Royal Brackla 14 Years Old 2008 Cask #10 (van Wees)

van Wees selected this Royal Brackla, a 14 year old from 2008, drawn from cask 10 and bottled at 57.7%. A release of 597 bottles. Royal Brackla was opened in 1812 on the Earl of Cawdor's estate near Nairn; William IV's 1833 warrant made it the King's Own Whisky. Cawdor Castle, said to inspire Shakespeare's Macbeth, stands on the same estate.

The spirit was made in copper pot stills after a long fermentation, for a fruity, honeyed make of real finesse. A sherry cask shaped it, true to the Royal Brackla house style. Past a decade the fruit deepens into honey, dried fruit and a warm spice. Patient maturation turns the orchard fruit towards honey and dried fruit. The distillery lies near Nairn, at the edge of the Highlands above Inverness. Owned today by John Dewar and Sons, part of Bacardi, it remains a quiet Highland name.

At cask strength 57.7% it is full bodied. The Oloroso brings dried fruit, fig and a nutty depth, and vanilla and a light cream from the barrel, with pear, honey and a warm spice. The texture is smooth and rounded, the fruit lifted by honey. Dried fruit and oak spice see out a long finish. This is Royal Brackla's refined Highland style.