Tormore 1996 20 Year Cask Strength (Gordon & MacPhail)

I've just returned from the holy land of Whisky, Scotland. I had a mission and it was to reach my whisky review number 1000, and i started that journey with only 71 whiskies left to taste to achieve that goal. My first dram of the trip was a lovely Gordon & MacPhail bottling of one of those bottles you don't tend to find that often, a Tormore. To ve precise, a 20yo Tormore, Cask Strength at 57.4% abv, distilled in 1995 from a refill bourbon barrel. On the nose, quite beautiful. Lime and salt. Slight chocolate. Creamy; some hay and sulphur saltiness have risen. Metallic. Tequila light feeling. Very fruity, lemon, citric. Very aromatic. On the palate, it mantains a good offering. Toffee, lime and salt. Very nice, sweet dulce de leche, slightly sulphuric. A second sip was way lighter, still a chocolate note infused with salt. There is a ghostly lemon behind the chocolate. Aftertaste was a little straightforward, but still delicious. Toffee, metallic notes. Lemon, salty, chocolate, hay. Overall, this one was a nice opening for such a trip. I will be visiting a lot of distilleries in the mainland, and i will finally achieve my dream of going to Islay. This one is a fine, elegant single malt, worthy of 90 over 100 points in my books.