Cask No. 26.102                     $220  

Pomanders in a lady’s parlour

Highland, Northern

The nose had undeniable sweetness (Edinburgh Rock, glazed fruit tarts in a patisserie and jam-making) but beyond that we found an enigma of teasing aromas, including Barbour jackets, scented candles, basketry, leather, polished wood, shale, sandalwood, fir and freesias. With water we detected more citrus and ‘rose creams and pomanders in a refined lady’s parlour’. The palate was deliciously sweet and warming with a pleasant waxy mouth-feel; sweet flavours of marzipan petits fours, honey, Danish pastries, fruit fondants and chocolate truffles; but the experience made more complex with lemon, orange zest, leather, cinnamon, clove and aromatic oils. Brora’s only working distillery.

Drinking tip: A delightful reward for having done a good deed or for hard work.

Colour: Light amber

Cask: Refill butt

Age: 29 years

Date distilled: December 1984

Alcohol: 56.0%

USA allocation: 114 bottles

Flavour profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow 

 

*President’s Choice*

Cask No. 41.67                               $240

Bitter-sweet with a dash of fun

Speyside, Spey

True to its colour the nose delivered apricot jam, brown sugar-sprinkled peach flan and orange crepes; we also found pressed flowers, butterscotch, lemon drizzle cake and tinned syrup sponge – quite a dessert! The neat taste was a bitter-sweet experience of dark chocolate orange, oranges preserved in brandy syrup, marmalade, lemon sherbets and warming spices (chilli, ginger, liquorice). The reduced nose became a tropical fruit explosion – lemon, lime, papaya, banana, cranberry, raspberry, rhubarb, with some floral notes chucked in for fun. The palate remained mouth-drawingly citric (grapefruit, lime zest, gooseberry) but reasonably balanced by sweet and sour confectionery (Haribo Tangfastics, Jolly Ranchers).

Drinking tip: An early summer’s evening perhaps – but be sure to allow it plenty of time.

Colour: Muted apricot blush

Cask: Refill hogshead

Age: 30 years

Date distilled: September 1984

Alcohol: 53.7%

USA allocation: 60 bottles

Flavour profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow 

*Low Outturn*

Cask No. 35.122                     $125 

Perfumed lady at a garden fête

Speyside, Lossie

The nose combined sweet and woody notes – sawmill yards, hessian, peeled twigs, white pepper and leather lined up against golden syrup, mashed banana, bread-and-butter pudding, barley sugars and vanilla sponge. The palate balanced vanilla ice-cream, honey and sugar puffs with pink grapefruit, perfume, chilli pepper and lemon – really quite interesting and unusual. On the reduced nose a perfumed lady stood between a sweetie stall (jelly tots, tutti frutti, sherbet straws) and a cake stand at a garden fête. The palate was now sweet, salty, spicy, woody, teasing, titillating and tremendously tasty. The distillery is vulnerable to flooding from the River Lossie.

Drinking tip: Unusual enough to provoke conversation

Colour: Saharan sands

Cask: First-fill barrel

Age: 12 years

Date distilled: December 2001

Alcohol: 57.3%

USA allocation: 72 bottles

Flavour profile: Spicy & sweet 

 

Cask No. 50.64                       $200

Magic balloons in a eucalyptus forest

Lowland

To our noses, it seemed that magic balloons floated free, then exploded into firework bursts of flowers, which fell to earth in a eucalyptus forest; we also got lime cordial, sultanas, Christmas spices and dark chocolate orange. The palate was an explosion of syrupy fruits (cherry, orange) and various fruity sweets, some dark chocolate, interesting chilli spice plus polished furniture and book shelves. Fruits were more obvious on the reduced nose (rhubarb rock, papaya, dragon fruit, mandarin) – someone got an old-fashioned Post Office (sweets, newspapers, stationery etc). The palate now found sugar-coated fennel seeds, ginger Edinburgh Rock, lychee and lemonade.

Drinking tip: To provide inspiration while Christmas shopping on-line

Colour: Toffee penny wrapper

Cask: Refill barrel

Age: 25 years

Date distilled: January 1990

Alcohol: 54.5%

USA allocation: 79 bottles

Flavour profile: Spicy & sweet

 

*USA exclusive*

Cask No. 3.234                       $145

Scallops cooked on a puffer shovel

Islay

The nose had many dimensions – rock-pools and busy harbours, sweet toffee, vanilla and Edinburgh Rock, something sweetly citric (Jaffa cakes, chocolate limes), savoury notes of smoky bacon, heather flowers and Germolene. The palate had sherbet, parma violets, smoked gammon and Demerara; marshmallows speared on twigs roasting over a beach bonfire and ‘scallops cooked on a puffer shovel’ – a complex dram with a big presence. Water brought heather honey, jasmine, lavender oil and hot dogs to the nose. The palate now had grilled prawns and floral smoke – sweeter and more gentle but somehow still impressive. The distillery is in the island’s capital.

 Drinking tip: Evening barbeque – with meat, fish or marshmallows

Colour: Gold coins

Cask: Refill butt

Age: 16 years

Date distilled: September 1997

Alcohol: 57.5%

USA allocation: 180 bottles

Flavour profile: Peated

The Outturn can be viewed online here: Early December 2015 Outturn

Please link readers to http://www.smwsa.com/ for more information.