Whisky : Allt-A-Bhainne 7 Year 108.17 “As balanced as a ballerina”

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 61.6%

Cask : 2nd Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel

Age : 7 Years (Distilled 2 Nov. 2011)

Nose : Wild blend of nutty, herbal, dessert, and brine notes.  Starts off with rich almond and honey roasted peanut butter, oatmeal molasses cookies, caramel drizzle, chocolate covered almonds, and cake batter.  Toasted herbs come in with fresh cut sticky rosemary twigs, grassy dried hay, salty olives, and agave.  Briny pickle juice, olives, and sugary citrus 7-Up emerge over time.

Palate : Medium to light body with notes of toasted cacao, herbs, and nuts.  Toasted marshmallows over a kerosene-stink campfire, hot tar, malty graham and grains, bitter chocolate, and burnt hay.  The overall impression is one of dark bitter chocolate and burnt marshmallows s’mores by the campfire.  Toasted oak, honey, and tannic wood notes come near the end and carry into the finish.

Finish : Long with astringent woody spice.

Score : 6

Mental Image : Barnyard S’mores

Something Better : Allt-a-Bhainne 7Y SMWS 108.14 (similar s’mores, more pond scum & spice)

Something Similar : Caol Ila 5 Y Maltman (similar campfire, chocolate, more meat)

Something Worse : Ardmore 8Y Sherry Wood Cadenhead (similar marshmallow/campfire)

Notes :  Bright and full of youthful spirit this dram was remarkably complex, though the flavor profile was subtle and light enough that it could be easily overpowered by anything else sitting on your palate.  Allt-a-Bhaine produces some really weird drams; or, SMWS choses to bottle a lot of really weird casks from the distillery.  This one occasionally verged toward the barnyard funk of Bruichladdich without dipping too deeply into some of the earthy manure or salty brine of a great Port Charlotte.  This dram was wonderfully tasty with lots of intriguing cocoa and malt notes infused by a pungent, slightly off, campfire.  The nose on this was wonderfully rich even if the flavor profile held it back a bit being too delicate and light on the palate.  While this was full of youth it was absolutely tasty and offered enough intriguingly strange notes that it was right up my alley with its funky s’more profile.