Dewars Dewar's 21 Year Old Double Double

No, this is not in partnership with Tim Horton's. The Double Double series is a new range from master blender Stephanie Macleod, where the aged grains are married together; the aged malts are married together; and then the grains and malts are combined and further married together, then its all finished somehow - in this case, in oloroso casks. The range includes 21, 27 and 32 year old bottlings, all non-coloured, non-chill-filtered and bottled at 375ml.

The colour is a medium amber. On the nose the honey has become much darker, with milder spices wrapped in orange peel, dark chocolate, cinnamon and a touch of clove. A slight hint of peat (though not as much as that 1960s White Label I just wrote about). With time you get rich caramel, heather honey and black pepper. Again, water doesn't do much for the nose. Complex but subtle.

On the palate this is extremely rich, wearing its age very well: thick toffee, very creamy mouthfeel, plums, apricots and blood orange. Nice hit of ginger, especially with water. Not too oaky. Beautiful depth.

The finish is deep (though a bit rough) with white pepper, mouth-drying oak and a spicy fruitiness. Excellent old scotch. Compared to the two White Labels I have in front of me, the DNA is all there: honey and tropical fruits, with peat on the 1960s WL and the 21yo. Things just get richer and more complex from the current WL, to the 1960s WL and to the 21yo. Funny how the finishes don't quite measure up to the other elements, but nevertheless Dewars makes some decent scotch.

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