07/10/2024 Strathisla

Strathisla 1999/2010 Here Come The Rain Again (46%, La Maison du Whisky Belgique, C#45530, 247b): yes, there is a missing 's'. Nose: youthful, lively spirit, pumped with cereals on dusty concrete floors. Oats, barley, maize stored in heaps in a countryside warehouse. One would struggle to imagine the picturesque setting of one of the oldest surviving distilleries in Scotland, from this nose; it really is a mix of cereal dust and builders rubble -- not that there is anything wrong with that, mind. With some insistence, perhaps we can spot a shovelful of fertilised soil (that would be a whiff of manure, then) and cereal pulp, as if the cereal dust had been wetted with murky water or mud. Slowly but surely, that mud cooks on a fire of herbs, and produces a gentle smoke, entirely unexpected. The second nose has quarry dust or concrete chippings, the airborne dust on a construction site, and smoked-cereal dust. To make it less austere, we also have a bowl of warm corn flakes, topped with lovage seeds. Later on, after-shave lotion (not balm) springs up. Mouth: mint crumbles, custard, smoked cereals. It is fresh, creamy, maybe a little bitter. We find aniseed, fennel seeds, lovage seeds, caraway seeds, mint sweets (the ones in a transparent-blue wrapper from the 1980s), and pouring custard alright. In fact, the creamy texture is well worth a special mention. The second sip is in line, yet it adds a dark-brown fudgy, chewy protein bar (nākd.) Chewing revives the minty side, this time crème de menthe with a dash of oat milk. Further sips are spicier, with cloves, black cumin, and a few grains of ground black cardamom. It is not all spices, however: at some point, we come back to a malt barn in the summer, with its cereal dust. Finish: it stays custard-y until the end. Smoke and bitterness have now disappeared, while mint sweets are much more subdued. On the other hand, vanilla custard -- nay! ice cream, is there for all to taste, melted in the cup, creamy and lush. The second sip seems fresher, mintier. It has less custard, if still some, and introduces star anise. Earthier with every sip, though never earthy -- it is toasted spices we see, such as cumin, ground coriander, and whole cloves to complement lovage seeds and mint sweets. 7/10