Irish Single Malt 27 yo 1988 / 2015 Auld Alliance 51.2%

Irish Single Malt 27 yo 1988 / 2015 Auld Alliance 51.2%

Famously fruity years in Ireland, perhaps 1988 is the fruitiest of them all. This and its peated 1991 sister bottling are special to me as I got to help in selecting them for bottling one night. Obvious choices really, they stood head, shoulders and a whole torso above any other Scotch that night. I took a run of the 1991 to mark my son’s birth as well and until today I am not sure if I should have chosen the 88. Both are fabulous malts though. This one is so hilariously fruity, you can’t help but love it. Passion fruit, golden kiwis, mango juice and most of all blackcurrants. Bright, fresh, juicy and sloshing, full of the tart sweetness of berry juice. Some of these Irishes veer to a herbaceous or grassy side on the tongue but not this one. This is pure fruit juice, with hot plaster and sunshine on stones. Overall a lighter malt, but uplifting and it goes down way too easily. Pure love. 92 pts