19/03/2021 Teeling

Teeling 21yo 1991/2014 (46%, Teeling Whiskey Co. Vintage Reserve Silver Bottling, Bourbon + Sauternes Casks, B#3, 5000b, b#2663): nose: deep and lush, it juggles with dunnage warehouse, yellow flowers (buttercups, daffodils), lukewarm Virginia tobacco and the promise of plump, juicy peach. It evolves and becomes even sweeter, over time; the peaches are well ripe, and they are served with a glass of Jurançon yellow wine. There is a pinch of ash, far back, fine grist, and possibly a whiff of mint or anise. It is not totally unlike a dinner with friends in the late 1970s-to-early-1980s in Western Europe, when women wore a hefty dose of perfume to cover the smell of cigarette, since everyone smoked indoors. Lychee, waxy mango and grated balsa wood complete the picture. It is hard not to be seduced! The second nose has antique cabinets, after a deep clean, or a larder, in which fresh fruits are kept next to butter or ghee. Mouth: meow, it is juicy and sweet. Lychee leaps out of the glass and shamelessly basks on the tongue. Yellow passion fruit watches from the side line, and mango weeps tears of juice on both. There are also notes of watercolour and crayons, honeysuckle from an aroma diffuser from the late-1970s and glorious peach. Virginia tobacco is almost an afterthought, at this point, yet it subsists, via a soft bitterness that is all but eclipsed by the mango tears. It feels remarkably spicy too, which keeps the whole lively and tickles the whole oral cavity. Finish: it packs a punch and brings back the tobacco, now. A lick of liquorice allsorts coats the mouth without being too dominant. Still, it gets the better of the fruit which, if still present, is now shrouded in a cloak of toasted flavours (anise, liquorice). That gives this finish a little bit of added complexity, yet it is perhaps less immediate as a result. Nonetheless, it is lovely. Fantastic drop, this. Maybe slightly less fruity that the first batch, but still a winner. 9/10 (Thanks for the dram, JS)