Side by side: The Legends of Speyside trilogy

Rather than review drams by themselves I'm doing a little series comparing some 'side by side'.
There may be two or more, they may be from the same or different distilleries, similar ages, ABVs and types or not as I decide!

This time we are reviewing three different drams which make up the Legends Of Speyside Trilogy from @Glenfarclas - what difference is there?

I actually tasted these as part of a live tasting with @Coldorak from France - I've included some of his thoughts here too as a comparison. Paul @WhiskynStuff also joined in with a few comments as he'd tasted them before! #EveryPalateIsDifferent

There was some concern over whether these bottles all contained the same whisky or if they were different - there's no real explanation available...

Dram	Passion	Springs	Team
Characteristics	46% ABV, Non-coloured, NCF	46% ABV, Non-coloured, NCF	46% ABV, Non-coloured, NCF
Distillery info	The Legend of Speyside was a 6,000 set of 3 bottles from 2014 exclusively for the German market, they are still available online from a few UK retailers. It's a set of NAS ex-oloroso sherry cask whiskies to acknowledge the 'Legends' of the Glenfarclas distillery.
	Passion honours the family ownership. The label depicts chairman John Grant and his son George sharing a dram. Nose: sherry flavors, hints of oak, fruit cake Palate: complex in flavor, Sherry has the malt whiskey again to the fruity notes and some honey Finish: soft and fruity aftertaste	Springs honours the role of water in the production of whisky. Nose: sweet fruity sherry flavors, paired with some honey Palate: elegant round, again the fruity scents, with a light oak tones Finish: long finish with notes of ripe middle berries.	Team is a tribute to the team who make the whisky at the family-owned company. Nose: exotic, ripe fruit, the sweetness of Spanish sherry, some oak Palate: soft and round, fruity notes, even the sherry is again present, light oak tones Finish: Classic Glenfarclas with the fruitiness of sherry, plus some honey and again the oak
Our thoughts:
Appearance	A pale gold, swirls lead to slow thin legs	A nice gold colour too, a bit darker than white wine. Really few legs at first, they take a loooong time to start.	Team colour is darker than Passion and Springs, almost amber.
Nose	MM: a lovely nose, some apples, strawberries and a touch of icing sugar to start with. Maybe getting some milk chocolate too?  It's a gentle sherry note - I usually get strawberry jam! CO: sherry of course, and lots of fruits at first. A really sweet nose. I'd say a touch of citrus and figs. Then maybe a hint of toast. A really welcoming nose. After a while I would change the fruits almost to candy, and a gentle menthol maybe?	MM: Definitely a different nose on this one - getting the strawberry jam and honey sherry notes but there is also some caramel or toffee in here too. Some wet grass notes coming through the longer it's in the glass and that note of icing sugar is there again. CO: It feels a bit more sherried on the nose. There's some caramel as well as new leather. It's round, and yes, really different than Passion. I get something "sugar-ish" on the nose, I'd almost say a Cola lollipop my kids love.	MM: noses younger than the other two, a little rougher around the edges? But I'm sure they are all probably the same.  Again the sherry notes of strawberry jam and honey, there's no caramel on this one, the orange notes are there and a little damp hay and pears? CO: the nose takes longer to reveal itself than Passion and Springs. Honey appears at first with some fruits, maybe plums? I agree, Team noses rougher and lighter at first, it takes longer to open.
Palate	MM: it's very oily and mouth coating - quite sweet and a little drying - getting the sherry strawberry jam, milk chocolate and icing sugar from the nose but there is also some honey here too - yummy! A nice little note of spice on the tongue - not too strong - maybe ginger? CO: it's oily, good tongue coverage, and it feels a higher abv than what it is (46%). Sherry is here but it's not over the top. There are spices, I'd say pepper. A bit of... bitterness, like grapefruit...then some oak and nuts.	MM: Springs shares the same oiliness as the Passion, there's the strawberry jam, honey and milk chocolate but also some orange, but there is a big kick of spice, much more than the Passion. There's loads of orange notes. CO: I agree, lots of similarities, but spicier, a larger spiciness coating on the tongue than with Passion. Body feels the same, same oiliness.	MM: follows the rest with the oily notes on the tongue a little stewed fruit apples or pears with raisins covered in custard! Again a lot of spice - nice! CO: It tastes more sherry-ed at first, then a bit sweeter, then "sherrier" again. Oranges are here, with more wood than the others. First-fill sherry cask?
Finish	MM: more of the honey, strawberry jam and a spiciness to give a lovely warming feeling in the throat. Nice dram! CO: A little dryer, with mostly grapefruit. In the end, my take is that it's not a sherry bomb. Sherry is here but not aggressively, so I would guess a refill cask?	MM: quite warming - there's a little dryness, icing sugar, but not as much as the Passion. Lots of orange notes and maybe a hint of coffee? Another nice dram! CO: definitively a long finish, mostly on orange. No need for my glass of orange juice in the morning any more!	MM: finish on the Team is longer than the other two, a lot more oaky spiciness and more of the orange notes - nice dram! CO: a lot more oaky spiciness on the finish, with orange and grapefruit notes.
Overall	MM: For me they all shared similar notes of strawberry jam, honey, icing sugar and a hint of milk chocolate, the lovely oily mouthfeel and a touch of spiciness. I'd order them Springs, Team & Passion. It's been great evening of tasting - nice to share a dram with a new friend - even if hundreds of miles (kilometers) away. Your English is far better than my French! CO: To conclude, hard to decide which one I prefer. If I have to buy one and only one, I think it would be Springs. Or Passion? No I can't decide! Overall, it's another proof that we should not dismiss NAS whiskies: the age statement is not what makes a great whisky. Glenfarclas did an awesome job on the trilogy. It's hard for me to order them, but let's say Springs, Passion then Team. This has been a wonderful, full of learning experience, and I'm really grateful to Brian for this live tasting, and to Paul for the company and the spot-on comments. I'd be happy to do that again! WS: From what I remember, two of them were, sherried but not as strong, more oak taste to them with one being a little older than the other. Then one of them had more of a sherry influence to it. It does come to mind that they maybe all started out as 1st fills, 1 got 2nd fills added to it, 1 got 3rd fills added and 1 was just 1st fills. Or a ratio something like that. It seems to fit in roughly with how the notes have gone.