Distillery Select ‘Croftengea’ (distilled at Loch Lomond), 9 year old, 1997 vintage, 45%

Quite pale in color. Very youthful and naked, with damp peat, leafy smoke, charred oak, and black licorice, pears in honey and vanilla-tinged barley. Quite an eye-opener for a non-Islay whisky. It’s a little green and ornery. Certainly an entertaining whisky, but a few more years in the barrel would round this whisky out, meld the flavors together, and add depth.