22/12/2017 Two Cameronbridge a quarter of a century apart

Cameronbridge 30yo 1954/1985 (46%, Cadenhead, Sherry Wood): nose: immediately, it is noble wood aplenty. Teak cabinets, mahogany chests of drawers, teak oil, wood varnish, resin. Then, some fruit makes it through: blood-orange peels, drying away in a warm room. It is woody, but not spicy; more sap-like. It reeks of sophistication, like an artisan carpenter's workshop. Brazil nuts appear, oily and generous, with rapeseed oil, fresh tobacco, and more fruit: squashed banana, orange, coated in chocolate, stewed rhubarb, Christmas cake... Wow! This nose has so much happening! Several minutes in, strong wood glue shows up, puffed-rice cakes and banana-bread crust. Mouth: roasting beans (coffee or cocoa), a touch of warm earth, ground hazelnuts and that refined woody tone, still (teak oil, wood varnish), orange rinds in a pot-pourri, cocoa butter, crystallised oranges, raspberry-flavoured boiled sweets, dried tangerine segments... this even has candied pineapple cubes. In the background, the teak notes remind you they are there. A mulled-wine spice mix in custard and caramelised honey. It works! Finish: woah! Long, comforting, it has a good balance of wood and fruit, again, with teak and mahogany, as well as crystallised orange and pineapple. It seems a little drying, for a second, just enough to realise how mellow and fruity it really is, rather than dry. Mince pie, dried apricots, Smyrna raisins, a dollop of custard and caramelised honey again. It is always nice to try something from another era, and this is no exception. Cracking dram, although the score might be a little emotional. 9/10 (Thanks for the sample, OB)

G4.1 29yo 1979/2008 Mellow menthol (53%, SMWS Society Cask): an old friend, this, and the star of many a session. Time to give it the attention it deserves. Similar age, but distilled as the previous was reaching its bottling date. Nose: much less fruity, at first nosing. The wood is there, though it is much drier wood. Then it opens up and bears an obvious affiliation to the Cadenhead offering. Cocoa powder and cocoa butter, wood varnish, wood glue, crumbly brownie, chocolate pudding, sticky toffee pudding, high-chocolate-content pralines, crushed almonds. Not so much fruit, and little of the advertised menthol, but then I am not very sensitive to that. Much, much later on, cooked potatoes seem to appear, too, softly sweetened. Mouth: mellow, custard-y and, yes, mildly mentholated. The ABV is perfectly controlled, as is the wood. Sure, there are spices (pepper and nutmeg), but nothing invading. Milk chocolate, sandalwood, fudge, cloves, cinnamon, bird houses, recently glued together and scented pencil eraser. Finish: mentholated chocolate, dried lime segments, Chinese gooseberry, milk-chocolate coulis, pineapple drops, mixed peel. Interesting that the finish is now pretty fruity indeed, despite the start being noticeably less so than the first dram. Pear drops, even lemonade, perhaps, though the whole is hidden behind that mentholated chocolate. In fact, could it be a crossing between a mojito and a gin & tonic, augmented with crushed After Eight? That would not be too far off, though it has wood, naturally. Excellent drop, this. It will be missed. 9/10 (Thanks again, PS)