10/07/2023 Glenfarclas

Glenfarclas-Glenlivet 11yo 1980/1992 (59.6%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection 150th Anniversary Bottling, Oak Cask): nose: naked and rustic, this one offers a delicate whiff of smoke, alongside crispy bacon and roasted apples. Leather bags full of orchard fruits are next, as is dusty grape juice by the campfire. A few minutes in, that is joined by engine grease and cylinder heads, in other words: a metallic scent, and it works a treat. Lichens and mosses arrive shortly thereafter, hinting at oxidised copper. Aaaaaand faded leather re-appears, a leather hat left on a straw bale. The second nose has a strange combination of heated aged eau-de-vie and liqueur (warming and sweet at the same time), and reminiscence of a coppa dell’amicizia (read: a wooden drinking vessel). Yes! It is Calvados, served warm in one such coppa, with a drop of liqueur to make it sweeter. Over time, oily blonde tobacco sticks to the back of the throat. Water turns this into a dry-white-wine Schorle. Chenin blanc, almost metallic, or mentholated -- perhaps it is toothpaste out of a tin tube, after all? Mouth: sharp attack, young and raw, at first, and quite bitter too. In no particular order, we see plant sap, straw, sage and oregano, a cast-iron boiler, coated in dust, and then the whole comes together and starts to make sense. Crispy shortcrust, caramelised custard (vanilla and mocha), hot metal. The second sip has roasted apple and quince, surfing on a milky texture. It is warm like hot wool, not burning, and one may detect Virginia-tobacco notes. It works very well. Adding water gives watered-down grape (or apple) juice, and too thin a custard. It is still decent, but not a glowing success. Finish: it does leave the gums and the front teeth a little numb (so close to 60%, how could it not?), but it is actually more mellow that one might have expected. Hot chocolate custard, some herbs (sage becomes more and more obvious with each passing second), stainless steel warmed in the oven. The second sip confirms the metal: it is fruity and sweet, yet those aspects are perpetually struggling (and failing) to eclipse a clear metallic vibe -- a stainless-steel salad dish, or pewter plates. A way to describe this would probably be to say: roasted slices of apple and quince, topped with a dollop of hot chocolate custard, sprinkled with dried sage, and served out of a stainless-steel bowl, into a pewter plate. A taste of cured apple sticks in the mouth, titillating the tonsils. Water brings back blonde tobacco and straw, yet they are so diffuse, now, that they are less enticing. Strangely, considering the ABV, this one is not exactly Michael Phelps. Neat, on the other hand? Excellent! 8/10