Here to close out the month in booze reviews is another Speyside malt, and another bottled from a hogshead by Signatory for Binny’s in Chicago (see here for Monday’s Mortlach). Let’s get right to it.

Glenlossie 9, 2008 (59.2%; Signatory for Binny’s; hogshead 10520; from a bottle split)

Nose: A lovely fresh mix of honey, lemon, cereals, toasted oak and a bit of freshly cut grass. On the second sniff the lemon is joined by tart-sweet apple and some pineapple. As it sits, there’s sweeter fruit (peach). , A few drops of water and the peach expands, picking up some Korean pear.

Palate: Comes in as indicated by the nose but in a brighter, more acidic avatar. Hot but approachable at full strength; oily texture. The fruit gets sweeter here too with time. Continues in this tasty vein. Okay, let’s see what water does for it. It pushes the acid back a bit and emphasizes the sweeter fruit and the oak.

Finish: Long. The oak comes to the fore here, picking up some white pepper. Sweeter and fruitier here too with water but the oak is still the story here.

Comments: This is exactly the kind of high quality bourbon cask I used to rely on Binny’s cask program for back in the day. It’s not particularly complex—no surprise at 9 years of age—but it presents a lovely mix of fruit and oak and malt.

Rating: 87 points.