06/06/2022 Glenlochy

Recommended soundtrack: Lustmord - Rising (06.06.06)

Glenlochy 17yo 1977/1995 (61.8%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection imported by Preiss Imports, 95/250): nose: this is impactful from the get-go, with warm cat fur, hot cast-iron cauldrons, hot steel blades, and lichen on hot slate. A little further on, we have warm leather boots, oxidised tin screwcaps from heated jam jars, old coins... In short, one could probably say this is warm and metallic. It has a faint whiff of vegetable boiling water -- my guess is turnips. It is as if marmalade were trying to come out, yet that is invariably rebuffed by old tin cans and copper coins. Ten minutes in, there is a soft note of turpentine too that promises a stripping palate. Then, it is eclipsed by unripe orchard fruit -- unripe by a rather long shot. The second nose has very dry hazel wood by the fireplace, and hazelnuts so old their shells are turning into dust. All the same, a drop of jam is still trying to get some airtime. Water tones down the metallic bits, and makes for what seems a delicately-fruity nose. We now have fine ash and a crisp, dry white wine -- Chenin blanc, perhaps? Mouth: strong, stripping, uncompromising. Hot metal again, (though it is metal that feels less affected by oxidation, at this point), hot slate, warm hay, copper coins kept in a leather purse in someone's trouser pocket for hours, and, by right, now at body temperature. Ooft! this is warm and dry. The second sip moves towards cider vinegar, still fruity, yet mostly acidic. Decayed apples that, somehow, would have retained their crispness. A drop of water turns this into a far juicier affair, displaying dark-grape juice and the most minute smoke. Not peat smoke, mind; perhaps vine-twig smoke? Yes, that is it. The ash from the reduced nose is nowhere to be found. Instead, we have grape juice (dry grape, still!) and a whisper of smoke. Finish: it feels a little warm for three seconds, not very spectacular. Then, it explodes, and the heat radiates wave after wave of intoxicating warmth. Here are lichen, slate, tons and tons of coins and warm tin, yet also a dollop of warm marmalade, heated to stop the growing mould that is developing on it. The heat is frightening, that leaves the gums numb, as if slapped with a hot copper spoon, half-eaten by Verdigris. Further sips seem to offer more orchard fruits, yet fruits of the decaying kind, acidic, hallucinogenic, and pretty hairy as well. With water, we see caramelised marmalade that has stuck to the tin pot and been stained by it. It adds a welcome sweet note, yet the tin is quite intrusive -- as is the burnt sugar, in truth. It works for me, though. That said, it might also be chutney, topped with nigella seeds. Another cracking, if fear-inducing Glenlochy. I could probably be convinced to go to 9. For today, it is... 8/10