I was hungover on the 5th, hence the delay. Get over it.
Banff d.1974 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice, b. ca 1990): there is a version of this mini with the code IJ/AJA. This has no core. Not sure if the juice is the same. Nose: a warm, fuzzy combination of brine (Old Mini Effect -- OME) and pressed apricots. We have encaustic, oiled furniture, mild gherkins, lukewarm apricot jam with hardly any sugar in it. At some point, a vague metallic hue seems to emerge, even if it is tin knives, rather than anything more noble. Obviously, it is a knife that has been used to spread apricot jam onto Melba toast. That is right: the pickled, woody notes given by the OME turn into dry, toasted bread, over the space of a couple of minutes. It is now noticeably more cereal-y, with Horlicks and Ovaltine. Perhaps a dollop of engine grease rubs feathers with burnt pizza dough, at second nosing. Furniture oil resurfaces, later on. Mouth: it remains pickled on the palate, if not overly so: cucumber in brine and mild gherkins (not the sweet-and-sour kind, however) frolic with bold cereals and Melba toasts, overly-toasted crusty bread, malt, Weetabix and Horlicks. If there is any jam left, it is closer to shrivelled, unsweetened fruit than to juicy compote; apple slices so dried up that they have taken in some of the pips' taste -- yes: one could call that bitter. The second sip has a wave of fruit-tree-fire smoke, discreet, but distinctive. It is rather bold, for 40%, and the texture is thinnish, if clingy. Finish: at last, amongst the malty notes, a spoonful of jam re-appears, sweetening the finish somewhat. It is a very small spoon, though, and whatever sugar there is cannot really compete with the drying, desiccating cereals. A layer of ground white pepper rises, fine and ashy, and it takes control, over time, like sawdust will suffocate everything else, in the right amount. The long-lasting impression is that of a blend of fruit-tree-fire smoke and very-hard, overly-baked Biscotte (Melba toast). Next step: the water fountain! Probably the worst Banff I have had, which is not saying much, as all the others have been excellent. 6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment