The Lost Distilleries Blend: Batch 6 (Scottish Blended Whisky: 49.3% ABV)
Visual: Slight rose touched grain.
Viscosity: Very slow medium thickness puckering.
Nose: Moss. Notable alcohol. Damp grass and forests. Light medicinal bandages. Water makes more light medicinal and hot cross buns.
Body: Golden syrup. Robust oak and alcohol. Lime. Peat present. Soft banana. Toffee and treacle. Salt. Water smooth and sweet yet salty. Smoked dried beef slices. Pepper. More water makes butttery and hot cross buns against medicinal.
Finish: Lemon meringue and honey. Light salt touch. Treacle. Chocolate toffee. Water makes beef slices and mild gherkin. Light medicinal and gunpowder tea.
Conclusion: I will not like this just because it is made up of rare whisky, I will not just like this because of the rare whisky. Ok. Willpower prepared, will I like this in general then?
By first impressions – no. The first notes on the nose are mossy and alcohol. hardly a good first impression. The first sip of the body is better, sweeter and with those lime notes that turn up so often in a fruity whisky. Now this I found enjoyable but hardly a stand out experience. It was the finish that showed the first hints of what was to come – treacle sweetness, light salt and medicinal mixed with lemon notes. On the way out I was intrigued by this blend of contrasting notes and hope rose again.
So, how do I release this locked potential? Easy. Water. Depending on how much water I added a found a sweet, somewhat Highland styled whisky, a salted and smoked smooth Islay, or an ultra smooth buttered hot cross bun whisky. Even better there are hints of the non dominant styles show in the background behind whatever is prominent at the time.
By the end I could start to feel them all, a warming gunpowder tea backing buttery smooth character, and each drop of water seemed to shift it to hint at extra layers. From mild disappointment to impressed as hell, all in 15ml of spirit. If I had the money I would definitely grab a bottle to examine this some more, there is so much left to find I feel. This is the stand out of the pack, only the nose never really seems to find its feet, but the rest of the whisky more than makes up for that.
Background: As we reach the final few tasting notes of the whisky colander I say once again – “Ok, bias warning first: This is a part of the Masters Of Malt Whisky Calendar given to The Bath Whisky and Rum Club, part of Independent Spirit, who invited me to assist with the notes in return for uploading them to alcohol and aphorisms. Sounded a very fair deal to me. Also, due to this we each only had half of the 3cl bottle so thoughts are based on a smaller exploration than usual. On the other hand I could not say no to the chance to try so many new whiskies. Many thanks!”. This one I was excited for, a blend of whisky from different, closed, distilleries. This includes Mosstowie, Port Ellen, Glenisla, Imperial, Caperdonich, Glen Mhor and Brora, and grain whiskies from Port Dundas. yes I just copy pasted that. I am surprised how many of those I have actually tried before – Imperial, Port Ellen, Port Dundas and Caperdonich. Anyway, very excited. Drunk while listening to Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The moment seemed to deserve it. After finishing this I looked up other’s tasting notes on the subject, a lot of them make my usual over the top antics look restrained, which made me feel better.
