The temperature is more bearable, at last. I will take advantage to taste more wintry things.
Bowmore 10yo b.2012 (55.1%, OB Tempest, B#IV, First Fill Bourbon Casks, 11000b, L122384): nose: marvellous pebbles and rocky shores, licked by salty, frothy surf, then the trademark citrus, with acidic lemon juice, char-grilled grapefruit segments, sea spray -- oh! It is a maritime affair alright. It has drying fishing nets, smoked oysters, smoked halibuts fillets, drying peat bricks and crab shells (smoked and fresh), brine, anchovies and capers, as well as old copper coins (or not that old, in fact) and a glass of lemonade next to a log fire. Ten or fifteen minutes in, a dryer touch shows up: watercolour or crayon shavings, peat smoke, then stagnant water. Mouth: it feels surprisingly unctuous, chewy, with some wax (I am talking about the texture only), though that is soon eclipsed by a massive wave of lemon-y sea produce: brine, salt, anchovies, smoked salmon and chilli-flake-coated, smoked mackerel. The smoked salmon is in a rice dish (kedgeree?) and the flesh is turning into silky flakes. The acidity of the citrus grows and grows in intensity, the lemon joined by grapefruit, yet also softer satsuma and even pomelo. Sharp lemon and grapefruit soon come back, though. Finish: big, assertive, it has a similar combination of citrus and sea notes, balanced to perfection. At first, it is lemon-ed-up oysters, Ritter Citro squeezers, hinting at a certain metallic touch, then wood ashes, smoked mussels, and a pinch of chilli powder. The second sip shows a softer side, with mandarin juice, char-grilled peaches, tinned lychees, maybe a gently lichen-y dryness too, that turns borderline scorched earth-like, for a minute. In the long run (four sips, thirty minutes), the citrus takes on a tropical facet, augmented with drops of passion-fruit juice and a dash of rum to accompany anchovies and rollmops. Refreshing and warming at the same time, which is quite an achievement! Future classic, this. The naysayers on t'Interwebbz and elsewhere are simply missing out. 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, sonicvince)
Ardmore 21yo 1998/2019 (51.5%, Thompson Bros., Refill Hogshead, 256b): nose: pollen and vegetal peat, not far from mud, then crushed crayons, watercolour and discreet pencil eraser. Shortly thereafter, berries appear, to spice things up a bit: blueberries, myrtles and goji berries. Later on, it starts smelling of wet cardboard, then caramel in the making -- fruity caramel. The eraser and crayons are never too far away, mind. It is one of those noses that keep morphing; from fruit to mud, from farm to rum, from rum to cardboard, to berries, to silt and back again. Entertaining. Mouth: the berries are more immediate on the palate, this time showing off blackberries, on top of the blueberries and myrtles; blackberries, cranberries, even acidic blackcurrants. This is rather acidic, truth be told, with the sort of acidity one would get out of unripe fruits. A spoonful of mud is still present, sphagnum and decaying vegetation of all kinds; mossy peat, in other words. The second sip is still fruity, but it is also more farm-y, with mud cakes and peat-covered tools, damp in the shed. Chilli-water-soaked berries. Finish: very long and vegetal, it has a similar mix of mossy, muddy peat, complete with sphagnum and sponge-y lichen, as well as berries (blueberry, myrtle, blackberry) and greengages as a new addition. Flash-frozen white-peach slices show up as well, rose hip and all types of petals, fallen in mud. On a bitterer note, goji berries make a come-back too, and leave the mouth slightly dry like a chewy rum and its lichen-on-sugary-stave profile. Most pleasant. A lick of hard rubber, and, from the fourth sip on, a gentle kick of milk chocolate complete the picture. To the end, this one remains a berry-laden, muddy-and-vegetal dram that will please some to no end -- though I know at least one person who does not care for it, oddly enough. Reading back my notes from Hogmanay, I realise how different it seemed in Dornoch. Different, yet just as good. Air will probably change it quite a bit. 8/10
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