Equipo Navazos La Bota 88 Whisky De Malta, Overseas

Equipo Navazos La Bota 88 is a Scottish single malt aged in a Jerez sherry cask.

The word standing in for a distillery name on this label is Overseas, and Navazos will say only that the source is a prestigious Scottish distillery; the identity has never been made public and probably never will be. The spirit is reckoned to be around twelve years old, the last seven passed in one cask taken from a solera of very old dry Oloroso, the same treatment given to the Bota 89 grain whisky. Bottled in 2018 at 46 per cent. A Scottish malt finishing its life in an Andalusian bodega is a strange route, and the results justify it.

Poached pear, roasted malt, coffee bean and crème brûlée on the nose, then a sweet, intensely fruited palate with florals, butterscotch and a good seam of peat smoke, closing on wild honey and iodine. At 46 per cent it takes a drop of water happily. Neat, no ice.