This originally retailed for about £429 (excluding VAT) when released. Around summer 2010, some new stock popped up (so the story goes), and a number of retailers offered it at steeply discounted prices.
My malt enjoyment progression has advanced into the "I really like this profile" stage where for me I am enjoying the oaky spiciness of older well done bourbon cask whiskies. This was no exception as the nose said it was right up my alley. Spicy fruits with warm oaky resin - clearly older and really exciting from first nose. A-
Unfortunately I may have gotten too excited - the taste was warm and spicy but not nearly enough of either. B
The finish was short and fleating with little to be excited about. B-/C+ - may require a re-taste.
***SIDE NOTE*** This was one of the collector battle malts and I turned in my grades along with my notes for tally. When I awoke the next morning (after passing out in the theater - I think I poured a bit too generously) and gathered my stuff, I noted an addition to my notes. Five of the six bottles had comments that were...well...less than flattering. One of two things occurred.....Either my drunken self wrote these comments without memory and in a handwriting that is less similar to mine than any drunken handwriting I have created before.....OR someone added them to my notes.....several attendees have adamantly denied responsibility and/or pointed the finger at others.....a drunken handwriting test shall be given following the next session to feret out the true vandal. ;-}
Butterscotch nose. Oaky with hay and paint thinner.
Palate is nice and surprisingly sweet for the age... it's a nice type of honeyed moderate sweetness. Buttery. Cinnamon and mixed spices play in the finish, and there are very few of the tannins I expect for 36 years. The oak is definitely present, but I like the way it tastes here... it's sort of like nuts or maybe pink peppercorns in a salad. Yeah.
All-in-all, this isn't quite my thing, but I do like it. A tasted bourbon-casked number that reveals unexpected layers as it opens up.
N: Spirity, something grassy bordering on moldy, whiff of gunpowder. P: Tobacco, dry tea leaf. F: Slightly bitter. There's something off here, seems like bad wood to me. Or maybe just way too much of it.
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