Side by side: Two from Skene

A pair of drams from the same indie bottler arrived via a blind sample swap.

@SkeneWhisky isn't a name I'd heard of before - let's see what their whisky is like!

Founded by Andrew Skene, this indie bottles a range of blended Highland Malt under the Black Tartan label as well as single malt bottlings, some in their Reserve range are 20+ years old, their story comes from:

A Wolf, a Weapon & Whisky 

In Legend, it is written that the younger son of the Robertson Chief of Struan saved the life of the King from a savage wolf using only his sgian-dubh.

The King gifted him with land in Aberdeenshire which he named Sgian, or Skene, in honour of the weapon. The family thereafter took the name of the land.

In the early 1800s the same land became infamous throughout Scotland as the route for smugglers, and their clandestine transportation of whisky from the Highland Distilleries to the lowlands.

As a result, the name Skene has been inextricably linked with whisky for two centuries and we continue that proud tradition today.

Let's see what their whisky is like:

Dram	Braeval 2014 (6yo) Single Cask #9900153	Bunnahabhain 2013 (7yo) Casks #878 & 879
Characteristics	50% ABV NCF, Natural colour American Oak 327 bottles	48% ABV NCF, Natural colour Hogsheads 504 Bottles
Bottler notes	Nose: Marzipan, brown sugar, sweet pastries, sweet honey Taste: Pear drops, grapes and banana. But also savoury, spicy notes Finish: Long finish. Salt, pepper, curry. Warming and tongue tingling	Nose: Woodland bonfire smoke Taste: Burning peat with wood smoke and oak Finish: Long & smoky
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Very pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, take an age to bead up and fall as slow thin legs.	Very pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, take an age to bead up forming an inverted crown before falling as slow thin legs.
Nose	Orchard fruit, brown sugar, honey - typical Speyside ex-bourbon fare. Pears, apples and peaches lead the way, there is some sweetness and hints of spice.	Gentle peat smoke, BBQ steak and a little salinity. There's pine notes and a hint of fresh cut grass.
Palate	Sweet mouth coating arrival, a little orchard fruit, honey and sugar followed by a nice bite of peppery spice. The apples and pears from the nose are back, there is some Battenberg cake notes, a little drying salinity and a lingering peppery spice on the tongue.	Thick smoky arrival, a little dry, a little sweet - everything the nose promised! There's some orchard fruit hints, a seashore salinity and some honey giving way to dry smoke and citrus zest.
Finish	Lingering peppery spice.	Lingering peppery spice, citrus and dry smoke.
Overall	These bottles are available from Skene at £35 and £42 respectively, very well priced for single and dual cask releases at this kind of ABV. They are both young but that doesn't really show, maybe a lack of complexity, but both nice easy sippers. I think the Bunna (or should that be Staoisha as it's peated?) wins for me, peat smoke winning over orchard fruit. At this price it's worth getting some and trying them - let me know what you think!

Many thanks to Whisky Shorts @DramofWar for the drams!