, even though it has quite some alcohol to its name. Very drinkable with lots of fruit to make this whisky enjoyable and a bit of a friend to everyone. I can’t imagine this being polarizing.

The berries and tea on the nose appealed to me, and luckily it carried through on the palate. It does practically everything that you want a properly aged whisky to do.

87/100