Is it today? No, it was on Tuesday, the 27th. Well, today seems like the right day to try this bad boy. Hard to accept that the latest time we celebrated Fèis Ìle was five years ago, when the real event did not happen.
Laphroaig 31yo 1966/1997 (49.6%, Signatory Vintage Dun Eideann bottled for and imported by Divo, C#1095, 280b, b#226): curious how both Dun Eideann and Signatory appear on the label (the latter on the back), seeing as Symington uses Dun Eideann for markets where Signatory cannot go. Nose: o-o-f-t! Even though it is far from boisterous, it is immediately recognisable as a great drop. It emits scents of mosses and moist peat, bogland and fruits, such as wild raspberries and blueberries, but also melon and papaya. It is easy to detect a clear note of smoke, grey and acrid, yet that is fairly subtle. In 1966, Laphroaig was importing malt from the mainland to complement what they were malting on site, and their supplier(s) never managed to hit the same specs as the distillery. That is likely why this and other expressions from that era are much less in-your-face than similarly-aged expressions released today, that were made with malt from Port Ellen. The longer it sits in the glass, the ashier it becomes -- and the more tropical too! Indeed, the berries become kumquat, dragon fruit and chikoo, Korean pear and persimmon, the juices of which somehow ended up in an ashtray, blended with a dash of vase water. One could say that is the bogland from earlier, taken to the next level. The second nose seems more straightforward, with benches made out of orchard-tree wood, and the carpenter's workshop in which he smokes. Then, unannounced, a bowl of fruits comes back, some fresh, some roasted, some honey-glazed, some sprinkled with ash. Deeper nosing turns those fruits a glossy scarlet, similar to a cherry about to pop, or candied apples, almost heady. That also adds a whiff of cordite, which is unexpected. Later yet, we even spot a note of waxy plasticine. Mouth: ooft! again. Without being strong in alcohol, this somehow feels burning. That does not mean it lights a fire on the tongue; more that it is like having embers in the mouth. Ashy, smoky to an extent (with zero acridity, mind), yet also very, very fruity. Raspberries, blueberries, Korean pears, roasted snakehead fruit and dragon fruit, chargrilled lychee, and the minutest drop of pineapple juice. Chewing stirs up some more smoke, which is now darker than on the nose (no pope, then). All that makes it easy to miss a discreet resurgence of vase water. The second sip is more acrid and acidic. It briefly shows brine from a jar of pickled lemons. Even minor chewing takes us back to the fruity uplands, with ashy Korean pear or guava, carambola with a veneer of lichen, and tamarind -- phwoar! Later on, there is a dollop of tame violet-flavoured candy paste, as if such a thing came out of a tube. Finish: elegant and rustic at the same time, this is a finish worthy of a black-tie shindig in a barn. On the tables are bowls full of berries and tropical fruits, while a fire in the hearth is roasting other tropical fruits, and the smoke from it is slowly impregnating the wooden chairs and tables. We have women in evening dresses wearing chic perfume, and men in dinner jackets gathered around ashtrays. The whole atmosphere is smokier and smokier, if still refined, yet that does not eradicate the gorgeous fruits. The second gulp sees a partially-burnt mahogany cabinet, orchard-tree-wood planks also partly consumed by flames, a pinch of white ashes, and subtle fruit. Now, we are talking about peach, persimmon, perhaps apricot. Once more, some are fresh, some are chargrilled, some are roasted, most are juicy. In the long run, bogland and mossy moor join the party -- a moor that would have been scorched, then subjected to rain for several days, and is consequently gorged. Masterpiece. 10/10 (Thanks for the sample, CD)
Happy birthday, PS!
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