Every year, when Black Friday comes, whisky lovers set the alarm very early, because The Whisky Exchange – the first and bigger whisky e-commerce in the world – puts on the market a special bottling that’s usually sold out in the blink of an eye. Last year it was a 21 yo malt from a secret Speyside distillery (it’s Glenburgie). It deserves a honorable mention for the price, too: 80 pounds for a 21 yo Glenburgie at cask strength was really a bargain. A sample of this whisky appeared during our recent blind tasting session, so these notes were sightless too.
N: are there distilleries in Copacabana? Because this dram unleashes samba notes and a divine tropicality. Fresh and sour maracuja, mango sherbet, a citric sensation, like star fruit: delicious. The nose is actually nicely sharp, with an alcoholic hint. It smells like Tropics, but we must be in Speyside. Under the bikini, there’s more: a dusty sensation, like having some Pastiglie Leone in your hand. Old paper, newspaper archive. This suggests a certain age, but overall we must say this is an incredibly fresh and vegetal dram. The empty glass is filled by a gorgeous note of white chocolate. Again that dusty elegance we’ve mentioned before.
P. an insane impact! Citric, again fruity and tropical, perfectly consistent with the nose (pineapple, maracuja, passion fruit). Litchees and kiwifruit, too, showing a lively acidity. Sweet lemon yogurt. It’s delicate and sharp at the same time, less creamy comparing to the nose. There’s also a curious and surprising salty wriggle. Lemongrass. On the background, we can’t avoid mentioning a vanilla and marzipan layer. A mercurial whisky, always changing. So the last palate is acidic again, almost dairy: a hint of rancid butter and Crescenza. The alcohol is present, without being rude.
F. extremely clean, long and citric. A remarkable game of discrete sweetness and fresh acidity (pink grapefruit). Increasingly aromatic, with a waxy touch in the end.
An astonishing whisky moving forward like a rapid-fire and providing new sensations at every sip. After the super-tropical nose, reminding Giacomão of his libertine youth, there’s a complex and wonderful palate, where alcohol and wood are almost impossible to detect. Clean and perfect. Ironically, even too much: we regret the absensce of a single little “off” detail, in order to give an extra complexity. Anyway, it’s still glorious: 91/100.
Recommended soundtrack: Colapesce – Splendida giornata.
