Hard to believe it is the first trip to SMWS in more than seven months. It feels like a couple of weeks. The fact that PS and Dr. CD are there, soon joined by GK, increases that perception. Of course, they might as well live there -- they are always there. :-)
Social distancing, masks etc. are in place for everyone's comfort and safety.
Immediately, a reality check reminds me why we do not come here as often as we used to: the most interesting bottles this month, a 28yo Glen Ord and a 29yo Balblair, cost respectively £240 and £270 by the bottle. For the flight of five that comes along with the cheeseboard, they both count as two drams. In other words: the flight of five is, in fact, a flight of three, if one wants to try those two. To think not a decade ago, a 39yo Glen Moray would cost £250 and count as one dram... How the times have changed!
Enough useless nostalgia.
77.65 28yo 1992/2020 Pure dead brilliant (49.3%, SMWS Society Cask, 2nd Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 160b): nose: distant cereal, almost completely drowned in a sea of hand wash and hand moisturiser. Buttercups and daffodils team up with a touch of honeysuckle and growing citrus (ripe lemon, calamansi and pineapple peel). Mouth: flowery, it is also sharp on the palate, with the acidity of lemon zest. In fact, it shortly turns a bit sweeter, with calamansi and chamomile tea. Pineapple weed becomes more discernible, which looks like chamomile. Narcissus and buttercups reappear, as well as confectionery sugar, powdered onto cut apricots. Finish: all the above are coated in a thin layer of milk chocolate. Pineapple weed comes through most clearly, with calamansi in its shadow, a little. 8/10
51.18 18yo d.2001 There's something about Enya (54.8%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 165b): aside from those 1988--1992 anonymous Irish offerings, one does not get to try a middle-aged, independently-bottled Bushmills very often. It is still a novel thing. Nose: flowery, flowery, flowery. Fragrant, it has orchids, lilac, cherry blossom, honeysuckle... and a lot of horsepower. And then: boom! It changes to deliver boiled sweets by the wheelbarrow: blackcurrant drops, blueberry drops and, finally, orange drops. Mouth: as soft on the tongue as it was hot on the nose. Moisturising cream, orange pulp, flower sap (honeysuckle), peach skin and talcum powder. It initially feels almost watery, yet it builds up a presence, given some time. Finish: mellow again, it showcases more peach and honeysuckle, soft icing sugar. This is juicy, mellow and very good. 8/10
70.41 29yo d.1990 Orchard beehives (49.5%, SMWS Society Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 165b): nose: salami in the making, hanging to dry and cure, old blotting paper, old bookshelves, then ink appears too, as well as a drop of watercolour. Faded jerky and sweet-paprika powder. Mouth: a little thin, at first, with diluted blackberry juice and delicate (watery) jam, a faint metallic whisper and a pinch of earth. Everything is tame and subtle, on this palate. Finish: the finish is big, on the other hand, with boisterous blackberry jam, blueberry muffin, and a lick of the knife that cut the muffins. It warms me up quite nicely -- a bonus in this piss-y weather. 8/10
66.177 14yo d.2006 Gummidge vs Pugwash (59.6%, SMWS Society Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 275b): nose: typical Ardmore peat, soggy and farm-y, it also has beef jerky around a wet camp fire, shallow-fried seaweed and nori (dried-seaweed sheets). Despite the jerky, this is very much a vegetal dram, so far. Mouth: sweeter than expected, it has seaweed biscuits and vegetables on a peat-fuelled barbecue. A strange combination, really. Chilled-up jam on sweetmeal crackers. Finish: similar mix of vegetal peat, roasting in the fireplace and biscuit sweetness. Further, it is mango chutney and nigella seeds on sweetmeal crackers. 8/10
The rain has ceased. It seems like a good time to move on. Although the journey here was dry, the rest of the day has been fairly wet, altogether. Good bye GK, good bye Dr. CD, good bye PS.
tOMoH: "Which Dumbarton?"
PS: "The Dumbarton that is behind the bar."
tOMoH: "Yours?"
PS: "No, from the previous outturn."
tOMoH: "Dumbarton or Inverleven?"
PS: "Dumbarton. [to the staff] A glass of Dumbarton, please!"
G14.7 33yo d.1986 A fabulous fusion (42.6%, SMWS Society Cask, Finished in 1st Fill ex-Moscatel Hogshead, 112b): an unusual cask in the best of cases, but for a grain? Unheard of. Nose: fruity and gently chemical (JS finds it swimming-pool chemical). Plum tart, baked mirabelle plums, greengages and melted toffee, and straw huts, heated by the sun. Mouth: juicy, it has the plum-y fruitiness from the nose, and some wine, too -- vin jaune du Jura, to be precise. Finish: Maitrank, Cognac, plums, mirabelle turnovers. This is so sweet and so interesting! Water does not change it much. Tomorrow, I will have a headache, but today, I am a believer. Dram of the day. 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, PS)
This time, we are off.
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