Collectivum XXVIII Special Releases 2017

Tasting Notes

• Tasting notes by Billy Abbott (The Whisky Exchange)

  • Nose

    Chocolate cornflake cakes, red berries and waxy apples to start. Custard and cocoa sit underneath and a sprinkle of candied lemon lies on top.

  • Palate

    Quite hot to start – it takes water well – with intense cinnamon and nutmeg spiciness. Orchard fruit comes in through the middle, surrounded by lemon and orange. Spice fades and then builds again, with liquorice and hints of smoke at the back.

  • Finish

    Damp leaves and spice fading to chocolate milk.

  • Comment

    A densely packed dram that needs time to reveal itself. A drop of water helps – while it's great that the Special Releases are bottled at full strength, this one definitely needs a drop to show its full potential.

• Tasting notes from the producer

  • Appearance

    Pale clear amber.

  • Nose

    Surprisingly mild in feel. The overall aroma is tightly integrated: spicy-sweet and fruity, combining spiky green leaves and dog roses with autumnal forests, toffee and rich vanilla sauce. The greenness comes to dominate, although the sour notes are tempered by sweet brown butter and a slice of candied fruit. Time reveals more herbal notes, with minty toffee and hints of pastry. Water opens all this up, drying and introducing Speyside notes of the sweetshop, with candy and dried apple rings joined by floral touches.

  • Body

    Rich and rounded.

  • Palate

    A balance of sweetness, acidity and tannic dryness. Nuts and spice lead, with hazelnuts and almonds joined by bitter walnuts and hot cinnamon. Sweetness builds behind, with candy, barley sugar and sharp candied lemons. The almonds reappear, now sugared, only to disappear amid more citrus, tempered by toffee and fudge spiced with cinnamon, and finally by fruity dark chocolate. Water cools; the smooth sweetness and spice rise, bringing a refreshing bitter note; cream, apple sauce and milk chocolate laced with oak, clove and dark chocolate.

  • Finish

    Of medium-length, with buttery pastry, warming spice and a thin layer of sharp fruit; a fresh apple pie ready for the oven. The fruit lingers as apple skin, joined by crisp pear.