I’m always intrigued by specialist languages – the ‘sub-languages’ from particular fields that are ‘English, Jim – but not as we know it’…

Many are simply incomprehensible. Specialist scientific or hardcore hobbyist, using vocabulary that’s half-recognisable and rather less interpretable. Many others are sort of semi-coherent…you can almost get what they’re driving at, and yet…

“All the oak in the equation is much more apparent on the entry, which is an odd, muddled mix of flavors with vanilla, caramel, honey, peat, oak, blackberry, peanut, ginger, salt, and pepper all there from the start. There’s absolutely no real integration here, no sequencing of flavors, no balance – you just get it all, at once, a complete cacophony. The midpalate sees an increase of peat, oak, black pepper, and ginger spice. The midpalate still suffers from poor integration of flavors but it’s slightly less messy than the entry. The finish is fairly long and slightly dry with black pepper and peat lingering on the palate. It’s in the finish that the younger malt shows itself with some heat and dryness, but even with all the wood in the mix, the finish isn’t painfully dry.”

Even without over-indulging in the single malt in question, I for one find it quite hard to get a clear feel for what I could expect from a dram. I rather like it tho’…in a sort of rather bleary but amiably enthusiastic sort of way. Quite appropriate in a way, I guess.