Brora 25 Year Old 7th Release Bot.2008

Tasting Notes from Whiskyfun (Serge Valentin)

• Comment

  Exit our beloved 30yo, here comes the new 25yo!

• Colour

  Pale gold. Nose: this is more delicate than the 1983, which suggests an earlier vintage(s). The smoke is sort of shier but also more elegant, the whole being more complex for sure. At random we get notes of fresh bitter almonds (quite a lot), white wine (Sauvignon), wet leaves and mushrooms (a walk through the trees, really), cloves and ginger, smoked tea (lapsang souchong)… Gets then a little fruitier (ripe apples and pears), grassier and even a tad mustardy.

• With water

  Gets a bit farmier (wet hay) and maritime as well (drying kelp on the beach), with also hints of fresh mint.

• Mouth (neat)

  Starts unexpectedly fruity (granny smith) but it’s soon to get rather smokier, with big notes of fresh walnuts and crystallised lemon zests together with hints of liquorice, horseradish and green pepper. Gets then grassier and “pleasantly acrid”, if you see what I mean.

• With water

  It’s here that it gets closer to the 30yo’s, with the kind of ‘majestic austerity’ that we like so much in most Broras. It is to be wondered if they didn’t sort of ‘dope’ this one with one or two casks of older spirit. Just a wild guess!.

• Finish

  Long, grassy, smokier now, with these very idiosyncratic notes of mustard and salt in the aftertaste.

• Comments

  We had feared that the new 25 would not hold a candle to the 30; we were wrong. But please give it time and, most importantly, don’t forget to add a few drops of water to it to unleash its full ‘Broraness’. SGP:265 - 90 points.