Let’s stay in the excellence zone, let’s stay around 25yo age: after that Talisker that we loved so much, we test here the youngest of the Brora placed on the market from Diageo in the Special Release series: a 25yo, indeed, bottled in 2008. It seems useless to say that, such occasions will unfortunately become more and more rare… Who knows how many times we’ll have the chance to put our hands on a Brora at a reasonable price? Maybe never again. We cry a bit and afterwards we smell…
N: a bit of a shy Brora at first, without that “warm dirt” feeling (farmy to be more precise) the other Special Releases used us to. This is very polite, with well-mannered notes of honey, hay and wax. Which grow, and grow and grow… With few minutes of oxygenation a creamy and fruity sweetness grows: apricot and strawberry jam; raisins and a sprinkle of orange, black pepper. A clear fresh, dry and spicy wood angle rises that we never felt in any other Brora OB. The lack of a clear smokiness is surprising. With water becomes more “Broresque” and warm, enriching the profile with pear, almonds, citrus fruits and with some dirtier notes, barn.
P: it continues, very coherent with the nose: the begin is incredibly compact and intense, even without the flavor bomb that Brora used us to. The hints of wax are a universe in constant expansion and deliver a superb oiliness and chewiness. Following the script, clear creamy and honeyed notes; a peppery side persists. As per the nose, weak smoky and farmy notes, highlighted only from that bit of peat, vegetal and acrid. With water is an increasing pleasure: more creamy (buttery pear) and less sharp; excellent increase of smoke.
F: long and persistent, with dried fruit notes and acrid peat; perhaps only a bit of smoke.
Let’s leave the words free: seems more a Clynelish than a Brora (???); still remaining the excellence area, it’s somehow a more “normal” whisky compared with the masterpieces placed on the market in the same series. We still don’t and won’t complain, but well, a nice 90/100.
Recommended soundtrack: Dick Katz – There will never be another you.
