13/07/2022 An evening at the SMWS

JS and I join MJ for a few drams, after what seems like years -- and probably is too.

The place is packed. Fortunately, MJ planned carefully and booked a table. Had he not, we would be standing all evening.

64.129 12yo d.2009 Toffee coffee (58.3%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill Custom Toasted Oak Hogshead Finish, 246b): nose: toffee and mocha custard, then soft whiffs of Virginia tobacco. There is something citric to it, with, maybe, smoke-dried orange rind. It turns more buttery, after a while, and toffee becomes fudge. Mouth: remarkably soft and toffee-like again. Spices and acidic citrus do rise, but they stay within acceptable limits. The second sip is sticky, syrupy, with a nutty side. Somehow, it makes me think of brandy -- Cognac or Calvados. Water turns the volume down and makes it fruitier. Finish: the arrival is full-on toffee, yet it quickly slides into a sparkly lemonade, with the bitterness of fizzy water. Oily hazelnuts appear, in the long run. Water reveals confectionary sugar on a steel blade used to cut peaches. 7/10

9.243 14yo d.2007 Prima ballerina (60.3%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 196b): nose: liqueur praline, smashed baked banana on shortbread, lime pulp and baked pineapple. Water makes it more perfume-y, with a softer sugary lemon note. Mouth: yes, pulp-y pineapple with a touch of rubber, and pineapple skin. It is warming and mildly spicy. Water mellows it down, and adds tangerine and crystallised peach. Finish: long, it surreptitiously but resolutely covers the previous impressions with wood shavings, or sawdust. Is it toasted ash, or dry earth? Nice, in any case. Water brings out brioche into the mix, but also the sort of bitterness one may associate with a dried cucumber, albeit soft. 7/10

38.35 25yo d.1996 Hibiscus tea beneath a mango tree (50.7%, SMWS Society Cask, 2nd Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 232b): nose: pungent, it is fruity and a half. Waxy apricot playfully interlaced with plasticine, rose petals (or is it tulips?), confectionary sugar, Selkirk bannock. There is also a whisper of blonde tobacco, oily, if very faint. Mouth: oh! The pronounced tropical fruits materialise on the palate, with gentle mango, bergamot, melted chocolate poured onto physalis and persimmon. There is peach skin too, as well as apricot turnovers. Repeated sipping reveals a mellow dram, with a diffuse sweetness. Finish: assertive, sweet, it has confectionary sugar again, yet it grows juicier with time. A lick of milk chocolate and a hint of metal complete the picture. Lovely drop. 8/10

It dawns on me that Caperdonich is an anagram for Acid Roch pen -- as in: "Hello. Where is my Acid Roch pen?"

In the meantime, MJ has:

Good times. How prices and atmosphere have changed, over the past decade, though! Dwelling on the past is, of course, futile, yet it is hard not to notice.