Green Elgin 1976 / 32 Year Old

Cask type: unknown – that’s what’s written on the label! Colour: pale gold with light green hues indeed.

Nose: very alive and fruity at first nosing, maybe more ‘Ordish’ than ‘Elginesque’ (!!!). Very nice notes of crushed bananas and coconut butter, which may suggest an ex-rum cask. Also nougat, white chocolate, roses… Loses a bit of steam after a moment, getting a little more vegetal (green tea) but the notes of coconuts are still there. Also ‘old strawberry liqueur’, Parma violet, Beaujolais wine.

Mouth: soft but not shy, very coherent with the nose. Barley sugar, grated coconut, dried bananas, milk chocolate, cider apples… Notes of mint flavoured tea, then more oak (cinnamon, nutmeg) and various dried herbs.

Finish: not too long but clean, ‘softly’ spicy and fruity.

Comments: a great profile, complex and entertaining (and intriguing) but the whole lacks maybe a little oomph. In short, excellent but too bad this one doesn’t go to eleven! SGP:641 – 87 points.

N:  Mossy, wet earth, with red apples emerging.  A waxy note, then delicious floral blossom, some citrus and green pepper notes - all on a bed of very old-school dusty oak.  With time, wild strawberries and polished oak develop.

P:  Gentle, very slightly smoked, oak entry, then incredibly polished malt and fine-grained oak tannins.  The apples from the nose look in, along with some sesame oil and brazil nuts.  The oak grows in stature, becoming slightly drying, but remaining silky-smooth and well-integrated. 

F: The apples cling on through the finish, with some candy-like notes (sweet cigarettes?) and citrus hints at the death.

C: A seriously classy old-school dram, matured in that particularly fine wood that seems to have been as prevalent in the 1970s as it is scarce today.