A mystery dram ... what is it?

Here is the third installment in our occasional 'mystery dram' series. Our idea is that we write tasting notes for a whisky and then ask you to try and guess what the whisky in question may be. This can be done by clicking on the 'comments' section at the bottom of this post once you have read the notes, following the instructions and leaving us your guess/answer.

The answer will be revealed on Wednesday when we will post a full review of the whisky in question. This will incorporate these tasting notes, information about the whisky and also include our regular dose of distillery history and facts. There are no prizes for guessing correctly but correct answers will be mentioned in the final article, so please leave your name! We aim to set a new 'mystery dram' challenge roughly once a month in the future, so good luck!

The colour of the 'mystery dram' is golden with a slight amber tint. The nose is clean and fresh with a combination of interesting aromas - a lot of vanilla and cereal grains mixed with a distinct nuttiness (think of almonds and coconuts especially), some grassiness (imagine dried grasses or hay) and a hint of dried fruits and spice (think of sultanas and nutmeg). On the palate, this is smooth, clean and delicate with a creamy, almost soapy feeling in the mouth. It is very malty (those cereal grains again) and full of lovely vanilla and the almond/coconut nuttiness from the nose. This is in addition to another sweet element (think of toffee or butterscotch) and this is balanced with a herbal note (that dried grass again) and some woody spice (imagine nutmeg and cinnamon). The finish is of reasonable length, soft and bittersweet. It begins sweetly with vanilla and a hint of sherry cask influenced dried fruits (especially sultanas and candied lemon peel) before turning drier with the oaky woodiness and herbal grassiness prominent.

There is only one clue for this lovely well regarded single malt - it is not from Scotland.