I anledning af 25 års jubilæet på Port Ellen Maltings.
Tasting notes by Whiskyfun (Serge Valentin)
No need to say this is a legendary bottling! Thanks to the Lindorables for having sourced this one that I had never tried before.
Nose: wild, very wild, starting on an unusual way, very much on smoked ham and bacon but evolving very quickly towards more typical notes of tar and new tyres. Notes of hot butter, nougat, peated malt... Gets then very flinty, mineral, chalky, lemony... And then quite animal, almost like with some old sherry monsters (but no traces of sherry here). Also raw wool, hare belly, porridge... Rather fantastico but let’s see what happens with a few drops of water... Great things! The lemony notes get rounder and probably more approachable, then there are Turkish delights, faint hints of bubblegum (very funny here), strawberry sweets (it’s probably the first time I get notes of strawberries in Port Ellen), hints of antiseptic, smoked tea... And lots of micro-things that we won’t bother to list here. Superb.
Mouth (neat): amazingly assertive indeed! Even bigger than on the nose, superbly lemony and peaty, wild, beautifully bitter (strong liquorice), with touches of salt on the tip of your tongue. Also something camphory (cough sweets). Ultra-big notes of lemon marmalade. A bit too big to be enjoyed neat I must say, lets add water again. Right, now it’s a little less complex than on the nose but there a big notes of grapefruits, tinned pineapples, candied lemons and added hints of blackcurrants.
Finish: long and more classic now, pretty much in the genre of the Rare Malts 20 and 22yo’s, that is to say much straighter now. Anyway, a stunning whisky, not just a rarity for collectors who are ready to hand out 2000+ euro’s for a single bottle. SGP:789 - 94 points.