15 Year Old

Slightly spicy nose feel and drying, overall. Toffee apples. Hints of honeycomb balanced by remnants of youthful zestiness - linseed oil and scented tea. Becomes fruitier: ripe autumn fruits combined with red berry sharpness. Malt and cereal notes. Some golden syrup sweetness. Reassuringly well balanced. Adding water brings up a waxier note initially, with traces of sweet chestnut and glace angelica, and then a whiff of smoke or charred wood.

Without water, the flavour is sweet to start then drying in the finish. Warming, light and smooth; tending to delicate. Malty and oaty base notes. Fresh fruit salad, with spicy and floral top notes. With water added there’s a pleasant mouthfeel. Some sweetness, though the overall effect remains balanced and dry.

Drying. Pears and digestive biscuits, then delicately spiced with notes of aniseed.

Built in 1897, the last of seven distilleries founded in Dufftown, Glendullan was the brainchild of blenders from Aberdeen by the name of William Williams and sons. With solid business acumen and a private railway siding, the Williams gave Glendullan a healthy start in life. So solid in fact that it took the barley shortages of the Second World War to halt production – though the momentous world event caused only a seven year blip in the history of this exceptional malt.