Black Bull 40-Year-Old (Batch 7) (70cl, 47.6%)

Black Bull 40 is the flagship of the Black Bull family, a blend of single malt and single grain whiskies aged from 40 to 51 years. Batch 7 is a small batch edition of 1,500 bottles. Single malts make up 86% of the blend, including Glenlivet, Macallan, Caperdonich, Highland Park and Bunnahabhain. The remaining 14% is single grain, among it Caledonian and Dumbarton. It is bottled at cask strength without chill filtration or added colour. The nose is sweet and sherried, with toffee apples, milk chocolate, grapefruit, mango, parma violets and dried bananas. The palate is smooth and gentle with lively fruit, then vanilla, toffee popcorn, fruit cake and a hint of hazelnut.