I previously tried this 2 years ago with my wonderful late Dad during our Scottish distillery tour. After a tour of Dalwhinnie we picked up a couple of bottles each from their shop. My Dad chose this one and although I only had a couple of sips it left an impression of an underrated unheard-of distillery that should get more attention instead of just being blend-fodder. So I thought, let's revisit it and see what I now think.....
It's a spicy nose with cinammon. Slightly honeyed with liquorice hints. Grassy. It's kind of on the heavy side of light if you know what I mean.
Sweeter palate that continues the spice theme but with a slightly soft fruit edge - peaches, tangerines even??? I then get quite a herby and aniseed edge.
The finish is medium in length - aniseed and herbs continue. Drying and bitter at the back of the throat but sweet on the tongue.
So my initial impressions 2 years ago were that this was underrated. Now I've had chance to properly taste and analyze it I'll go one step further and say 'criminally underrated'. Having said that, this bottle was over £40 so perhaps I should say criminally underexposed. This is a distillery that needs to be given more attention by Diageo as the potential is clearly there.
Comment on @Nemesis101's review