In all likelihood, this will be my last article of 2022.
Brechin 33yo 1970/2003 (52.4%, Douglas Laing The Old & Rare Platinum Selection, 479b): nose: such depth! All at once, we have old marzipan, lichen on fruit tree, dusty cardboard, dried apricots, melon-flavoured Gummibärchen, burnt wood in brine, and honey-glazed thyme branches and rosemary sprigs, caramelising in a pan. Next are Nic Nacs (which is to say biscuit and hard meringue), rancio and hawthorn. Yes, this nose turns botanical -- not as much as, say, Tullamore, yet it is certainly going the same way. Lastly, a whiff of oilskin caresses the nostrils. Is that sea breeze, on the second nose? It seems unlikely, but it is a little briny... Dry oyster shells? A pouch of Virginia tobacco? Fascinating stuff! Much later on, a gentle hand soap shows up, delicate and pleasant. With water, the nose produces warm jam (plum, apricot), and a discreet metallic touch. Mind you, I also envision those white-and orange (vintage French) Tupperware bottles and lunch boxes from the 1980s. Further nosing seems to add pan-fried earthy mushrooms to the mix, if for a second only. Mouth: acidic and assertive, it has a spoonful of apple-cider vinegar and mandarine peels staring at a dollop of wax take a bath in apple-and-lime juice. The second sip clings to the teeth like unsoftened water in a large European city (ever noticed the water is always harder in large cities?) The sides of the mouth pick up greengage -- not just the flesh, but the stone too. It turns juicy, after a minute, which is much more agreeable than the afore-mentioned limescale. We find ourselves fishing greengages out of the juice with green rubber gloves. Far from taming it, water seems to render the whisky more potent on the palate, with red-paprika powder sprinkled on juicy plums. Finish: unassuming, but actually very long and warming. It has a lick of faded leather, here, more apples (well ripe, this time), the dusty marzipan from the nose, and chunky wax beads floating in juice that may well be greengage again. There is a dusty dryness to it, a minute after the second sip, one that hints at dunnage warehouse. Each sip seems sweeter and fruitier than the previous, with greengage a definite staple. There may be a drop of mandarine juice too, but that is more subdued. The arrival is more explosive with water -- a short-lived explosion that peters out suddenly. It rises from the dead to warm the gob, though, brings back warm jam or compote, and adds stewed mandarine slices, and a pinch of herbs (rosemary, hawthorn). Simply excellent. 9/10 (Thanks for the dram, JS)
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