Another dreich day, another topical dram.
4.406 14yo 2012/2026 Sweetly soothing smoke (64.4%, SMWS Society Cask, ex-Bourbon Hogshead finished in 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 220b): nose: warming goodness. Warm oil, a cauldron of hot pitch, a puff of warm gas coming out of the sewers on a brisk morning... Did I say 'goodness'? Well, it is relative. Deeper nosing renders this cleaner, with ashy white wine and recently-applied sealant around a new bathtub. It progresses towards hazelnut oil, white-wine vinegar and the hard-sugar shell of lozenges. The second nose somehow brings ashes to the table, the white kind that follows an efficient fire, before reintroducing white wine, something between Riesling and Chenin Blanc. Mouth: astonishingly citrus-y, it has lemon drizzle cake and orange sponge cake. Mixed peel extracts itself from the fluffy cake to have a solo career, and it is a success. Chewing adds droplets of wood oil, too light for teak -- probably acacia? It has a faint bitterness, though that does not take away from the lemon-y pleasure and the honey-like wood we encounter too. The second sip is drying, if fruity. It is akin to a dry white wine again, with green grapes and their skins jostling chalk and sherbet. It is remarkably acidic and warming upon chewing. Imagine the juices of a lemon turnover trickling onto the hot baking tray. Finish: big, fruity and acidic, it has more mixed peel, hot lemon drizzle cake, hot marmalade spread on fluffy bread, all served on a board made of white wood -- birch, acacia, hazel. It is a long finish that wakens the taste buds before lulling them into a sense of comfort. The second gulp welcomes lozenges, some minty, some even mentholated, which overshadows the chocolate contained within the sugar shell. It takes imagination to catch an acrid white smoke, but why not? We spot dry-to-the-max passion fruits more easily, though. Alright, this! 8/10
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