Imperial 25 yo 1995 / 2021 Single Malts of Scotland #7861 54% vs Bruichladdich 23 yo 1978 / 2001 John Armit Wines 51%

Imperial 25 yo 1995 / 2021 Single Malts of Scotland #7861 54%

Cold pastry cream, vanilla pods, new white wood and plenty of warm wax, which lean more towards paraffin than actual beeswax. A little sharp with yellow pollen and crushed chamomiles but also sour like boiled citrus peel before the sugar. On the tongue especially, the wetly vegetal tang of unripe star fruit or snapped stems is inescapable. I can see the pieces of a great whisky falling into place but at 25 years this one is not quite there yet – it remains rather simple and wants integration and further refinement. 87 pts 

Bruichladdich 23 yo 1978 / 2001 John Armit Wines 51%

Not a fresh fruity one. This one is on roasted oils, old mint teabags, dried out orange rind, musky melons, dried green apple skins and iron filings. Burnt grass, old glue and pine sap too. Plenty of breadth plus a surprising weight. But it does seem like a choir of purely tenors  – a middleweight section missing heavy flavours, not to say that’s a fault here. The tongue takes a dry and salty turn before long, plenty of salted peanut shells, rounding off an enjoyable pour. Totally unexpected from this distillery, a unique lesson telling me that there is much left to explore. 90 pts