It started
here. Yes, there was a break.
Strathisla 40yo 1967/2008 (48.6%, Duncan Taylor Rare Auld, C#2716, 160b, b#96, 107 08/113): nose: the woodiest of the lot, so far, with polished oak, chocolate, fudge, Brazil-nut butter, linseed oil and antique furniture. A minute in, the nose whispers of an old engine, with engine oil, petrol and oxidised metal. Further on, one can find toned-down coffee grounds, stale Virginia tobacco, hay bales in the sun, fresh-but-dry peat, salty sea sand, spent fireworks and a dash of strawberry coulis. Wow! Funny how this one has an almost medicinal side, alternating with wood and even fruit. The second nosing brings forth lemon marmalade, balsa-wood shavings, yeast, iron tonic, allspice and incense. Mouth: good balance on the palate, it has caramelised honey, white pepper on peach slices, gun metal, the bitterness of marmalade -- actually, it is so acidic that it must be be
lemon marmalade, -- ginger powder, ground cardamom, clove, allspice, ... This is rather spicy! Sandalwood, incense ash, tonic water, cucumber skins.This is as original as it is unexpected, really. Finish: the fruit returns in the finish, subtle, but present alright, with peach slices and strawberry coulis. Neither dominates, however: ground white pepper is louder than the fruit, as are the woody notes -- cigar boxes, cedar-wood sheets, ground, dried orange peels. Somewhat later, the fudge comes back, augmented with a coulis of bitter, dark chocolate, poured alongside a cup of coffee. What a corker! 9/10
The BenRiach 40yo 1975/2016 (53%, OB Limited Release, Sherry Butt, C#7028, 511b, b#101): nose: let us see... A splendid combination of precious and tropical woods (teak, mahogany, acacia, ebony, even), farm-y peat, and a jam made of the darkest cranberries and cherries known to mankind. Blackcurrant liqueur, Madeira wine, Patras wine, gravy, but also freshly-ploughed fields, oily earth, bog myrtle and blackberry cordial. The nose grows earthier and earthier, with the wood and fruit sharing the back seat... until they come back in force. Wood polish, lacquered coffee tables, Kluwak-nut oil and rawon (an Indonesian beef black soup, though this is not meaty). Much later, candied grapefruit and pomelo walk in too. Mouth: very mellow and pillow-y, despite the significant ABV shift. The palate displays prunes in juice, sangria-soaked fruits (oranges, peach slices, plums), a pinch of greasy earth and polished dashboards (Bentley dashboards, no less). The second sip has more prominent smoke, exotic smoke, to be precise (fruit trees, burning in the hearth), a bonfire made of cherry tree and pear tree, yet also peach nectar, drops of mango juice, prune juice and memories of a picnic: a fruit basket on a blanket in the midst of a ploughed field. Finish: ha! ha! This delivers the goods! :-) First comes prune, then peat, then tropical fruit, then wood. Let us try and do this in the right order. Prunes in juice, soaked sultanas, Irish-stew sauce (without the meat), coal, incense ashes, burning cinnamon sticks, then mango, jackfruit and roasted pineapple, before it settles on varnished armchairs and lacquered desks -- with a soft-leather desk blotter. Yes, a bit of peat, a bit of wood and a bit of fruit, wrapped up in just the right amount of alcohol. This is as noble as it gets, and pretty much flawless, though I find it less tropical-fruity than the first couple of times. 10/10
Springbank 40yo 1969/2009 (54.4%, Signatory Vintage Casks Strength Collection Rare Reserve, Refill Sherry Butt, C#263, 356b, b#244, 09/471): nose: as
in June, I am baffled by the freshness of this baby! A stroll in a vineyard, pressed grapes, fresh ink, blackberry, blackcurrant. Then, suddenly, it takes an unexpected turn and goes all old school on your arse, with boiler-room smoke,
old ink on parchment, cardboard, bung cloth, clay floor and faint dunnage warehouse -- faint in that the thick walls and clay floors are there, the soaked staves, not so much. Roasted nuts, nut-and-liqueur pralines, oil paint... It is very oily, when I think about it. This nose is so complex, so rich, and it evolves so much! Dried fruits storm the scene, soaked in warm water -- prunes, sultanas, Smyrna, cranberries. Finally, a fleeting touch of rubber completes the picture. Mouth: fresh, almost leafy, it has green tomatoes, flowering currants, apple drops and violet foliage, before morphing into a fruity number (blood orange, marmalade, caramelised hazelnut, roasted chestnut, berries aplenty) with an entertaining touch of cooked beetroot, chocolate-coated raspberry, warm bakelite, hot sticky toffee pudding with warm berry coulis, Pedro Ximénez sherry, sweet and sticky, mince pie (topical, I guess: it is Christmas; after all), figs, and still that wood-varnish note in the back. Finish: rhaaaaaa! How is this possible? The perfect and absolute integration of earth, gentle smoke, nuts, berries and subtle furniture polish. It has squashed, wild strawberries on toast, Seville-orange marmalade, piping-hot apricot compote, a pinch of spices (white pepper and ground ginger, mostly, but also ground lemongrass), chocolate and peach juice, distant cork, a minute dose of liquorice, rowanberry, elderberry, squashed dark cherry, all sorts of fortified wines, incense ashes and, well, happiness, in a nutshell. Exceptional dram, this! 10/10
Strathisla 40yo 1967/2008 (48.6%, Duncan Taylor Rare Auld, C#2716, 160b, b#96, 107 08/113): nose: the woodiest of the lot, so far, with polished oak, chocolate, fudge, Brazil-nut butter, linseed oil and antique furniture. A minute in, the nose whispers of an old engine, with engine oil, petrol and oxidised metal. Further on, one can find toned-down coffee grounds, stale Virginia tobacco, hay bales in the sun, fresh-but-dry peat, salty sea sand, spent fireworks and a dash of strawberry coulis. Wow! Funny how this one has an almost medicinal side, alternating with wood and even fruit. The second nosing brings forth lemon marmalade, balsa-wood shavings, yeast, iron tonic, allspice and incense. Mouth: good balance on the palate, it has caramelised honey, white pepper on peach slices, gun metal, the bitterness of marmalade -- actually, it is so acidic that it must be be lemon marmalade, -- ginger powder, ground cardamom, clove, allspice, ... This is rather spicy! Sandalwood, incense ash, tonic water, cucumber skins.This is as original as it is unexpected, really. Finish: the fruit returns in the finish, subtle, but present alright, with peach slices and strawberry coulis. Neither dominates, however: ground white pepper is louder than the fruit, as are the woody notes -- cigar boxes, cedar-wood sheets, ground, dried orange peels. Somewhat later, the fudge comes back, augmented with a coulis of bitter, dark chocolate, poured alongside a cup of coffee. What a corker! 9/10
The BenRiach 40yo 1975/2016 (53%, OB Limited Release, Sherry Butt, C#7028, 511b, b#101): nose: let us see... A splendid combination of precious and tropical woods (teak, mahogany, acacia, ebony, even), farm-y peat, and a jam made of the darkest cranberries and cherries known to mankind. Blackcurrant liqueur, Madeira wine, Patras wine, gravy, but also freshly-ploughed fields, oily earth, bog myrtle and blackberry cordial. The nose grows earthier and earthier, with the wood and fruit sharing the back seat... until they come back in force. Wood polish, lacquered coffee tables, Kluwak-nut oil and rawon (an Indonesian beef black soup, though this is not meaty). Much later, candied grapefruit and pomelo walk in too. Mouth: very mellow and pillow-y, despite the significant ABV shift. The palate displays prunes in juice, sangria-soaked fruits (oranges, peach slices, plums), a pinch of greasy earth and polished dashboards (Bentley dashboards, no less). The second sip has more prominent smoke, exotic smoke, to be precise (fruit trees, burning in the hearth), a bonfire made of cherry tree and pear tree, yet also peach nectar, drops of mango juice, prune juice and memories of a picnic: a fruit basket on a blanket in the midst of a ploughed field. Finish: ha! ha! This delivers the goods! :-) First comes prune, then peat, then tropical fruit, then wood. Let us try and do this in the right order. Prunes in juice, soaked sultanas, Irish-stew sauce (without the meat), coal, incense ashes, burning cinnamon sticks, then mango, jackfruit and roasted pineapple, before it settles on varnished armchairs and lacquered desks -- with a soft-leather desk blotter. Yes, a bit of peat, a bit of wood and a bit of fruit, wrapped up in just the right amount of alcohol. This is as noble as it gets, and pretty much flawless, though I find it less tropical-fruity than the first couple of times. 10/10
Springbank 40yo 1969/2009 (54.4%, Signatory Vintage Casks Strength Collection Rare Reserve, Refill Sherry Butt, C#263, 356b, b#244, 09/471): nose: as in June, I am baffled by the freshness of this baby! A stroll in a vineyard, pressed grapes, fresh ink, blackberry, blackcurrant. Then, suddenly, it takes an unexpected turn and goes all old school on your arse, with boiler-room smoke, old ink on parchment, cardboard, bung cloth, clay floor and faint dunnage warehouse -- faint in that the thick walls and clay floors are there, the soaked staves, not so much. Roasted nuts, nut-and-liqueur pralines, oil paint... It is very oily, when I think about it. This nose is so complex, so rich, and it evolves so much! Dried fruits storm the scene, soaked in warm water -- prunes, sultanas, Smyrna, cranberries. Finally, a fleeting touch of rubber completes the picture. Mouth: fresh, almost leafy, it has green tomatoes, flowering currants, apple drops and violet foliage, before morphing into a fruity number (blood orange, marmalade, caramelised hazelnut, roasted chestnut, berries aplenty) with an entertaining touch of cooked beetroot, chocolate-coated raspberry, warm bakelite, hot sticky toffee pudding with warm berry coulis, Pedro Ximénez sherry, sweet and sticky, mince pie (topical, I guess: it is Christmas; after all), figs, and still that wood-varnish note in the back. Finish: rhaaaaaa! How is this possible? The perfect and absolute integration of earth, gentle smoke, nuts, berries and subtle furniture polish. It has squashed, wild strawberries on toast, Seville-orange marmalade, piping-hot apricot compote, a pinch of spices (white pepper and ground ginger, mostly, but also ground lemongrass), chocolate and peach juice, distant cork, a minute dose of liquorice, rowanberry, elderberry, squashed dark cherry, all sorts of fortified wines, incense ashes and, well, happiness, in a nutshell. Exceptional dram, this! 10/10
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