Jolly Tipel

• 40% ABV, £2 per 5cl dram
• Score: 83/100

What they say:

A recreation of a well-known/popular blended Scotch whisky by the Jolly Toper himself.

What I say:

Won as a charity dram at the conclusion of one of the Jolly Toper tastings, this enigmatic little dram gave away very little other than ABV. Whatever could it be?

Colour:

Golden amber with honey highlights

Nose:

I found the nose very reminiscent of something I had sampled recently but couldn’t quite put my finger on what? This has sweet honey, fragrant floral perfume, hay – distinctly lowland whisky character (Bladnoch), furniture polish, citric lemon, beeswax and hints of sherry and peat – quite complex on the nose and suggested Johnnie Walker Red Label at me.

Taste:

Waxy mouthfeel (Clynelish), very smooth and light, cereal barley malt, heather honey, slight apple and peach fruitiness, peaty but subtle – tasted with a wax-laden tongue, creamy, fruity and gentle spiciness of all-spice (not Old Spice!)

Finish:

Medium/short, sweet, oak wood with a hint of earthy peat, spices resurface at the end

Overall:

I actually rather enjoyed tasting this, a very well-constructed blend. It certainly gave me the impression of being quite complex in a very subtle kind of way. The hints of waxiness and peat influence just creeping in here and there. Left me with an overriding impression of a Johnnie Walker blend but produced with much better quality whisky perhaps. Who knows – clearly not I!