1st February 2010

Dear Customers,
To kick off 2010 we have ten (10) new PROVENANCE bottlings this month, which we hope will be attractive to you.

The PROVENANCE Tasting Notes follow:

PRV 0594 Glentauchers 9 Year Old Sherry Finished
Opens fresh then dry smoke and charred wood appear on the nose. The palate is remarkably smoked, spicy, then charred wood returns reminiscent of an open fire carrying a sweet toffee’d character. The finish is long and sweet, more smoke with orange bitters lingering. (J)

PRV 0607 Knockando 9 Year Old Sherry Matured
Distinctly toffee’d on the nose with caramel butter cream and develops a milk chocolate character. The palate is round and rich with a balance of caramel and spices. The finish is medium long, still attractively spiced and carries a sweet orange tang. (J)

PRV 0600 Glengoyne 10 Year Old
The nose opens fresh with macerated oranges and barley sugar and develops to a freshly baked cookie quality. The palate is elegant with a creamy vanilla sweetness. The finish is light and pleasant and runs to a drier character. (J)

PRV 0602 Blair Athol 10 Year Old Sherry
The nose opens fresh with an orange pith character and develops to a nutty style with barley sugar and poached, spicy peaches. The palate is rich and mouth coating and carries to a caramel and honey quality. The long finish is fresh with a lingering spiciness. (J)

PRV 0598 Highland Park 11 Year Old
Fresh and clean on the nose, it carries to an attractively spiced, sweet stewed fruit character. A spicy style continues on the palate with a peppery, ginger quality and then a light smokiness appears. The finish is long with dark chocolate and gentle smoke. (J)

PRV 0610 Glenrothes 11 Year Old
On the nose detect the whisky warehouse smell of grist, dry oak and even some maple syrup. Palatewise – sweet toffee opens with liquorice lingering, then some honey. The finish is warmingly spiced with a clove and camphor, Fishermans Friend type warmth. (F)

PRV 0606 Balmenach 11 Year Old
On the nose flowers and fresh fruit appear and run to sweet and delicate spices, in a fruit tea style. The palate remains sweet with macerated white fruit, stewed apples and carries to an aniseed character. The finish is light with a fresh orange tang. (J)

PRV 0608 Macallan 12 Year Old
The nose is light and fresh with the sweet scent of fermenting fruit. The palate is attractively sweet and spicy and carries to an exotic fruit character (ripe mango) character. Still sweet on the finish it runs to caramelized nuts and dark chocolate. (J)

PRV 0596 Caol Ila 12 Year Old
The nose is initially sweet in style and develops to a seaside, harbor quality with ash and creosote. The palate is massively peated runs to sweet ashes, soft tar and liquorice. The finish is long and carries to damp ashes, cloves with sweet smoke lingering (J)

PRV 0599 Port Ellen 26 Year Old Sherry Matured
The nose opens with leather, runs to caramelised peanuts on a coal fire and develops to a burnt chestnut quality. The palate opens with a spicy sweet sherry influence from the cask but quickly transforms to rich warming peat smoke. The finish is long, still spicy and carries to sweet tar and bonfire ashes. (J)

We hope you will enjoy these Malts, as much as we have enjoyed tasting them.

All best wishes for 2010!
Yours faithfully
Fred Laing

Visit Douglas Laing & Co at http://www.douglaslaingwhisky.com/