Re the recent correspondence :
In the village where I live, in Scotland, 6 of us have a "malt whisk(e)y" club : we meet every couple of months for a blind tasting, usually of at least 3 bottles, have a bite to eat, then sit and sip and solve the world's problems for the rest of the evening.
We take turns to host it, and the host decides what we'll taste, usually according to a theme. In November it was my turn to host, and I decided to use "Cousins" as my theme, i.e., single malts that are not actually Scottish. I chose Green Spot, an Irish malt, Penderyn, a Welsh malt, and Milford from New Zealand. They were all quite light and Speyside-like in character, with Green Spot being the clear favourite, and with Milford putting up a good show, for its clean and refreshing character, whilst Penderyn was deemed least favoured by our group of wizened tasters ...
So, I'd recommend giving Milford a try ...
DOD