ABV
49.1%
Region
Speyside
Bottling
Sansibar Whisky (for deinwhisky.de)
Cask type
Hogshead (242 btl.)
Nose
Yellow fruits on the nose with apricots and sultanas. These are joined by dates, vanilla and spicy honey. In the background, floral notes are clearly noticeable, along with bitter hints of citrus, herbs and oak.
Palate
Slightly sweet on the palate with a complex variety of yellow fruits. In addition, very strong and spicy aromas of oak, ginger, with a peppery spiciness and bitter herbs towards the finish.
Finish
The finish is medium long and warming with creamy apricot and some vanilla, floral notes, slightly bitter herbs and dry oak.
With water
With the addition of a few drops of water, more floral notes appear on the nose, along with the yellow fruits. Sweet and creamy on the palate, but again very spicy with prickling oak and ginger. Apricot with some toffee sweetness. The finish is medium to short, slightly creamy with bitter notes of oak and herbs.
Comments
This nearly three decade old Speyside single malt doesn't really convince me. The nose is persuasive with a complex fruitiness, but the bitter notes of oak and herbs dominate with a peppery spiciness both on the palate and finish. This bitterness disturbs the overall picture. I would have hoped for significantly more fruity and sweet flavours here. The addition of water doesn't really help either.
I thank deinwhisky.de for the complimentary sample and the photograph!