Glenallachie 14yo 2000/2014 (57.3%, Chivas Brothers Cask Strength Edition, B#GA 14 006): a pre-Billy-Walker-era Glenallachie. Nose: thin, dry, heady to an extent, though not as in a heady wine, which I associate with heavy. Here are hay, straw bales, dried leaves, plane-tree bark or beech bark, dry and far from the rubbery mulch one sees in gardens. It is probably even a little smoky -- smoke from a twig-and-herb fire, perhaps with aromatics thrown in, such as thyme, sage, oregano, and subtle tarragon. The leaves shake off their dryness a bit, and get closer to dolmas, actually. Then, we have a drop of white-wine vinegar, mixed with a drop of nail-varnish remover. Hay is never too far, though! The second nose is drier, still, with horsehair, faded game bags, yet also turpentine, grape pips, deep-purple nail varnish, and the matching lipstick (which signifies a waxy touch). Hell! Even smoked cockles appear, as one tilts the glass -- how unexpected! Mouth: powerful, dry and desiccating, very acidic. I would equate this to lemon juice drops in a sip of cider vinegar, but really, it is likely closer to aqua regia. (Do not try aqua regia at home, kids!) I can feel the enamel of my teeth dissolving. It is not unpleasant, however. That dissolution impression dissipates and leaves this thinned-lemon-curd texture, still acidic, yet much more approachable. We also have a gentle wave of refined smoke, and old, lichen-eaten wood (beech again). The second sip mixes waxy plums with the dryness of horsehair. It is golden modelling wax, amusingly enough, and the plums are chewy. It has less smoke, now, a less-pronounced acidity too, and delivers more instant pleasure, as a result. Every sip seems sweeter than the previous, yet it retains a mild acidic side. Finish: a novelty, here: the finish has a distinct hazelnut-paste note that is as obvious as it is short-lived. Then, waxy fruits resume their fight with a dryness that is more horsehair than hay, by now. Chewy plum paste, dried grape flesh (not raisin, and no skin), dark-purple lipstick. The smoke seems to have vanished, yet repeated sipping suddenly leaves the gob covered in the same acrid veil that one experiences in the thick of an Italian New Year's Eve -- LOADS of fireworks, and the gunpowder smoke that comes with that. Another excellent, complex CSE! 8/10
Happy birthday, kruuk2!
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