This one meets a huge success every time JS pours it. Only the most entrenched grain-haters see little charm in it, while more than one grain-tourist (occasional grain drinker) reckon it is a very good thirty-something dram, only to be baffled by its relative youth.
Strathclyde 13yo 2001/2014 (64.4%, Chivas Brothers Cask Strength Editions, B#ST 13 002): nose: hot mandarine segments, tangerines, clementines, warm pastry on a baking tray, straight out of the oven. Next are pineapple chunks, sprinkled with some herb (is it sage? Verbena?) The high ABV shows and gives a feeling of warmth, though it does not turn heady, in this instance. Herbs seem to gain ground, maybe joined by thyme, now, lemon thyme, to be precise. Nevertheless, it is the pineapple that vibrates the most. There is a lick of seal wax too. The second nose has chou dough that has only been baking for a minute, and still that pineapple -- pulped, this time. Further nosing brings a sweetness to the fore, and fresh-egg biscuits -- ladyfingers such as Madeira or Boudoir. Water increases the fruit and makes jam out of it. It actually takes me back to the smell of sweet shops from the early 1980s, with their mix of flying saucers, red bootlaces, edible paper sheets, cuberdons and candy canes of various colours, none natural. In the summer, in those wonderful days before shops throughout Europe became air-conditioned nightmares, the smells were amplified. Well, this is that combination of smells. Mouth: wide and fruity for a second, it turns into a blade in no time, splitting the tongue in half, and pouring citrus juice into the open wound. Here are grapefruit, mandarin, orange and calamansi juices, in which a few clementine leaves have macerated. Said juices are warm, by the way. The strength is noticeable, though one would be hard pressed to guess it is that strong. The second sip is still strong, not spicy, and, on the tongue too, frankly sweet. A bowl of caster sugar heated in the oven, not melted into caramel. Hints of citrus remain (clementines, tangerines), but it takes a much longer while to detect the bitterness of citrus foliage, now. With water, we have boiled sweets here too, and a more pronounced bitterness. Nothing bothersome, but it is there, as if the pineapple had been turned into a pulp before it was fully ripe. Finish: a fairly similar story, at this stage, in that this goes down in a puff of fruity esters, then comes back up with a massive warmth. It leaves the tongue slightly numb and swollen, anaesthetised, which I connect to a metallic touch, or lemon-juice-infused verbena. Repeated sipping cranks up the sweetness, yet it does not entirely do away with a tiny bitterness. A metallic bite subsists, which gives the whole an added complexity. The alcohol still hits, but it is perfectly tolerable. Strangely enough, water fleetingly puts the emphasis on the alcohol kick, before the mouth is left with a sugary-water coat. Candied pineapple cubes emerge from that, dusted with icing sugar. In the long run, sweet clementine segments join the party, as does clementine foliage for an added bitter touch. Well, I love it to bits. 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, JS)
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