Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year Old

There are very few whiskies that I actively dislike. Certainly I prefer some to others, and I'm indifferent to many, but I seldom take an active dislike to a bottling. It seems to me that most whisky made these days is pretty well executed technically and, while many fall short of greatness, minimum standards are usually met.

What I find curious about this expression is that I can't find much objectively wrong with it - it is, after all, inexpensive and, from the marketing and advertising, I deduce it's aimed at new whisky drinkers - but somehow for very subjective reasons I really don't like it.

Nose: the colour is deep and on the nose it kicks off with a mellow nuttiness. I'm particularly reminded of walnuts. It smells thick and rich. There's some orange peel and a mustiness which suggests some sherry influence.

Palate: medium to full bodied and quite cloying. In a sense I want to describe it as rich but I'm reminded of a cut-price supermarket dessert which has chemicals and compounds added to simulate richness. It feels smooth and full bodied but in an overly engineered and synthetic way. It's as though the brief was to come up with something deep, rich, smooth and easy drinking. The results are successful but ultimately rather unsatisfying. This feels forced. I'm not enjoying it one bit.

Finish: nutty notes and orange peel quickly give way to a short, bitter finish.

Comments: I think I've covered it all here. I didn't enjoy this whisky. To me it feels manufactured and dumbed down. Competently produced but boring and ultimately dislikable. Like a bad pop record.

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