An Iconic Speyside distillery 7 yo “Dimensions” (2011/2019, Duncan Taylor, 54,2%)
Team that wins doesn’t change, so another G***as that spent 7 years in first fill barrels, this time. Are we expecting it to be similar to the other one?
One sniff and it’s love: ripe blackberries, stuffed chocolate (the Ritter sport with currants?), red apple and a sparkling maraschino cherry. There’s a bit of varnished wood, some leather. Earthy, but not too dark. Dried figs with almonds inside, dark Lindor or some other creamy chocolate. Surprisingly, it’s citrus in the mouth, just orange juice. The impact is not soft, rather sharp. Behind, supported by a great body, a pleasantly oily and greasy soul: Haribo licorice, dark chocolate again, chinotto. Very mature and tasty, tending to bitterness. Maybe there’s a little bit of woodiness, but it’s never excessive. Almost floral aftertaste. In the finish the red fruits return, with peach peel and cloves.
The surprise of the evening, no doubt. Luxurious, rich, an ode to hedonism and pleasures, but only for those who know how to recognize them. The time in the glass and a few drops of water make it even more pleasant, even if they tend to make the finish less sweet. Well built, a modern sherried and yet with its beautiful facets. 86/100.
Ardmore 2010 “The Octave” (2010/2019, Duncan Taylor, 54,1%)
By popular demand, peat is back, with one of the increasingly frequent Ardmores in which we happen to dip our noses – Ardmore which is now considered a reference point for non-coastal peat.
The attack is curious, even if to a closer inspection it looks like a crib of what you’d expect from a non-Islay peat. Smoked cheese, thyme, even a bit of gear grease, but without overdoing the dirty. This “organic” welcome vanishes after a while, leaving room for a generic feeling of fruit (melon? tangerine?) and a touch of green, like salad. It becomes more and more pleasant as the minutes go by. In the mouth the peat is nice and tough, more cinerine, but not ungainly. The sweetness is not sickly; it takes the path of chestnut honey and licorice and it,s perfectly balanced with the burnt part. In between, again that sense of vegetable: laurel and above all resin. The finish in sherry octave of third use is not a marker, just a thread of citrus on the bottom of the palate. Flavorful finish, cigarette ash, pine needles and candied lemon.
A perfect closure with this Ardmore, whose main quality is undoubtedly the balance of its rampant souls. The finish, salty, cleaner and longer, is the perfect crowning achievement to a whisky that’s not trivial at all. It deserves 87/100.
Recommended soundtrack: Enzo Jannacci – Ma mi.
