There are two real benefits to drinking out, instead of drinking in – no matter how great your home selection is.

The first, is and will always be, the company you keep when you go out. Fellow lovers of whisky and good people congregate in good places. Second, you get to taste a much broader range of drams, that are frequently changing.

So this week at The Jefferson, this bottle of Glenturret was new to the shelf.

If you’ve never heard of Glenturret, don’t worry. They are one of a select few distilleries that claim to be one of the first in Scotland. Glenturret are mostly famous now for being home to the Famous Grouse experience. I drove past the distillery last month but didn’t stop. They are found in the lower reaches of the Highlands.

Back to the tasting: this bottle is from a single sherry butt cask and one of only 283 filled. So .. you’re not going to find this on any other shelves easily (this is why we go out).

Aged 17 years, it’s really taken everything the sherry cask has to give.

The nose is massive, even in first open. Toffee, rich dried fruit and spice – just like a rich Christmas pudding. That’s the sherry doing it’s work.

First taste: at 46% it’s not the alcohol that hits you first but the first blast of that dry spice, because I’ve just had my nose in the glass. It gets right into the palate and softens quickly, into a more traditional Highland malt. Sweet, smooth, soft, easy-going and relatively light. Juicy raisins reminding you this was a sherry cask. I found this to be consistent through drinking, it didn’t open up too much more.

The finish: the spice and sweetness of the raisins lingers but not too long.

It has given me a taste for the Glenturret.

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