Ireland 27 yo 1988 / 2015 Nectar of the Daily Drams for La Maison 49.5% vs Secret Highlands 24 yo 1996 / 2020 Batch no.7 Finest Whisky Berlin 54.8%
Ireland 27 yo 1988 / 2015 Nectar of the Daily Drams for La Maison 49.5%
Part of a rather famous set of Irish done for La Maison du Whisky before the Irish craze caught on. Doesn’t say so but I suspect this one was matured in a rum barrel (!) but everything does come together like Phineas and Ferb. It’s a cocktail of ripe passionfruit and starfruit, pineapples and golden kiwis, topped with generous amounts of grapefruit zest, crushed basil and artemisia, stripped bark, and grass sap. Bright shining and so alive. The rum is thankfully not the immense sort, or this acerbic but fruity, aromatic but lightfooted whisky would have come crashing down, here it imparts brine and olives, tamarind and a vegetal juiciness. 91 pts
Secret Highlands 24 yo 1996 / 2020 Batch no.7 Finest Whisky Berlin 54.8%
Yes, Clynelish DNA but the bourbon wood here must have been first refill. By that I mean one can certainly appreciate the hotly huffing minerals, peppercorns, sharp paraffin, lime zest and shiso leaf, but its softened by layering a swimming pool worth of bourbon-y things like sweet honey, cream, clean leather and thin caramel. It works fine, but in the sense of colleagues, instead of a marriage as we seek in the best whisky. Nonetheless, not to besmirch a friendly simple drinking Clynelish. 88 pts
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- Springbank 32 yo 1966 / 1998 #499 55.1%
- Millburn 36 yo 1969 / 2005 Douglas Laing #DL2152 50% vs Glenburgie 40 yo 1963 / 2003 Signatory #4751 56.4%
- Ben Nevis 23 yo 1996 / 2019 Single Malts of Scotland for the Nectar #536 51.3% vs A Speyside Distillery 32 yo 1989 / 2022 Thompson Bros 51.4%
- Brora 22 yo 1972 / 1995 Rare Malts 61.1% vs Brora 22 yo 1972 / 1995 Rare Malts 58.7%
- Talimburg 19 yo 1986 / 2005 The Whisky Fair #1485 45.9% vs Talisker 20 yo 1981 / 2002 62%
- Caol Ila 12 yo Bulloch Lade for Zenith 43% vs Caol Ila 30 yo 1979 / 2010 Berry Bros #4604/5 55.6%
- Clynelish 29 yo 1965 Whyte & Whyte 52.1%
- Brora 21 yo 1982 / 2003 Signatory #416 58.4% vs Clynelish 27 yo 1982 / 2009 Synch Eli Daily Dram 46%
- Dornoch 5 yo 2017 / 2023 #46 ‘Jasper Broers’ 57.9% vs Shizuoka ‘private cask’ 2017 / 2022 #2017-108 61%
- Clynelish 26 yo 1993 / 2020 Carn Mor #11215 52.7% vs Bowmore 17 yo 2004 /2021 SMWS 3.327 ‘Siren’s Song’ 57.1%
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