Teachers Highland Cream

Because it's Tax Day in America, I'm taking the cap off a bottle of Teacher's Highland Cream and toasting the legions of unelected bureaucrats in my fair country.

This unpretentious dram is medium gold and the body looks thin when twirling the glass.

On the nose, there's sweetish mud and peat, as well as a scent like wet turf. A honeyed sweetness dominates the front, with burning rubber in the background, like Ardbeg, though this bottle is by no means a beast of Islay.

It lays down on my tongue like the wet, boggy turf suggested in the nose, but it develops into something more fresh and bright. The sweetness is great yet somehow flat, without any honey or fruity tones; it's like the sweetness of pure sugar. A slight bitterness sticks to the back of my tongue at the end. There's a touch of cellulose. I suppose you could compare this drink to a swamp. I mean that affectionately.

Water greatly decreases the intensity of the rubber and decaying plants, as well as eliminating all bitterness and bringing honey to the tongue. It's a dramatic change.

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