Brora 40 yo 1972 (59.1%, OB, decanter, single cask, 2014)
This very lovely decanter is available for pre-order at World of
Whiskies, but you'll have to collect it from one of the travel retails
shops in the UK from April 21, 2014. So you may have to spend £6,995.00
on the whisky plus around £29.99 on an air ticket (Easyjet or Ryanair,
your call). Or you rent a jet if you’d like the whole experience to be
more prestigious. Something that I really like, also, is what’s written
on the bottle, “Proud survivor of a legendary distillery”. If it’s
proud, it’s got a soul, and I always thought great old whiskies were
having a soul… There, new evidence! Colour: gold. Nose: oh, no! I
remember when we were downing the various 22yo Rare Malts like if there
were no tomorrow (I may well be exaggerating a bit here, I’m a bit like
Stirling Moss and his famous line ‘the older I get, the faster I was.’
The older I get, the more Brora 1972 I drank, haha), so yeah, when we
were having Brora 22 72, they were all utterly brilliant, but always a
little rough around the edges… Well, the nose of this 40 is utterly
brilliant and its edges have been wonderfully polished with all sorts of
precious waxes and oils. What strikes me as well is that we’re getting
very close to the best old Ardbegs from the same era. Maybe even above
them if, like me, you enjoy a kind of tenseness in your whisky. I don’t
know why, it’s just a feeling… Maybe that’s these stunning
resinous/sappy notes, or this medicinal side that was less obvious in
the younger 1972 Broras.
Other
than that and because we haven’t gotten all day, let me just mention
olive oil, cigars, menthol, teak oil, smoked oysters, drops of diesel,
Spanish ham, special brine, vetiver, verbena, sugar cane… So a truly
fabulous nose, a real movie. With water (because you see, we must):
astounding clarity and freshness, that’s all I’ll say. Mouth (neat):
amazing. A tidal wave, the arrival’s incredibly smooth for Brora, and
then it never stops growing, getting bigger, hitting harder, invading
your palate and leaving you totally breathless (which could even be a
little dangerous, seriously). It’s a symphony, or a long suite by the
Duke Ellington Orchestra. You don’t control anything, the whisky
controls you, which is a weird feeling I have to say. A wonderful, but
weird feeling. Excuse me? Flavours? I’d say grapefruits, oysters, peat
smoke, beech smoke (smoked salmon), touches of ink, wasabi, earth,
samphire, lemon curd… And bags and bags of other flavours, the list is
just too long, someone could build a whole website just for this baby.
Full maturity but absolutely no signs of tiredness, quite the opposite. I
don’t know why, Tilda Swinton’s name pops in my mind, probably because
she’s Scottish. With water (which might be useless but we do follow
procedures at WF Towers, mind you): a.m.a.z.i.n.g. Waxy and smoky
citrus. Utter perfection. Finish: it’s the freshness that’s impressive
here. An endless list of flavours, all coated with the most refined
smoke in Scotland. Comments: I don’t think I’ve mentioned oak, have I?
That’s whisky, when you don’t feel any oak. I’d add that I actually
started Whiskyfun.com because of Brora, and this expression is the kind
of whisky that keeps me going. I think this has been too long,
apologies. SGP:567 - 98 points
whiskyfun.com
United Kingdom
Whiskybase
