11/04/2022 Rosebank

Rosebank 17yo 1991/2009 (46%, Speciality Drinks Single Malts of Scotland, Barrel C#2206, 259b): nose: an archetypal Ro'bank, with honeysuckle and luscious honey in various guises. This is the sort of noses that gave the Lowlanders their reputation of being gentle, soft spoken and elegant. We have some juicy grass on a spring morning, covered in morning dew, spreading honey on toast, dragées, rose-petal jelly, various sweets and candy... Oh! This is sweet alright. And then, limoncello appears in the background, a little bigger than limonviolin. There is something a tad herbal in this nose too; it is not quite thyme, but... A pinch of oregano so dry it hardly holds a fragrance? The second nose has more yellow fruit, veering towards the tropical (juicy plums, nectarines), and the herbal touch turns almost metallic. Mouth: soft and mellow, the honey here is akin to a welcoming pillow: warm and comforting. After a few seconds, that lush honey joins forces with milk chocolate for maximum effect. The whole retains a minute bitterness that points back towards the same (muted) herbal character we found on the nose -- faded oregano, marjoram. The chocolate grows in intensity, eclipsing the honey, at times. That comes back, though, and it is pine-tree honey, it is now clear. The second sip is like peach juice in texture -- none of the pulp, but milk thick all the same. Swirling it around the mouth turns it thicker. The gums are especially sensitive to the thick peach nectar that this turns into. It keeps the minty-chocolate dragées too, which is nice. In the long run, crushed bay leaves emerge. Finish: long and immediately rewarding, the finish has the freshness of mint dragées in which the chocolate is but a feature, not the star. Honey on toast still rocks the place, and there is an obvious fruitiness to complement it -- squashed apricot or mango flesh. A tiny herbal bitterness balances out the juiciness of the squashed fruit to perfection. It leaves the mouth in the same state as after a large sip of peach-nectar-augmented cold cocoa, topped with a couple of mint leaves -- or is it crushed bay leaves here too? In any case, it is brilliant. 9/10 (Thanks for the dram, JS)