03/03/2023 Secret Grain

Secret Grain 47yo 1973/2020 (48.2%, The Nectar of the Daily Drams selected by The Nectar): nose: some assertive flowers, in this: tulips, daffodils, and maybe irises come carried by a wave of potent alcohol. The latter dissipates and converts the flower petals into red fruits; quickly, we have dark cherries, raspberries, blueberries and blackcurrant jelly. Pastry soon joins that, crumbly shortcrust and custard of sorts. In no time at all, it is all about blackcurrant turnovers, and all doubt about the provenance evaporates: it is obviously an Invergordon. And who will complain about that? Deeper nosing gives away more-tropical fruits, with pineapple fairly clearly in front of the parade, freshly sliced. There is also a an ester-y note of solvent, more sticky-label remover than nail varnish or paint thinner. Of course, we have a whisper of burnt toast underneath all that too, or Biscotte, to be accurate. The second nose adds a gentle, fleeting metallic note before returning to lovely turnovers, custard-y, pineapple-y. Later on, it is old plastic containers (you know the brand), forgotten in a drawer, in too warm a kitchen. Although those things are reportedly inert, they do invariably develop a characteristic smell, as everyone knows, who has used them for a while. Water introduces cardboard crates of fruits -- bananas, grapefruits, unripe pineapples. Strangely, the blackcurrants have entirely disappeared. Mouth: ooft! It is quite different, here. The palate is completely dominated by Airfix glue. This is likely to be a show-stopper for many a taster, I fear. I like it, on the other hand. Super-strong glue spread onto grilled banana slices, tinned pineapple slices (the tin has "stained" the fruit), solvents, resins... Yeah! Airfix glue, really. Repeated sipping brings more of the s(h)ame. Perhaps we can now spot metal filings, very-old wood dust, dried grapefruit skin, ground into a powder. Water tones down the glue, leaving but the resin. The texture also becomes milky (full-fat milk), silky and rich. Finish: resinous and marked by glue again. There are still discreet touches of pineapple and banana, berries not so much. A boatload of glue, though. It is a long and bitter-acidic finish that I will liken to chomping on orange peels doused in Airfix glue and varnish, and peppered with tin filings. The next gulp adds Verdigris to this equation, but it is otherwise in line. All clears up to let indistinct citrus have the last word -- fruity, acidic, drying, borderline grassy, not too far from a rum, in terms of character. Water turns this into a custard, plain and simple: mocha custard, if not a very strong one. It does have mocha all the same, which underlines the bitterness of citrus peel from before. Great nose, with a more-challenging follow-up. 7/10 (Thanks for the sample, WK)