06/04/2026 Undisclosed Speyside

Speyside Region 44yo 1973/2017 (47.4%, East Village Whisky Company, Sherry Butt, 142b, b#125): we had this one a couple of times (here and here), but never on its own. Nose: smashed strawberries aplenty! Strawberries on Biscote, dried strawberries, strawberry coulis... Say! this could easily be seen as a one-hit-wonder. What a hit, though. Jelly follows and you will never guess what kind it is -- strawberry. Ha! It turns darker and more serious, with caramel coulis and a dash of liqueur (strawberry liqueur?), before pushing some kind of pink flowers reminiscent of cherry blossom. Then, we find boiled sweets and strawberry chewing gum mingling with beetroot peels, root-y and earthy as one would think. How original! There may be some raspberries in the middle as well. The second nose centres on woodier tones, with fruity-cinnamon-y yoghurt, papier mâché and pink edible paper. Strawberries do come back, of course, but more fleetingly. Mouth: gorgeously fruity, it has more of the strawberry avalanche -- smashed, in a coulis, jellied... All are here. The texture is silky and creamy until one chews, at which point, it comes across as pure fruit juice (berries, you guessed it), perhaps augmented with a drop of nail varnish and a slice of banana. Come to think of it, it has Haribo Bananas, soft, sweet and made a tad acidic by a sprinkle of sherbet.. Retro-nasal olfaction detects the most-minute woodiness, with cinnamon bark and mixed peel past its prime. The second sip is a little bitter: satsuma peels and a delicate ginger paste to complement the strawberry parade. It becomes chewy too, like an orange-and-strawberry-flavoured papier mâché. Finish: surprisingly full and assertive for the ABV, it rolls out the strawberry-coloured carpet: smashed strawberries on Biscote, strawberry jelly, but also dried pineapple rings and mango slices, as well as a lovely vanilla custard in which all those are blended. The second gulp brings us a satsuma-flavoured yoghurt, which is quite a departure from before. Acidic and a trifle bitter, sprinkled with mango powder, yet it remains creamy. In fact, it dies with a breath of fresh, if not overly-juicy, mango. Wow. Simple-ish, but efficient. 9/10 (Thanks for the dram, OB)