hs305 scored this whisky 85 points 
[March, 2019] The tenth and last bottling of the Private Edition series with Dr. Bill's experiments, so far I liked the first Sonnalta and the Artein best. And this time Dr. Bill confirms an old suspicion I ever had but that was always denied by all the whisky industry pro's I talked to: Yeast does matter! At least, this might be one explanation why so many old style drams taste differently (another one is: In older times they used barley with lower alcohol yields that most probably add more flavours than today's high-yield strains)...
...and indeed the nose offers some rather unusual old-style aromas that are rarely found in modern drams. But the casks killed both the taste and mouthfeel/finish with excessive bitter-drying wooden notes - only a few other flavours shine through hence the taste is rather simple. Not my style of whisky, but wood-heads will adore this (probably)...
...and indeed the nose offers some rather unusual old-style aromas that are rarely found in modern drams. But the casks killed both the taste and mouthfeel/finish with excessive bitter-drying wooden notes - only a few other flavours shine through hence the taste is rather simple. Not my style of whisky, but wood-heads will adore this (probably)...
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The colour is old gold and the nose offers indeed a flavour that often can be found in older drams: It is floral-perfumy with hints of lavendar, melissa and camphor. Very interesting but most probably not to everybody's liking. Beside this there are delicious fruits, honeys and waxes in an appropriate wooden setting. Later fine chalky, earthy and mineralic notes join in that often can be found in old stylish drams, too.
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The taste is bitter-sweet with more bitter than sweet notes. It is driven mainly by vanilla, herbal and tannic wooden flavours without significant other impressions. This is rather simple and for sure not due to the wild yeast (but due to aggressive casks, maybe some virgin oak?). To be honest, this is not to my liking - a typical "woodsky"...
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The initial mouthfeel is warming and coating but with a significant drying-peppery touch (tannins at work) that is rather unpleasant. The finish is of short to medium length and adds more toffee and spicy flavours. The bitter-drying mouthfeel stays all the time throughout the finish. Water releases more of the interesting old-stylish aromas in the nose and turns the taste and finish less bitter - I like this dram best when reduced to about 40% abv.
