Mannochmore 13 Year Old 2009 SMWS Single Hybrid Oak Cask 64.137 Jamaican Rum Balls (2023) 70cl

This felt like a basket full of enticing aromas: juicy ripe red berries, marzipan fruits, cinder toffee and rumkugeln (German rum balls) made with rich melted chocolate and sweet Spanish-style rum. The taste followed suit with cinnamon custard, fruit salad, hibiscus-mint iced tea and chutney, as well as a fruity rye bread of hazelnuts, cherries, raisins and pumpkin seeds. Following reduction we enjoyed a peach cobbler, milk chocolate teacakes and a cup of earl grey tea. On the palate, we had cardamom-roasted oranges, Jamaica ginger cake and strawberries served with a chocolate sauce. After nine years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this whisky into a first fill custom-toasted American (70 per cent) and European (30 per cent) oak hogshead.