Berry Bros & Rudd 1979 / 2023 Blended Malt #5 52.6%

A good blend with quality malts with age like this at this price is a real bargain. First off huge notes of orange marmalade then warm butter brioche, sooty stove tops, lumps of coal and sweet ginger syrup on cinnamon cake. Excellent whisky who cares if its a blend. Tobacco leaf, warm cardamom, oily teak and incense in fragrant cedar boxes. Very 70s Longmorn, dare I say it. There’s something warm and fruity in this that recalls lazy golden afternoons and baked fruit desserts. Quite lush and beautiful right now, but it does take a turn toward a bitter woody side on the palate, like ginseng and quinine bark tea or chicory salad. I don’t need to know what went in. 92 pts