20/05/2021 Glenallachie

Glenallachie 12yo 2007/2020 (61.7%, Cadenhead Specially Bottled for Cadenhead's Whisky Shop Berlin, Sherry Butt, 606b): nose: nutty and a tad wine-y, this has almond paste, chocolate coulis and more and more pronounced red wine, not far off the stage at which it turns into vinegar. Canola oil, Madeira wine, plum liqueur, fermented cranberries... It is pretty sour indeed. A few minutes into this nose, it takes on an unexpected medicinal-come-metallic tint -- imagine Merbromin in a tin can. Soon, it goes back to almonds, yet, this time, it is the skins, as if stripped off the nut itself by a wine bath. The second nose has damp earth and humid leaves, just fallen on the forest floor. Perhaps one may find a pouch of pipe tobacco as well. With water, this acquires hazelnut paste, in a marzipan-made-with-hazelnuts sort of way, not Nutella. It allows the autumnal dead leaves to feature more prominently too, which I see as a good thing. Mouth: wine-y, nutty, and rather stripping, at cask strength. It is sun-drenched, heady red wine all round, with heaps of black pepper. The tin is present, though it is far in the background. This mouth is mostly about the red wine. Almonds have become hazelnuts, served with a cranberry compote and a wine sauce (yet no meat). Huge pickled red onions show up with the second sip, not extremely acidic, yet well briny (it is a sweet brine) -- or is it onion relish? Sweet-and-sour sauce and sriracha sauce, punctuated by drops of melted hazelnut chocolate. Well, it might be almond chocolate again, mind. Water keeps this wine-y and pushes the red onions front and centre, yet they are sweeter than ever, the sweet-and-sour aspect becoming sweet and sweet. Wine-y chocolate in the back, still. All in all, an improvement on the cask-strength palate. Finish: more chocolate-y in the finish, it is still drenched in bold red wine and sprinkled with black pepper. It is a long finish, acidic, sour and oh-so-wine-y. This time, it makes me think of Patras wine, which is usually around 79% ABV (not really, but it is strong). Almost all in this whisky points to Mare Nostrum. A late, mulled-wine nuance takes us to the Alps, I suppose, parts of which are on Italian soil. I rest my case. Water improves the finish too: chocolate takes over, almost entirely eclipsing the wine. It leaves a creamy, hazelnut and milk-chocolate feel in the mouth, the kind that makes me crave another praline. "Nog maar eentje chocolade, dan!" Altogether, though, this is too wine-y for me. 6/10 (Thanks for the sample, SA and JW)