Brora 21 yo 1977 / 1998 Rare Malts 56.9% vs Brora 20 yo 1975 / 1996 Rare Malts 60.75%

Brora 21 yo 1977 / 1998 Rare Malts 56.9%

Some say these 77s had little peat, but this one begs to differ. Unwrapped bandage rolls and litres of antiseptic, but not in an iodine sort of way, this is more old medicine, if that makes sense. Plenty of soot, grime crusted metal and coal fired ovens. Well used hurricane lanterns and kerosene. On the other hand it has a damp coolness about it, like petrichor and mossy rocks on wet hills buffeted by sea wind. Maybe some hints of grated horseradish. 91 pts I prefer 56.1% by a wide margin.

Brora 20 yo 1975 / 1996 Rare Malts 60.75%

Much peatier and much more coherent, with a tighter structure and clear focus that clearly alludes to 1972. The peat is rough shod, prowling and grizzled but also muzzled. All the hallmarks of its predecessors ferocity are present. Whiff of animal too but not the whole farm this time. Thick black earth and old vegetation in full decay. A while shoreline of churned up turf. Constantly vacillating between the coastal elements and the peat, now it goes back to pulled roots, wild grasses and boggy, oily mud. Does a whisky drinker need more to go on? Because this Brora provides in spades: Damp bark, stony moss, quinine, pine resin and hot ash. Petrichor and saline, like the tide, goes on and on. 93 pts