Prompted by WhiskyLovingPianist's recent article about plastic samples, I feel an urgency to get rid of revisit those samples. We had today's whisky almost four years ago, so it is certainly time for another go. Blind, too; the samples are labelled 1 to 6, and it feels more interesting to not look at what those numbers mean before trying the whiskies again.
#4: nose: beautifully woody, with encaustic, beeswax, and glossy ultramarine paint (RAL 5002). Further, we find walnut oil, perhaps cashew oil -- it is an oily affair alright; I had mahogany oil, the first time, which is fair enough. Deeper nosing rolls out a carpet of thick apricot jam, punctuated by smashed physalis, and washed down with a sip of Cognac Fin Bois. Indeed, it has a grape side as well, subtle, mostly hiding behind well-maintained wood furniture. The second nose has melted chocolate littered with smashed blueberries. Soon, apricot jam returns to prominence -- and who is complaining about it? Suddenly, and out of nowhere, some kind of soda tickles the nostrils -- Ricqlès comes to mind, for a reason I cannot explain. Old steel nuts and bolts appear too. Mouth: here, the wine influence is unmistakable. It has to be a Sherry cask or another, probably a sweet one. We find cured orange rinds, raisins injected with chilli-infused water, lychee shavings, grape juice blended with wood oil, and even a dash of paint thinner. Chewing insistently reveals a woody side too, shaved vine or orchard tree, and unripe myrtles. The second sip has a faint metallic note, copper, brass, or bronze, that reminds one of copper coins dipped in grape juice. It takes some furious chewing for any wood to come back out in the shape of Cognac Fin Bois. Finish: dignified, long, woody and fruity. Wood-haters need not worry, for it is far from plank-y or bitter. Instead, we have vine snippings, dark-grape pips, black olives. That aside, we note prunes, apricots caramelised beyond recognition, and berries, stewed with cloves and a cinnamon stick. Mulled wine this is not, yet it bears some resemblance for they who want to see it. Interesting fruits come out at the second gulp: dragon-fruit cubes and rambutan dunked in prune juice, augmented with a few drops of dark maple syrup, and pecans. Softly bitter after all, then. Phew! This one seems intact. My suspicion is it is an aged Glendronach -- and indeed, it is. It may well score higher on another day. Glendronach 30yo d.1990 (47.2%, Cask Sample, Bourbon Cask re-racked into First Fill Sherry Cask in 2013) 8/10
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