Carsebridge 48yo 1975/2024 (45.3%, Keeble Cask Fragrant Drops, Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, C#161077, 202b): nose: fragrant exotic woods, such as redwood (it is exotic for a European!), teak or ebony. Then, it is the batter of a chocolate-and-Guinness sponge cake, toasted peanuts, torched strawberries, dried dates. It is fruity, yet I remembered it more exuberant. I wonder if five months in an open bottle have changed it that much, or if my memory is playing tricks. Breathing time helps it develop rum baba, banane flambée and a boozy caramel coulis poured on custard. The second nose has the wood glue often associated with a grain whisky, yet, in this case, it is a fruit-scented glue -- and that fruit is no longer shy! Papaya, purple maracuja, alphonso mango, longan, rambutan. It has a more-solemn side too, with notes of thuja bark and fruit-tree logs. Mouth: fruit liqueur on entry. Banana comes to mind, though we are far from the overly-sweet vulgarity of Pisang, to be clear. No, it has the fruit itself, stewed and mashed, a drop of caramel and a dash of alcohol. Chewing makes it a fruit explosion, with mango, banana, papaya, rambutan, purple maracuja, bergamot chunks and tamarind, albeit less acidic. It has a soft root-y, earthy note that hints at turmeric roots, chewy and a notch rubbery. The second sip is immediately juicy, reminiscent of mango-and-apricot nectar. Half-a-chew opens the floodgates for a tide of alphonso mango made a tad more acidic with a drop of pink-grapefruit juice and one smashed pink maracuja. All that is poured into a wooden cup. This is such debauchery! Finish: soft rubber on the way down, yet that turns out to be a fragmentation fruit bomb, each micro-explosion of which provides a new wave of tropical fruit. Papaya, longan, tamarind, chikoo, mangosteen, browned banana form a constellation of fruity shooting stars that zoom back up the oesophagus. They leave the back of the throat and the mouth all fruited up. The second gulp is as fruity, if not more. A little more acidic, perhaps, with pink grapefruit and mandarine joining mango, unripe pineapple and pink maracuja. The other fruits are much quieter, but with a main act so charming, that is fine. Only a drop of turpentine helps us remember that we are having a grain whisky, rather than fruit juice. This is great from start to finish, but the palate is legendary. 9/10
Glen Grant 48yo 1965/2013 (49.6%, The Scottish Liqueur Centre Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask, Hogshead, C#2137, 112b, b#36): nose: stewed marmalade, very bitter, chipboard sawdust, cedar-wood splinters, gingery orange peels (whatever that means), and more and more "dark" aromas; dried modelling paint pots (sea-grey, dark grey), balls of modelling wax, melted ashy soap bars, dark-blue candles in a new-age boutique, squid ink, squid-ink pasta. That said, it ends up supplying citrus peels (tangerine, tangelo) and a lick of nail varnish. Mostly, though, it is dark candlewax, Barbour jackets, a pinch of ash and a stain of squid ink. At one point, the wax morphs into a moist clay pot waiting to be baked. Then, it peddles yellow flowers, tulips or daffodils, but it invariably takes us back to candlewax and ink. The second nose is bolder yet, full of Seville-orange marmalade and citrus segments served on a rough chipboard that is hardly covered with oilcloth. Later on, we spot leather that has spent considerable time in orange juice -- is that original or what? Suddenly, it goes back to base, and it is marmalade and wood dust on the microphone again, smoking a cigarette, this time. Mouth: well, it does not lack in the bitterness department. It is the bitterness of fresh daffodils ready for a vase, their stems dripping sap. Their petals kindly balance that bitterness, make it softer and more tolerable. Chewing releases oily wax -- modelling wax, at first, then candlewax. It goes from yellow to dark blue in seconds. It has a certain amount of wood spices (sawdust, white pepper, ginger powder), a hint of spent wick, and distant flower stems of leaves (lily-of-the-valley). The second sip is more acidic, citric. It is peels and pith as much as it is juicy segments, maybe more, but it classes as fruity all the same. One might confuse this for a spoonful of marmalade with a drop of cider vinegar. Finish: spicier here, it has white pepper, flower leaves, ginger powder. Forty-eight years in wood have clearly left a mark, and wood dust stops virtually any other flavour from surfacing. We have bone-dry citrus zest, perhaps, but whether that is lime, lemon, grapefruit or orange is a mystery. The second gulp is more approachable and fruitier: gone are the overbearing wood spices; here are stewed citrus in syrup, warm, acidic and punctuated by a stewed cranberry here and there. There may even be a Kirsch-soaked cherry. In this homoeopathic quantity, that is fine. Wax emerges upon repeated quaffing (purple modelling wax, blue candlewax), as does ash. Look! it is not anywhere near licking an ashtray. It just gives this drying, abrasive feel. And that ash is mixed with the driest citrus zest to lift it up a little. Excellent nose, good palate, a somewhat disappointing finish at first gulp, yet it redeems itself at second take. It is an 8 initially, but a couple of sips push this to... 9/10
Bunnahabhain 48yo 1975/2023 (50.2%, Signatory Vintage Cask Strength Collection Rare Reserve 35th Anniversary, Oloroso Sherry Butt, C#2845, 361b, b#46): nose: a wonderful whiff of dry earth confirms what the colour gave away. It is indeed a deep, brooding, earthy number. Potting soil beaten by the sun for the whole summer, fields in the midst of a drought, clay floors with no moisture whatsoever. It acquires rancio, prunes left in the desert for weeks, and dried mushrooms (porcini, shiitake). Little by little, the mushrooms and prunes rehydrate, one drop of hot water at a time, and we step into what cavalier66 calls the tertiary. That is when dead leaves fall onto the forest floor, dried as if it had not rained for months. Despite all that dryness, it is full of scents -- the scent of woods such as mahogany and teak, walnut and iroko, dark and oily. Closing one's eyes, one spots cedar-wood dust and gochujang, a combination so alien that one feels the urge to taste it immediately -- and one will! The second nose is earthier still; it has beetroot, dark cocoa powder, black cardamom, yet all that is sprinkled with tar-black honey and prune syrup. That confers the nose a nice balance that never allows it to become overly sweet -- this is definitely on the dry-and-earthy side of the spectrum. Mouth: gochujang alright! It is spread onto a teak board, welcomes rehydrated dried shiitake and a pinch of cedar-wood dust. A couple of chopped prunes elevate the palate. Chewing shows just how calmly powerful this tranquil force is. Powdered galangal, steak pepper mix and gochugaru shield rancio, Medjool dates and prunes. The second sip may be a touch juicier, insofar as spicy earth can be juicy. Let us say it is dry soil in a wooden planter, splashed with prune syrup -- and not even a lot of it! We then have cassia-bark soaking water, date stones, dried mulberries and only traces of leather, as well as the liquid residue from onion relish. Phwoar! As a side note, is it not funny that the stone is set in the date, rather than the date being set in stone? Finish: big, oily, woody, earthy, dry. On the one hand, we have dried shiitake, crushed into a pile of dust; on the other, water in which prunes and dried mushrooms have soaked. It also cultivates a root-y facet, with liquorice allsorts, powdered galangal, ginger and cassia bark, torched, then powdered. The second gulp blends warm tar and buckwheat honey, and spikes that with liquorice shavings. That makes for a larynx-refreshing impression one would usually associate with cough syrup or juicy cough drops, albeit with little-to-no camphor. The more one drinks, the juicier it gets, though the earthy-root-y character continues to dominate. It would be logical, in a dram, like this, to detect coffee, but I do not think it would be justified. If it is, it is a coffee heavily modified with prune juice, liquorice shavings and a stick of cassia bark in the middle, comparable to those little umbrellas they put in cocktails. This is monumental. Cerebral without the pompousness. 9/10 (Thanks for the dram, JS)
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