We continue our January exploration of all things non-Scots Single Malt Whisky.
Redbreast Lustau Edition (46%, OB, Oloroso Sherry-Seasoned Butts Finish, L722031303): nose: sweet, sweet Irish, choc-full of marzipan, candied cherries, and dusty mixed peel. It does not play many more than those three notes, but it does that well. Perhaps it has chewy tree bark, and a gentle spice mix (part galangal, part cassia bark, part gingerbread), and a whiff of timid rancio. It inexorably goes back to marzipan, dried cherries, and dusty mixed peel, though. Here is a nose that reminds me of Pogues', all in all. The second nose sees cedar-wood sheets and cinnamon sticks, which signify it is woodier, all of a sudden. There is even faint warm cigar ash, and either dark-pot-pourri pouches, or a dark fruit tea blend. Mouth: fresh and stripping, this is undeniably young, and drier than anticipated. Bitterer too. Stale cassia bark, cloves by the bucket, memories of peppermint, and cherry stems, more than any fruitiness. If looking for it, one may decipher traces of marzipan, barely recognisable, because so hardened. The second sip has some tannins, real or imagined, and remains dry, even drying. We have cracked cocoa beans, or dark-chocolate shavings, toasted cloves, and a drop of pressed elderberry or pressed, dried redcurrant. The more one sips this, the clearer the picture becomes of a fruit tea. Finish: pleasantly marzipan-y, it only takes a second to turn dry and bitter -- hardened marzipan, then. Retro-nasal olfaction offers a whisper of red-wine Schorle, though it is less tannic, now. Repeated quaffing adds dark chocolate, and the whole becomes a strange, wine-infused, dark-chocolate bite, sprinkled with ground cloves. That chocolate turns milkier, over time, augmenting a nice, deep-steep fruit tea. This is not bad, yet also nothing to rave about. 6/10 (Thanks for the dram, SL)
No comments:
Post a Comment