20/12/2025 Teaninich

Teaninich 45yo 1975/2021 (49.5%, Bartels Whisky Highland Laird, Bourbon Hogshead, C#14796, 35b, b#20): nose: last night, I found this overly muted and, today, I can see why: it is almost extinct a nose, even taken out of the brouhaha of a big gathering with fast-paced freestyling through drams. There is nowt wrong here, let me be clear. It does keep its cards close to its chest is all. Looking hard, we find rustic chairs covered in patina and dust, tangerine peels so dry they have lost nearly all fragrance, and peach skins in a similar condition. In fact, the latter are so quiet they may as well be a pair of Adidas tracksuit trouser from the early 1990s (if you get that reference, leave us a comment!) They then slowly awake to reveal a soft fruitiness. Still, nothing much to notice but for the hardcore speleologists of scents. The second nose has expired onion relish, still good to eat, but it has lost most of its smell and taste. Eventually, dusty wood reigns supreme. Mouth: furniture patina seems appropriate. It is a bit waxy, a bit woody, and more than a bit bitter. Chewing thankfully balances that bitterness with a luscious apricot compote. Frustratingly, that is soon overpowered when a bucket of ground white pepper lands, followed by plane shavings and wood chips. A nice sweetness comes and goes, alongside an acidic bitterness reminiscent of conifers -- imagine a honey-coated pine cone crushed in a wood chipper. Juicy yellow fruits in syrup appear at second sip: plum, physalis, peach. A bit of swirling around the mouth cranks up the sweetness and fruitiness, but also adds (pink) pepper, which is much less-well received. And then there is that sawdust... Finish: a lot sweeter than expected, this has apricot compote and manuka honey, at first. A woody, almost-plank-y note soon joins them. This is a 1970s bookshelf made with chipboards from the period (no MDF, at the time!) It makes for a spicy and woody, long finish that is not devoid of charm, yet it will not appeal to everyone. The second gulp has a delicious, sweet fruitiness for starters, quickly matched, if not submerged, by bitter wood. Dried galangal slices, dried lemongrass, ginger powder, chipboards. Difficult. "This one has a little too much wood, in my opinion," CBr warned last night. That is putting it mildly. If we contrast this with the forty-six-year-old by Sansibar we had in 2024, this here Bartels bottling is really not in the same league. It is easy to see why its recommended retail price was around twenty percent of the Sansibar's. It was probably bottled later than it should have been, at least according to my taste. A meak 7/10 (Thanks for the sample, CBr)