Royal Brackla 12 Year Sherry Cask Finish (Oloroso)

Amber color with a shade darker than 2, medium thick texture. Smells of honey, vanilla, chocolate, toffee, raisins, dark berries, plums, apricots, licorice, and rum cake. Starts with a medium spicy taste (great!), full, rich, oily, and sweet (vanilla, milk chocolate, rum cake, toffee, burnt sugar), with licorice, raisins, dried fruits, dark berries, plums, apricots, and walnuts, plus oak. Ends with a medium finish, leaving a sweet-oaky-nutty-licorice aftertaste. Comment: Since the core range of Royal Brackla was redone, I wanted to sample this new 12 YO. I can't compare it to the old 12 YO because I never tried it, but I can say that I really enjoy this one! It has good complexity for its price.

Aroma: Cooked strawberry, plum, orange preserve, honey, hazelnut, molasses Taste: A slight initial dryness, then mellows into honey, pear, spice, strawberry, plum, and a Dr. Pepper character. Aftertaste: Caramel, cinnamon spice, honey, berry preserves The initial dryness on the palate is the only thing holding it back from a perfect score. It remains my preferred sherry-aged 12-year-old I've sampled.

Nose: Raisins, chocolate, spicy oak, sherry Palate: Plums, raisins, chocolate, oak Finish: Spicy oak, chocolate, raisins An excellent whiskey with a dominant sherry influence. It's all about chocolate and dark fruits. While not overly complex, it's a must-buy for sherry enthusiasts.

Base Royal Brackla Nose: Honey, caramel, toffee, chocolate, maraschino, vanilla, kelp Taste: Creamy, sweet, astringent. Oloroso cask aging is evident, but overall it's an unremarkable malt.

Color: Burnt Amber, honey Body: light Nose: Sweet and fruity, with a cake-like quality Taste: Has a bite but warms; notes of caramel apple and dark cherries linger Notes: consumed neat in a glencairn glass

Very good spirit with notes of raisins, honey, grapefruit, figs, dates, cranberries, raspberries, sultanas, butterscotch, toffee, cinnamon, licorice, nutmeg, and Nutella.