The below is the result of an unusual undertaking by the Malt Maniacs, who blended several (139, allegedly) different whiskies, then distilled the blend and put the spirit in a thirty-litre cask for a year before bottling it. Full story here.
The Big Bastard 1yo 2006/2007 Old Reserve (Quite) (53.9%, Semper Malt Maniacs, 30l Cask, 60b): it certainly starts odd. Glue. Yup. We have cardboard glue. Past that, this has a little flint and cut granite or marble, it is true, yet it is hard to see past the glue, so prominent it is. Slowly, a little smoke rises, the smouldering ashes of the flintknappers' campfire. Shortly thereafter, we find a mix of crushed glass and lichen of sorts, very dry. This is a little austere, really. The second nose is more generous, with polished furniture (chestnut tree), followed by the darkest earth in a freshly-ploughed field on fertile land. With water, the nose is much lighter, pushing forward fresh cereals and dried lemon zest. Mouth: bold and smoky to a point, it also presents quite a lot of acidic fruits. Oh! and it is pretty hot too: the front of the palate, right behind the incisors, takes a right beating, and one can feel the gums contract a bit. Once it is diluted with enough saliva, pineapple and tart apples slowly come up, followed by wafts of gentle smoke. The second sip is just as acidic, if less fruity, and adds an equal bitterness of rock dust. Chewing revives the fruits a little, but the strength prevents it becoming a joyride. Also, there is a spoonful of soot to compete. I clumsily add so much water that it turns into vase water. Drowned. D'oh! Finish: surprisingly enough, it feels almost reduced, soft, especially compared to the assault it was on the palate. The flavours are similar to what came before: sliced apples (Golden Delicious, here) dipped in silt, then smoked over a campfire. It is less mineral than on the nose, yet it retains a rocky touch all the same -- a lick of unpolished granite. Looking with intent, one may find peach stones, as well as torched sand and crispy algae via retro-nasal olfaction. The second sip is just as disconnected from the palate, from a strength or intensity perspective. We do get soot, now, chargrilled fruits, and a dose of scorched earth amidst the silt. To be fair, that silt is less boisterous, here. In the long run dry lichens and algae emerge from the bottom of a vase baked by the sun in a greenhouse. It remains bold even with (too much) water. It is now lemon zest fished out of a vase, completely covered in algae. Weird. A smoky, funky, boggy number that has stagnant water and what I imagine when I read about ancient marshland dwellings. Interesting. 7/10 (Thanks for the opportunity, 3_243F6)
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