When I was formatting my Review Index, I made a horrifying discovery: there was no review #36! Where could it have gone? Finding no review between #35 Jura and #37 Glencadam, I concluded I must have simply skipped a number. Or perhaps it was one of a couple of spoiled samples that in the end I did not publish a review for? This won’t do. I’ve had a #100 celebration! Was it all lie in the end? No, this won’t do at all. But I have a solution. I’ve been holding onto a rather special review that was to be part of a longer post on exclusive (malt) blends. This one I actually reviewed back in September 2023, close enough to end of July where the true-born #36 would have been.
The sample of this 44yo 1978-vintage blended malt I bough in April 2023 at the Limburg Whisky Fair for €20. It was the man behind the new independent bottling operation Spheric Spirits himself who handed out drams (…for dear money). As I recall I tried a Ben Nevis on the spot and bought a take-away Mortlach and this blended malt. The guy offered me a big discount to buy samples of his full range then and there (1cl each) but it was still €100 and these exclusive drams are not best enjoyed at a busy fair alongside a dozen other drams. Anyways – 1978 blend, I hereby dub thee Review 36!
Blended Malt | 44yo (1978) | 59.8% | Spheric Spirits
Small sample review
⚡Experience
The smell is sweet, perfumed, and woodsy. In terms of fruit, there’s sultanas, apricot jam, and caramelized orange and ginger. Some subtle spice notes (cumin and saffron), and a more prominent white pepper note that I also associate with oak. In this case, the oak wood note carries with it a certain sourness, and a whiff of woodsmoke. Finally, there is a savoury component, like parmeggiano cheese. On the palate, it’s an absolute fruit bomb, tropical fruit syrup, and there is a lovely oiliness and sweetness. Not too much tannins. The sour oak wood note does not carry over in the taste, but the subtle smoke does. The finish is quite spicy, and the alcohol strong but not badly integrated. Overall, this is a very complex dram, but the tropical fruit makes is so delicious that it’s hard to sip slowly.
💡Thoughts
This whisky is (unsurprisingly) outstanding, with an intensity of topical fruit one rarely encounters. Still, it’s not a perfect dram. I feel the nose lacked those indescribable qualities that makes me completely “loose myself” into it, but I’m asking for the moon. I wish I had more so that I could experiment with water and oxidation to really optimize the nosing experience. It was rather on the palate that I was truly blown away, which is opposite to how it usually goes for me. I can’t help but love this stuff.
DuckDrams 
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