Bottle no. 26 / 172

Flesnummer 26 / 172

Tasting notes by Serge Valentin (WhiskyNotes) 89/100 points

Colour: gold.

Nose: ah, this is more like it at first nosing, starting right on many fresh fruits such as oranges and tangerines, white peaches, with discreet whiffs of iron (a bag of nails). Some cocoa powder as well. I guess this one will need water as well. With water: quite superb, really ‘antique’, complex. Old turpentine, old varnishes, musk, orange blossom water…

Mouth (neat): attacks on ‘old whisky’ notes, with more spices than in the ‘youngsters’, rather more complex… Apple pie, vanilla fudge, a little sweet mustard, old liqueurs, yellow chartreuse, quite some pepper… Maybe a tad decadent in a certain way but nervous and rather powerful. With water: really tastes like a very old bottling now, reminds me of some early Cadenhead ‘black dumpies’. Something slightly metallic. Not sure water worked very well here.

Finish: rather long, more on cinnamon just like the 1976, but it isn’t really drying. Touches of cough syrup in the aftertaste, more liquorice and ginger as well.

Comments: at times quite stupendous and at times just a little more ‘tired’ but hey, this is very old whisky