OLD FORESTER 80´s (?) bottling 43%

Nose:
Mesmerizing nose with cherries, violets, citrus and superb thrilling spices. Delightfully creamy and oak-chewy.




Palate:
Just the right amount of creamy vanilla holds together a marvellous mixture of red fruits, cheesecake and liquorice. All this complemented by a healthy dose of vibrant spices.





Finish:
Long and dry with a distinct corn-oak dominance. A little strawberry sweetness manage to break through just before the dying stages.

Comments:
Points docked for the slightly too oaky finish but all in all this is true beauty for being merely an "everyday"whiskey. Truth be told, I have never tried the current OF (impossible to get where I live) but I have to say that this old bottling holds up very well compared to other Brown-Forman products of today that I have sampled.

Rating: 8 1/4 /10

THE SPEY CAST 12 years old 40%

Nose:
Freshly baked bread with caraway seeds surrounded by creamy fruit salad and lavender. Earthy yet modest spices join in on the fun.




Palate:
Fat mouthfeel. Soft and chewy fruitiness dominates but the malt is more upfront than the nose would suggest. The latter eventually fuses with liquorice. A bit static in nature.




Finish:
Short-ish. The somewhat distant malt-liquorice plays the lead role amidst faint echoes of mineral spices and some soft grains.


Comment:

Brilliant nose and good tasting to boot. Some points docked due to a rather undynamic mid-palate and the decidedly anonymous finish. I have no idea which malts go into this blend but somehow it made me think of Glenrothes. Just a wild guess, though, and probably wrong.

Rating: 7 3/4 /10

MACALLAN Thirties 40%

Nose:
Seductive creamy texture with light touches of raisins and dying bonfires. Gradually a peat-salt hybrid stamps its mark on the proceedings.




Palate:
More upbeat now with typical Macallan de luxe pralines consisting of equal parts cream toffee and rich raisiny fruit. All this contrasted with a pronounced saltiness and some discreet peat.




Finish:
By now the fruit is almost out of the picture, leaving lots of space to salty liquorice, charcoal and light peat.


Comment:
Slightly more distinctive than the Fifties bottling this is, however, hardly a revelation. Top quality whisky as you might expect from this distillery but bearing in mind the price that it commands, perhaps best suited for the trainspotters of the whisky community.

Rating: 8 1/4 /10