TWO SISTERS

Two Sisters (Burnside) at its very maltiest, though when cool boasts a grassy, gooseberry freshness, despite the impressive weight; warmed slightly and the spices burst our and over the palate like stars in an early night-time sky with the malt thickening now with vanilla and the light sweet fruitiness retreats.

Goes heavy on the barley once more and makes no apology. The weight is as heft as anything on Speyside, give the grain a degree of momentum, sugars, mainly muscovado, dapple the malt, but slowly the oak begins to flex its three decades of muscle to inject a delicate spiciness.

A whisky doesn’t stay this long in the cask without the oak not having a say. It has patiently bit its time and waits until now to make its move, imparting various shades of vanilla dense enough for once quieten the barley. A slight tanginess at the death, but still the grain insists on having the final lilting word.

We all know the principal distillery (Balvenie) at play here. It is one that usually has problems over the years, but here it remained true, the incredible depth of the malt testimony to the greatness of the mother distillery.