Leftover from a tasting in July.
Campbeltown Loch 21yo (40%, Springbank Distillers): nose: it is a beautiful fruit eau-de-vie, one that smells of apricots. It has something bread-y and something metallic too. Hmmm... Could it be a bread-slicing machine, like they have in some supermarkets? It certainly seems that way. A subtle woodiness rises -- a wooden fruit bowl, pencils, a desk of some kind. Then, a whiff of smoke tickles the nostrils, unannounced. It is smoke from a wood-fired hob, upon which apricot jam is simmering in a cauldron. The second nose insists on the woody aspects, with salad-serving spoons humid with a thick vinaigrette, and cardboard boxes of chocolate (45% cocoa content). Mouth: delicately fruity, the palate brings more apricots, as well as cut plums, maybe greengages and ripe Mirabelle plums. Chewing adds a fistful of copper coins, or the tin lids of marmalade jars. It feels a trifle watery, to be honest, but it holds itself. Some of the fruits revert back to a less-ripe stage, which signifies a gentle bitterness. But maybe it is the copper coins: there is even a lick of Verdigris, after all. A pinch of soot too. The second sip brings pineapple bark, dried calamansi peels, and tangerine-flavoured yoghurt. It has got a more-acidic profile than earlier, yet it remains a fruity-woody number, all in all. We belatedly find a pinch of powdered ginger. Finish: the arrival feels soft for a second, watery. It does not take long for more power to shine through, and the finish throws a punch of smoked apricots, embellished with a pinch of soot. Little of the earlier metal touch makes it this far; it is mostly apricots, soot, and a drop of eau-de-vie to keep it lively. The second gulp is creamy with a spicy edge. Ginger powder, grapefruit zest and dried pineapple flakes. Very good. 8/10
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