1988 Strathisla 15 Year old, cask strength 55.1% abv, 50cl Chivas Brothers Cask

A great Speyside from this small bottling in 2004. The batch numbers are: SI 15 001 and SI 15 001.

From one of the oldest working distilleries in Scotland comes this sweet and malty dram that is the backbone of Chivas blends. If you love Chivas Regal, then push the boat out for Xmas or birthday.

Colour: pale gold.

Nose: vanilla coming through plus a rather grassey expression. This one will need water! Let’s try: that works (quite), with more fruits (mostly golden delicious apples)

Mouth (neat): extremely sweet and fruity, with lots of apples, fruit drops, oranges… Easier to drink than to nose at natural strength but let’s see if water will bring a little extra complexity: it even got more fruity, with just a little liquorice and white pepper coming through.

The finish is very long.