Springbank 23 yo bottled Dec 1991 James MacArthur’s 53.7% vs Ardbeg 17 yo 1976 / 1993 Cadenhead 54.6%
Springbank 23 yo bottled Dec 1991 James MacArthur’s 53.7%
On one hand it’s got the trappings of pristine Springbank, with salted lemons, sea breeze, crunching minerals, white smoke and drops of petrol. Yet on the other hand – and rather unfortunately, even after giving it plenty of time and air – a perilous undercurrent of dried yellow glue and stale vase water. The tongue confirms the flaw. And a flaw it is, not something to be attributed to that nebulous no man’s land covered by the word ‘characterful’. I think the most generous thing to say would be that it has its good part and bad parts. 82 pts
Ardbeg 17 yo 1976 / 1993 Cadenhead 54.6%
Precisely the kind of Ardbeg I love. And precision is what it’s all about. Crystal clear seawater, fine lemon zest dosed with a drop of neroli, mastic and other clean oleoresins. In the distance a man with a cigar has dug up the deepest blackest peat. A glowing pit of embers and white ash sizzles over a bed of hot sand. Tubs of chest rub for the whole boat crew. And especially salty on the tongue as well. So yes, we know this. True, it’s a narrow style of whisky – much in the same way it take just three notes to play a chord. But a chord in the hands of a master touches hearts. 91 pts
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