#1: Bunnahabhain 1994 Dun Bheagan, Manzanilla finish 43%
Nose: Rubber, sugar, sweets. Mostly rubber, though.
Palate: Dry, rubbery and vaguely spicy. Bitterness, sawdust and salt.
Comments: Not a success.
Score: 2 out of 10
#2: Bruichladdich 1998 Oloroso sherry matured, OB, 46%
Nose: A bit closed, sweetness and sherry mostly, barbequed meat, a vague flowery smell, quite pleasant, on the whole.
Palate: Bitterness, varnish, red apples, madeira punch-flavoured marzipan, bitter chocolate on the finish.
Comments: At least the palate is complex, but that’s the best that can be said for it. I’m dissapointed in this one, I had high hopes for it. I had hoped the sherry would mellow the slightly off-noteish bitterness I tend to find in Laddies, but instead it seems to have accentuated it. Can you have a cloying bitterness? If so, that is what we have here.
Score: 2.5 out of 10
#3: Port Ellen 7th annual release, OB, 53.8%
Nose: Peat, coldness, ashes, juniper wood, spices.
Palate: Ashes, peat, fridge-ice.
Comments: Nice, but somewhat disappointing. Too one-dimensional and insubsantial to be very interesting, and I’ve had much better Port Ellens.
Score: 7 out of 10 (and I’m not entirely convinced it shouldn’t be 6 instead, and at that price that really isn’t enough)
#4: Port Charlotte – PC7 61% OB
Nose: Warm peat smoke, warm wheat buns, timber, spruce, sweetness.
Palate: Peat, fire, ashes, coal, firewood and spruce. Much more which I can’t put words to.
Comments: Nice. Very nice. The peat disguises much, but there is enough underlying complexity to keep you nipping to put words to that elusive taste. Makes me very happy about owning shares in Port Charlotte casks.
Score: 8 out of 10
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