A proportion of the spirit was first drawn on the 4th March 1922, which in turn is reputed to embody some Dalmore from 10th June 1868 and 18th February 1878. Kind of a solera?
Colour: deep amber, slightly darker.
Nose: wow! Slightly shy for half a second (especially when compared with the 32yo) but then it’s the charge of the Light Brigade! First I get leather and cigar box mixed with menthol, eucalyptus and old Tarragones chartreuse. Then I get fresh seashells like ormers or clams, all kinds of dried fruits (no need to list them all), beeswax, old furniture, old wine, espresso coffee, chocolate, butter caramel, old orange liqueur… Stunning development! Quite some peat in there, probably, because there’s also notes of old pu-erh tea, wet hay, hints of horse sweat… What’s great is the strength of the whole, fab that they managed to come up with 52% instead of the usual 40%-ish very old whiskies. Amazingly great, with the menthol doing a remarkable comeback after quite some time. A malt to spend a whole evening with as far as the nose is concerned.
Mouth: terrific news, it’s almost as great on the palate. Not quite, as almost always with old whiskies, but this mix of leathery, waxy, minty and oaky notes is just fabulous. Really full-bodied, almost invading, with again all sorts of dried fruits, all sorts of great old wines (not just sherry), all sorts of teas (notably blackcurrant leaves I think), coffee, black toffee, these raisins again, dried bananas, old calvados (with that slight bitterness), dark pipe tobacco... Gets more and more toasted and liquoricy after that, very ‘black’ if you see what I mean, almost heavy and thick (in a nice way).
The finish is incredibly long and even fresh (sort of), superbly orangey and quite leafy/earthy, with hints of game, caramelized meat and… smokiness from the peat? S-t-u-n-n-i-n-g, and believe me, I’d have loved to bash such an extravagantly priced whisky ;-) but I’m sorry, it’s going to be no less than 96 points. (thanks to Richard Paterson and WhiskyLive Paris)
