24/05/2021 Blue Spot

Blue Spot 7yo (58.7%, OB for Mitchell & Son, Bourbon Barrels + Sherry Butts + Madeira Casks, b.2020): nose: light and ethereal, this has morning dew and rising sun leaping out of the glass -- glad I waited for a sunny morning to try this! Next up is fruit on a wooden cutting board, more peach than persimmon, yet it is juicy alright. There is a wooden desk in a sunlit conservatory, perhaps a whiff of hazelnuts in a cardboard box, until nut oils appear (hazelnut and walnut), as well as walnut stain. The second nose goes further and adds a mix of wood varnish and acrylic paint, which hints at solvents, I suppose -- not unheard of in a fruity whisky. Balsa wood is the last piece that comes top it all off. Breathing does it wonders: fruity chocolate ends up appearing (banana-flavoured Jacques). Water cranks up the fruit, and adds a flowery scent too (jasmine, cherry blossom), though also wet paper and line-drying linen. Citrus makes an entrance, calamansi and lemon. Mouth: oily and nutty, it only takes a second for this to turn rather fruity indeed, with lovely peach slices, and also pretty strong. It has cassia-bark splinters, habañero shavings and Port-marinated hazelnuts. The texture becomes buttery with time, the spices cool off, and only that fruity-nutty profile subsists. The second sip has a hefty dose of mango powder, sprinkled on dried mango slices. Unfortunately, water increases a slightly-unpleasant green bitterness, whilst also toning down all the good parts. Finish: not too far off the palate, this finish has creamy nuts and ripe peach, maybe dried mango, covered in wood spices (mace and mango powder), yet it also feels young and green, with a bitterness that reminds me of asafoetida -- and that will not please everyone. The death has that wonderful buttery feel that wraps and irons out everything else. Water works oddly well on the finish: it makes it creamier, decreases the bitterness and helps it deliver a modest vanilla-ed tropical-fruit kick (papaya and dragon fruit). Oh! It is no Gelston 26yo, but it is pleasant enough. There is huge potential on display, here, but why bottle this so young? 7/10 (Thanks for the sample, SA and JW)