A middle-aged offering from Loch Lomond’s Inchmoan spirit style. This one was laid down in a 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel in July 2000 before being bottled at a still decent 56.3% ABV some 20 years later.
Nose: Pressed flower petals, pink wafer biscuits and foam shrimps proffer a sweet, fragrant and aromatic opening. This is ably supported by lemon bon bons and buttery biscuit (base) and livened by a drizzle of well-reduced strawberry syrup. Reduction adds a dusty quality to the affair with granulated sugars and strawberry Nesquik powder. Hmmm. Better before.
Taste: Notably saccharine with Comice pears and syrupy peach slices and vanilla extract. Chocolate power and nougat joins pepper-spiced honey whilst the floralness from the nose translates across into meadow flowers and pressed cotton sheets. Water favours the cask influence with steeped fruit teas and freshly planed oak alongside orange barley water. Again, better before.
Finish: Medium. Apple turnovers and joined by the leafy character of blossoms.
A refined Inchmoan that offers sophisticated fruity floralness set agreeably against a backdrop of sweet and oak-influenced flavours. This is far more focussed and purer when approached at its natural ABV – indeed straight out of the bottle it’s a defined and elegant treat.