posted 7 Jun. 2012

WhiskyNotes gave this whisky 89 points

Color

Deep gold

Nose

Needs some time. There's a lot of (good) dust at first, the kind of musty smell of a bodega or a whisky warehouse. Moss and mushrooms too. Quite some oily notes as well (cod liver oil, paraffin). A little metal. Then it settles down but it keeps developing. Chamomile. A little vanilla. Not a fruit bomb, but it does show papaya, apricots and relatively shy citrus notes. Soft tobacco notes as well. You only see this kind of profile in really old malts, it's quite unique but not entirely satisfying maybe because of its softness.

Taste

Obviously not very punchy but quite flavoursome. Starts on a fair amount of oak and tobacco, with a sudden wave of rather tropical fruity notes (guava, coconut). Again some chamomile, maybe other teas as well. Oak, definitely, which is not too dry and mostly adds some bitter notes: grapefruit, ginger, a few tannins. In the background there's always this unique dustiness.

Finish

Medium long, now almost entirely on oak juices. Bitter oranges as well. A little mint.

Comments

A different Lochside than the more fruity single blends distilled in the 1960s. Don’t rush this one, it's old and delicate and it needs some time. But once it has opened up you get to enjoy a unique profile and fine complexity. Many other malts would have been dead after so many years in the cask, this one is still alive. Expensive of course.

 

www.whiskynotes.be

posted 22 May. 2012

markjedi1 gave this whisky 90 points

Color

Old gold

Nose

The nose is very complex. Very fruity, almost tropical. Think juniper berries, pear and mango on syrup, livened up with some mint. It also hints at metal polish, as if it were poured from a can. And to my pleasure, I also get a hint of smoke. Great stuff!

Taste

It attacks spicy (ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper) and is sweet from the start. The oak does put its foot down, but allows the fruit to speak as well. All of the fruits from the nose return, joined by some agrums (all sorts of citrus juices, primarily grapefruit in this case). The balance is outstanding.

Finish

Only in the (rather short) finish, does the oak take over. But what did you expect after 45 years?

Comments

This is a perfectly balanced, fruity whisky, in which the oak does as the oak should (not control, but support). Wonderful. You will need to cough up 345 EUR though. The spring release by Malts of Scotland also contains, from the ffice:smarttags" />Highlands, a Glengoyne 1998 on sherry cask.

 

Mark Dermul Toshan Man

lifeclock

markjedi1

SherryHoggie

Nikelaos

€ 345.00

€ 345.00

€ 345.00

€ 345.00

€ 349.90

¥ 31290