hs305 scored this whisky 87 points 
[August, 2018] The only way to buy whisky at Scoma when they started their business 40 years ago was either to go there in person or to send a postcard with your order (because even the PC was not invented yet, not to mention the internet). I own a price list of Scoma from the early nineties and guess what: You will not get a single dram of these whiskies nowadays for the price of the full bottle on that list. So was the whisky world crazy back then - or turned it that way during the last decade? I have a clear opinion on that...
...and my opinion on this anniversary bottling of Scoma is: Another exhausted cask was sold to a small IB - obviously it is almost impossible for such small businesses to get a hand on a really good cask these days (because there are not that many good old casks around after 15 years of an ongoing whisky boom). Actually it is not bad but it is not great either - but Scoma reflected this in its reasonable price setting of 80 Euro which is fair. Others might have been tempted to price this at more than 100 Eurobucks, so thanks for not being greedy - Scoma (an old school business behaviour that is rather rare these days)...
PS: I re-tasted this dram after several weeks and either it impoved due to oxydation effects in a half-empty bottle or I simply like it better tonight. I raise my score by three points on all three dimensions compared to my first review (that was 83/84/85).
...and my opinion on this anniversary bottling of Scoma is: Another exhausted cask was sold to a small IB - obviously it is almost impossible for such small businesses to get a hand on a really good cask these days (because there are not that many good old casks around after 15 years of an ongoing whisky boom). Actually it is not bad but it is not great either - but Scoma reflected this in its reasonable price setting of 80 Euro which is fair. Others might have been tempted to price this at more than 100 Eurobucks, so thanks for not being greedy - Scoma (an old school business behaviour that is rather rare these days)...
PS: I re-tasted this dram after several weeks and either it impoved due to oxydation effects in a half-empty bottle or I simply like it better tonight. I raise my score by three points on all three dimensions compared to my first review (that was 83/84/85).
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The colour is deep copper and the nose offers the shy profile of an exhausted cask like so often with bottlings from rather small IBs these days. Nonetheless there are some fine nutty, floral and barley sugary / mashy aromas to catch after a while. Some water opens up the nose (somewhat) and releases waxy and toffee aromas, finally.
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The taste is sugary sweet with some nice ripe fruits (e.g. bananas, papayas) and shy spices (mint, clover). Again there is almost no wood influence (e.g., vanilla, tannins) to detect but there is no flaw either. In a blind setting I might have guessed a rather young whisky of 10 to 15 years first but after some chewing the growing complexity indicates an older dram. Water smoothes the dram and turns it more quaffable, I like it best when reduced to about 45% abv. Do not get me wrong: This is very enjoyable to sip on a warm summer evening...
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The whisky arrives a little hot in the mouth what turns into a warming and a creamy coating feeling after some moments with no unpleasant wooden notes (how should come from an inactive cask?). The finish is of medium length and gets more oily and spicy on peppers and a pinch of salt. Some very shy white chocolate notes lurk in the background but do not dare to enter the spotlight, unfortunately. But again, no flaw or distracting feeling in the finish.
