30 October 2017

29/10/2017 Clearing the shelf #13

Tomatin 36yo (46%, OB, B#2, b.2016): nose: concentrated wax, with drops of peach juice thrown in for good measure. It does not take long for tropical fruits to emerge (mangoes, physalis), competing with crushed nuts (macadamia, Brazil, cashew). A whiff of wood polish is also present. It teasingly alternates between lively, tropical fruit and noble, exotic wood; neither is too loquacious, unfortunately. This one does not have the first batch's exuberance. Mouth: similarly taciturn, it has more fruits than wood, though it retains a certain gingery heat too. That aside, it is all juicy cherries, papayas, cut peaches, dried apricots and a drop of wood varnish. The texture is velvety and unctuous, and one could easily overlook the most minute "green" bitterness, on the middle of the tongue. Finish: pleasant, if somewhat discreet, it delivers apricots, peaches, perhaps papayas, but no mangoes. There is a dollop of custard and fluffy doughnut, as well as half a pinch of ground green pepper. This is very nice, yet it suffers from the comparison with its illustrious ancestor. 8/10

Lochside 22yo d.1981 (50%, Lombard Jewels of Scotland, b. ca 2003): nose: dead branches, forest floor, and a definite animal characteristic -- fox's skin, wet dogs, the cat's basket. Shortly thereafter, dry cork, dried red-wine stains and forest mushrooms, sizzling in butter. This is a most unusual Lochside 1981! Crushed nutshells, nut liqueurs, as well as raspberry vinegar... this is interesting and complex; just unexpected. I wonder what type of cask this was matured in. Mouth: soft and fruitier, with apple compote, flat peary (scratch that: it does turn fizzy), galangal shavings on a slice of pan-seared gammon. The texture is thick, coating and waxy, reminiscent of cork (the stopper, not the town in Ireland). Finish: smoke!??!? Yes, it definitely has smoke. After the first sip, it becomes clear that the nose also has smoked ham and scorched earth. Back to the finish, there are caramelised apples, roasted on an open log fire. A pan, in which mushrooms were shallow-fried, and which was deglazed with apple cider. The smoke becomes more and more assertive, funnily enough, and it is wood smoke, not another kind. Smoke and apple cider. Essentially, that is it. Not much of the expected tropical fruit to be found. They fleetingly appear, for a tenth of a second, long after swallowing, but it is hard not to put that down to autosuggestion. Regardless, it is a cracking dram. 8/10 (Thanks for the sample, PT)

Lochside 42yo 1964/2006 (47.7%, Robert Scott Scott's Selection): the single blend that started it all, so to speak. Nose: immediately, this is another beast, with lots of nail varnish, wax seals and an unmistakable fruitiness. Juicy peaches, mangoes, satsumas, a dose of pomelo, pink grapefruit and lime, perhaps unripe maracuja too. It even has a vague whiff of smoking wood chips, but nothing like the Lombard expression above. It is mostly yellow-fleshed, slightly tropical fruit and waxy fruit skins. Dunnage warehouse (in other words: lichen on staves and alcohol vapours), though not too bold. Mouth: milky texture, with the same waxy fruit from the nose. The citrus is much tamer (pink grapefruit and pomelo, mostly), the peaches are much less ripe. Wax seals are here, nail varnish (the grain influence, likely), and a very faint bitterness. The whole becomes creamier and creamier, not unlike lukewarm fruit yoghurt, or coconut cream. Finish: here, it is a cascade of buttery fruits -- mangoes, peaches, papayas, tinned pineapples in syrup, overripe satsuma slice. It is creamy as hell, and gorgeous. The mouthfeel after swallowing is that of avocado (but no the taste). A delicate note of persimmon-flavoured nail varnish shows up (if that does not exist yet, you read it here first!), ripe bananas and coconut cream. A great drop. All the same, I prefer it TWE's 46yo by a rather comfortable margin. We will have them back to back at some point in the future. Because we can. 9/10

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