We had this seven years ago. Time to revisit it and spend more time with it.
Glenugie d.1980 (58.1%, Cadenhead, C#3657, b#170): nose: just pouring it fills the room with a thick, savoury smell, red miso paste or Marmite. It is also game-y, with cured venison in a wine sauce. Inhaling closely reveals a layer of fruits, currants and prunes soaked in a wine-and-OXO-broth blend, concealed under a veil of flor. Yet it is also earthy, dry potting soil and squashed elderberries. One gets the impression of Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso blended together, which is complex, and intriguing. A little further on, we spot caramelised red onions fried in butter, and pearl onions, those are nowhere near as dominant as I remembered them, which I find a good thing. Blueberries join the jig, blackcurrant jelly, purple ink, and a musky tone, which is hardly a surprise, with this colour. Both red onions and earth grow in intensity, the latter becoming more limescale-like and drier with each sniff. The afore-mentioned fruits never allow the whole to be too austere, mind; the spray some sort of cordial at regular interval to dampen the onion-y earthiness. The second nose has rancio, dunnage-warehouse floor, then barbecue sauce, raisins sizzling in a pan, with a dash of water and a drizzle of olive oil. It goes from earthy to fruity and back again effortlessly, even introducing purple marshmallow to red onions for a playful dialogue. Mouth: it is very dry, for a second, then suddenly turns juicy, with blackcurrant and blueberry, elderberry and prune, yet also blood orange and red grapefruit. Wide, acidic, chewy, this is a delight, really! Of the red onions, only the caramelised juices remain, sweet and syrupy. On the other hand, we note the appearance of generously-sugared milk coffee to augment the above fruits. The second sip is still juicy as fook, perhaps sweeter too, oranges and grapefruits now in fruit-jelly form, chewy, sweet, and mouth watering. The imaginative taster may find a note of conifer too: fresh, springy pine cones, and sappy resin, more than acidic needles. Earlier, the earthy touch hinted at a pine-forest floor, dry and acidic. Now, it is all sweetness and fruits, with mere hints of pine trees. Finish: warming comforting, strangely mild, for this high ABV. Milk coffee with lots of sugar, prune syrup, pressed currants and raisins, candied blush-orange slices, elderberry soaked in wine -- in Patras wine, maybe. Repeated sipping does not change the profile drastically: it keeps an earthy side, limited to milk coffee, and kindly unwraps sweet fruits, candied and plump -- raisins, elderberries, plums, alongside blood oranges and red grapefruit segments, all so sweetened there is hardly any acidity in them. A gentle earthiness resurfaces over time, a mocha chocolate coulis to pour on fruits, a chococino and even hints of liquorice roots. The more one quaffs it, the clearer the fruits. In the end, the acidity of that citrus pokes the taste buds a little -- just a little. I find this extraordinary, today, even though it is more a great Sherry cask than a Glenugie. It is comforting, despite its huge complexity, and fruity, despite a definite earthiness. 10/10 (Thanks for the sample, DH)
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