Of course, for the one-thousand-and-first entry on the blog, I did think of 35.59 Arabian Nights, the often-used English title for One Thousand and One Nights. However, we did take detailed notes for it in 2018, and the bottle is sadly empty. Something else, then.
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| The inside of the back label shows the mill on the hill |
Tamnavulin Double Cask (40%, OB, American Oak Barrels + Sherry Cask Finish, B#0308): nose: a whiff of lively (red-wine) vinegar augmented with Parmesan rind and young, clean cereals. Those cereals rise, joined by raw bread dough. For a second, it smells as if it were about to turn all mineral, but it is actually still raw cereals, as if just laid to steep on the malting floor. A short breathing time adds a citrus-y note: a few drops of lemon juice, pinched grapefruit peels. Past that, we discover a slice of light gingerbread made with much more honey than ginger. The second nose has toffee and mocha sponge cake, or some milk-chocolate fondant -- quite a (welcome) departure from the initial impression! Mouth: mellow, fruity, gently acidic, it has pineapple and grapefruit peels again. Chewing for an instant unearths a clear bitterness (cucumber peelings), which somehow morphs into sweetness in seconds, before moving back to acidity (flying saucer sweets). That merry-go-round will not stop, and it goes through all stages again, starting with bitter (bicycle inner-tubes). On the palate too, we note a radical change at second sip: it now has a velvety grape juice turning into elderberry liqueur to supplement a cup of mild coffee. Did someone swap my glass? Finish: intriguingly, it is now all custard-y. It is a fruity custard, to be sure, with grapefruit segments, pineapple chunks, and Chinese gooseberries milling about amongst chopped mint, mentholated talcum powder, and bicycle-inner-tube shavings. If one closes one's eyes, one may even imagine the glue used to patch a puncture, or an old plaster. The next gulp is grey-ish, a dash of weak black coffee in a metal mug, made with too little ground coffee for the amount of water. It also has biscuits past their expiry date (custard creams). The overall impression remains creamy-custard-y. It is only the type of custard that seems to change. A pleasant-enough sipper that is not without surprise. 7/10 (Thanks for the sample, Mrs. P)
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