Glen Deveron 16 Years, Royal Burgh [of Banff] Collection, 40% ABV

Color: a rich, almost reddish amber. As the whisky doesn't indicate that it is non-chill filtered and no coloring added, nor is it a sherry bomb, I suspect that coloring is added because the Bourbon cask influence is much greater in this whisky; I suspect the sherry cask finish is for a very limited time.

The nose give hints of malt, light spice and oak at first, but with just two drops of water, crisp, tart apple emerges and is the predominant theme of this whisky. 

The spirit is very pleasant, with no burn whatsoever. This whiskey has tart and crisp apple flavors, light spice and just a hint of vanilla caramel. The apple and spice bring to mind a homemade, unsweetened apple pie, with light cinnamon and nutmeg, but no raisins!  This mild dram will sit on your tongue and the roof of your mouth calmly and pleasantly, with a silky smooth malt finish. The potential problem with this whisky is that it is so smooth and easy to drink, the bottle will not last very long. I would be interested in tasting it at cask strength to see if the malt, spice and fruitiness are more pronounced before dilution for bottling. The Glen Deveron products are distilled at the MacDuff distillery in the eastern Highlands above the Speyside region, near Banff. (For those keeping score at home, Glen Deveron isn't a distillery name, it is a trademarked name for product from Bacardi's Dewar & Sons run Macduff Distillery). This is a nice, easy drinking Highland whisky. It rates as good, but not GREAT, and is definitely worth tasting (I suppose that should be drinking) in my opinion. 

For fun, I drank a bit of this dram with no water and a freshly made milk chocolate covered caramel in my mouth. I was pleasantly surprised that the spice and apple melded nicely with the chocolate and caramel flavors, with the confection yielding to the whisky rather than overwhelming it.