The Singleton of Dufftown Tailfire (40%, OB, 2016)

• Category: Speyside single malt scotch whisky
• Origin: Dufftown Distillery
• Bottling: Official – Diageo
• ABV: 40%
• Cost: £30.05

What they say:

A vibrant evocation of Dufftown’s fruity character with notes of fresh red berries from maturation in European Oak casks with notes of sweet vanilla.

Strength 40% abv

Appearance Rich amber.

Nose Instant sweetness and ripe red berry fruit – strawberries, stewed plums and raspberry jam emerges giving way to vanilla and toasted oak.

Body Medium to dense

Palate Notes of malt and green grass soften quickly with the richness of the fruit with a hint of spice amongst sweet oak notes.

Finish Sweet with slightly drying oak and a creamy hint of coconut.

What I say:

Sampled side-by-side at the Edinburgh Whisky Stramash 2015. Sadly the Diageo stand had very poor offerings for us and were really pushing the Singleton of Dufftown 12, Sunray and Tailfire expressions (almost exclusively). A pretty poor showing if you ask me. Anyhow lets see what this NAS ‘flavour-led’ expression from Dufftown has to offer.

Colour:

Full amber E150a gold (10/20), thick/loose legs

Nose:

Vaporous and spirit initially, cereal barley, floral, flowery and sweet, icing sugar, sandalwood, vanilla, creamy, honey and fudge

Taste:

Thin and zesty on the palate, vanilla cream, fudge, sugars, cereal barley, cream, pith (orange/grapefruit), pink grapefruit, lemon peel, sweet and bitter

Finish:

Short and sweet, zesty citric and bitter

Overall:

Short and sweet overall, some nice aromas but fairly unimpressive from there onwards. This is supposed to be bursting with red fruit and berries – I guess the dram I received had already burst? I will stick to the Spey Cascade or 12 Year Old from now on.

Score: 81/100

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