Malts of Scotland - Images of Ayrshire - Dalrymple Bridge - Ailsa Bay 3yo

In December is The Usquebauch society's blind tasting competition and Werner kindly shared a bit of his sample number 7 with us. This is an expression of Malts of Scotland from the Images of Ayrshire, Dalrymple Bridge, an Ailsa Bay 3 years old bottled at 68.3% abv. In total 328 bottles bottled in 2014 after maturing in a sherry hogshead. 

The nose has a thick and young feel to it. Getting lots of spicy notes but also some sweet plums, dates, rubbery notes, hint of sulphur, redcurrant, blue berries, strawberries, vanilla, raisins and biscuits. 

From the palate I am getting lots of the same notes as on the nose and having diluted it to a good amount to town down the young rougher side a bit it slowly releases some more notes. The sweet vanilla becomes a bit stronger together with some liquerish and some other fruit notes that come to the front like banana, red apple, cassis and elderflower. 

The finish is not that long and with vanilla and raisin softness, with the taste of eaten to many biscuits after each other with an edge of tobacco. Scoring it an 6,5 out of 10, it does not feels ready yet... Thanks for sharing Werner!