This insane bottling is so under the radar it’s outrageous. There’s no question in my mind that this bottle represents the future of Scotch and the continuation of the idea of terroir in the Scotch category, a concept that has all but been abandoned by modern distillers. If you know anything about Dornoch, you’ll know that the whisky distilled in the tiny little shed behind the hotel in the tiny town north of Inverness is some of the most sought-after in Scotland. These guys are doing things no one in modern distillation is even considering, reinventing the old way for a new era. But the tiny distillery doesn’t make more than a few barrels a week and they only sell barrels by lottery or if you were smart enough to get in at the ground floor. Anyway, more than 70% of the distillate is that special whisky, the rest is much older whisky from the area namely Clynelish and Brora. There’s just no arguing with the recipe, but let’s have a go and see how it tastes. The color is a tense pale gold (0.3). The nose is wildly out of the modern norm. Rich yeasty, powerful old earthy warehouse, fresh sourdough, sweet, malted cereal, subtle machine shop, deep wild honey, dried grass and churned soil. On the palate, so much Clynelish waxy (or is it Dornoch wax?), tons of honey wafers, sweet red fruit, chocolate cream - with a wild texture. It’s so dang old school and makes you ponder why anyone else in Scotland has bothered to make whisky at all. So far beyond ALL modern malt whiskies in my estimation. I get it’s a blended malt, but there’s simply nothing out there like this. If you’re lucky to get anything on this level, you’re probably paying for Chichibu circa $500 plus.