Rich and beautifully balanced, deep and aromatic, and infused with a delicate sweetness, this truly exceptional 40 Year Old single malt whisky is the product of just five refill casks originally laid down before 1979. These casks were brought together in 2008 and filled into first-fill sherry seasoned American oak casks to intensify the maturing whisky's flavour over a further 10 years of maturation. The refill casks that originally held this whisky are ideal for a long, slow maturation while the first-fill sherry seasoned casks in which the whisky completed its maturation, bring a depth of character and nutty, fruit-filled notes of sherry to the fore.
What you smell and taste in a whisky is highly subjective.
Even the pros do not always agree on the tasting notes. Therefore, we have combined the tasting notes from several sources into a cross-section Nose, Palate, and Finish to find the commonalities between two whiskies. We use the Aroma Wheel with its concentric circles of increasingly specific tastes and smells (general in the center; more specific the further out you go) to find Exact, Secondary, and General matches between two whiskies. We also take into account other important factors like mash bill, barrel type(s), ABV, region, ratings, price and more. We then weight each factor based on what we believe to be the approximate importance it has in determining whether two whiskies are similar.
We're all different.
Again, we cannot stress enough that what you smell and taste in a whisky is likely going to be different than the person you're drinking it with. Whisky Mates is meant to be a guide to help you find what you like drinking, using the best methodologies available. In the end, rely on your own palate to tell you what you like and don't like.