North Star Tarot Blend 2016

North Star Tasting with a presenter at The Oak Barrel, May 11, 2023, Whisky #1 Nose: Floral and musky (vanilla?), with dark fruit notes (dried fig, date), and stewed pears. The aroma is full-bodied when neat, but with water, it shifts, becoming grassier and more cereal-like, losing some of its floral character. Palate: The initial taste is firm and tight when neat, focusing entirely on cereal/malt flavors. I didn't notice any of the dark fruits or floral qualities from the nose reflected in the taste, apart from a hint of vanilla. The palate felt quite hot, not spicy, just hot. Water reduced this but it remained firm and a bit too tannic for my preference. Treacle and hard toffee (walnut brittle?). Finish: Medium/long. Malty, with a bitter/sour note in the aftertaste. It does become a little sweeter when diluted. This consists of 80% grain whisky from North British and 20% malt whiskies (from specific distilleries), matured for 6 years in ex-oloroso sherry butts. Apart from one of the malt components, I can easily believe that recipe because this has all the robust characteristics of those malts, particularly two specific ones. I was not inclined to purchase a bottle. As the first whisky of the evening, it served as a fine palate opener, but returning to it throughout the tasting only emphasized its mediocrity. Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, but it just didn't do anything positive for me. It is the first in an anticipated series, and I'll be interested to see the direction the presenter takes with it. Incidentally, the face of the Fool on the label is a caricature of the presenter. Well done. "Average": 79/100 (2.75 stars)