Islay 29 years Vintage 1991 for The Auld Alliance

Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Islay 29 years Vintage 1991 for The Auld Alliance
  • Islay 29 years Vintage 1991 for The Auld Alliance

Islay 29 years Vintage 1991 for The Auld Alliance

Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky

BottlerThompson Brothers
Distillery / brandIslay
CountryScotland
RegionIslay
Content Size0.7 liter
Alc/vol49.2%
Age29 years
Distilled1991
Cask typeRefill Barrel
Number of bottles240
Flavour ProfilesLightly to medium peated
Out of stock

Collaboration with Auld Alliance

Tasting notes by Agnus MacRaild (WhiskyFun.com) 90/100

Colour: bright straw.

Nose: I find this one goes more specifically towards medicines, all on bandages, gauze, gentle embrocations and distant wafts of TCP and iodine. Extremely typical but more focussed. With time it becomes a little more rooty and earthy, hints of gentian, antiseptic and soft peat smoke.

Mouth: pure, ashy, briny and peaty with an overlying citrus fruit quality but with everything dialled down low so there is no single dominant flavour. The whole feels entirely about balance, integration and elegance. It's almost like a 10yo Laphroaig from the early 1990s but at a proper bottling strength and slightly less fruit. A touch of sandalwood and dried fish too. Finish: long, more deeply and assertively peaty, earthy and on medical roots once again, then peppery and with a tang of mustard powder in the aftertaste.

Comments: top notch and wonderfully focussed and balanced, but I would say I just miss the more overt fruitiness of the 1990s.

Islay 29 years Vintage 1991 for The Auld Alliance

Islay 29 years Vintage 1991 for The Auld Alliance