15/03/2023 Les Éditions Albyn Michel présentent...

Glen Albyn 25yo 1964/1989 (58%, Signatory Vintage, Oak Wood Cask, C#942+943, 1200b, b#1105): nose: lots of OME, mainly pickled cardboard, and quite a bit of engine oil. Let us give it some time to open up... This is better. Here, we have encaustic, walnut oil, polished dashboards, hints of metal, yet also plump mandarines and apricots. Further in the back, it has the unusual smell of velvet car seats from the 1980s, saturated with cold cigarette smoke, as well as cold cigarette ashes in the car's ashtray. It is not a smell I enjoy much in an automobile, but it sorts of works, here. Strangely enough, that is the profile that appears to become prominent, too. We have a dose of window-cleaning spray, the faded seats of a car from the 1980s (or 1970s), old walnut kernels, and still a lick of fruit, whether it is mandarines, or something more tropical, such as dragon fruit. Tilting the glass reveals hair gel and after-shave balm. The second nose is earthier; the cardboard has dissolved into a soil-like sludge that blends in with earth. In the background, still a gentle fruitiness. Come to think of it, this nose reminds me a bit of the fuzz inside the last incarnation of Douglas Laing's Old & Rare Platinum cases, and the first incarnation of Hunter Laing's. Grumpy tasters may find a dollop of shampoo. A drop of water does away with the car interior and cigarette smoke, and, instead, introduces banana sweets, as well as tame Parma Violets. There are even soap bars, now. They are fairly discreet, but present nonetheless. Mouth: the 58% are obvious, here -- they attack the roof of the mouth vigorously. Aside the numbing alcohol, we have citrus peels, mixed with old cork bits, mould-covered oranges, Verdigris and lichen. The second sip is clearly sweeter: it delivers shovelfuls of light brown sugar. It also has hot metal spoons, and something that some may qualify as soapy -- not hand soap; rather dishwasher tablets, or detergent pouches, lemon-y, a tad crunchy. H₂O turns this into a fifty-fifty blend of yellow flower petals and soapy water, sadly. Finish: a heap of light brown sugar, inexorably taken over by mould. It is fruity, yet also bitter, even if it does not turn frankly metallic or plant-sap-like. Let us be lucid, that bitterness is not going to please everybody. It is a very long finish, by the way. The second sip reinforces the impression of detergent pouches for dishwashers, though that is now in conversation with blue oranges and mouldy sugar, rather than a solo act. Repeated sipping brings about some shampoo for delicate hair, albeit almost smothered by light brown sugar. Water applies a wide blanket of daffodil or tulip petals on the whole, augmented by a pinch of sugar. I really liked this one's originality. Others will hate it without a doubt. 7/10