03/04/2019 April outturn preview at the SMWS

New bar manager. PS is here, of course, as is JS. I tease CD quite a bit throughout the evening.

46.74 21yo d.1997 Orchard perambulation (54.4%, SMWS Society Cask, Bourbon Hogshead finished in 1st Fill ex-Red Wine Barrique, 245b): nose: juicy fruit, ripe plums, overripe apricots in cases left in the sun. Later, it is light shoe polish and perfume (late-night perfume, if you see what I mean), as well as body butter. Mouth: lively and fizzy like a high-strength beer, it has citric-powder capsules (an excellent type of sweets), limoncello, lemonade and an undercurrent of plum juice. Finish: wide, rich and loaded with ripe yellow fruit (plum and apricot). The finish also has red wine, which I only identify after seeing the label more closely. Gawjus. Coming back to it after the second dram, however, it suffers. 7/10

35.224 23yo d.1994 Fata Morgana (57.1%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill Toasted Hogshead, 241b): nose: shoe polish, leather, horse's hair and horse stable, cola-bottle sweets, shaving foam, lacquered wooden chests -- this has so much going on! This interplay between those cola sweets (you know the kind) and the farm-y notes is remarkable. Mouth: cola sweets subsides, with shoe polish as a backbone. Greasy teak cabinets, shaving foam again, ripe plums and roasted cashew nuts. Finish: long, dignified and fresh at the same time, it has more of the cola sweets, liquid shoe polish and a mild touch of shaving foam, once more. Lecker! 8/10

73.110 18yo d.2000 Warm as a welcoming hug (57.8%, SMWS Society Cask, ex-Bourbon Cask finished in 1st Fill ex-Oloroso Hogshead, 240b): nose: another leathery number, it has shoe polish and soft-leather coats, 1980s style, mocaccino, liquorice laces, bacon rind, and then, after a while, promises of tropical fruit (maracuja, carambola, roasted jackfruit), as well as cola sweets (!) Mouth: liquorice, rubber, spearmint, and lots of fruit (roasted pineapple, drops of maracuja juice, plum), blackberry cough drops and spices (cinnamon and nutmeg). Finish: long and überfruity, the finish has cherries, hints of maracuja, pressed sultanas, prunes and figs (fresh and dried). Loverly. 8/10

9.157 22yo d.1996 I drambled lonely as a cloud... (60.9%, SMWS Society Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 228b): nose: much, much more drying than the previous drams, it has dried earth, horse's sweat, saddles, and, at second sniff, some more inviting polished dashboards and walnut oils. The nose turns fruitier and sweeter, after the first sip, while chalkier too. Mouth: peach skins, plum jam, mirabelle plum, sweetened rhubarb compote, powdered sugar and rosemary sprigs on a doughnut. Finish: yellow flowers, after the big alcohol hit. This is warm, make no mistake, but it never smothers the flavours. Very ripe warm peach, sugar-glazed, apricot-jammed doughnuts, and chocolate, perhaps. Water brings out more juicy berries, but also more chalk. Not the Michael Phelps of whiskies, this one. 7/10

7.221 16yo d.2002 Hop Scotch (50.3%, SMWS Society Cask, Bourbon Barrel finished in 1st Fill ex-IPA Barrel, 171b): nose: hot and flowery, it has buttercups, forsythia, then cut peach, Turkish delights (the ethereal side of them; think of: orange-blossom water) and butter, apricot compote, margarine, warm hespenworst (some kind of processed sausages), hints of incense ash. Later, it is fruity Cognac, plain and simple. The Vallein-Tercinier of Speyside. Mouth: soft and lush, very different to the nose, in terms of intensity. The palate does retain some notes of yellow fruit. Finish: mellow and luscious, with more ripe yellow fruit (peach, plum) and buttercups in a vase. The aftertaste has a certain bitterness which prevents it from scoring higher. 7/10

Time to go home. Good outturn, from what I have had (about a third of the offering).