DuckDrams

from a 2cl sample bottle

🗒️ Tasting notes

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Nosing: The initial greeting of the nose is sherry (amontillado?), fruits (pomegranate, apple, melon and prosciutto), toasted nuts, and fudge. Then I’m drawn towards minerality (white wine) and earthier notes (soot, resin, a the finest hint of sulphur (not bad)). More floral with time and water. It’s enticing.

Sipping: Dry on the palate, mouthfeel quite light. Not prickly or spicy but the alcohol feels prominent neat. Some dried fruits, but flavours are more towards toasted nuts, coffee, quality dark chocolate. Floral notes in the development. Quickly fading finish.

💭 Comments

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I think this is a style of whisky that certainly does not appeal to everyone. It’s austere, but I tend to like that and rate it accordingly.

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from a 3cl sample bottle

🗒️ Tasting notes

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Nosing: Fresh tropical fruits (mango, lime, banana), white wine, and a dash of white pepper and soot. Straightforward, but good. Somewhat more floral (elderflower perhaps) with time and water.

Sipping: Dangerously drinkable at 60%! Velvety, with a lovely passion fruit mousse flavour. Again, uncomplicated but delicious. A big helping of water draws out a little bitterness and ashiness.

💭 Comments

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Simple, but melikes. This one is from the Single Malts of Scotland whisky calendar, and I reckon was never sold as standalone bottle, so to the side I put an image of the peeled off label from the sample bottle.

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from a 2cl sample bottle

🗒️ Tasting notes

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Nosing: floral (jasmine tea, pink pepper corn), with beeswax, some tropical fruits (litchi, pineapple, lemon), oak and vanilla, plus a little soot and white pepper. Subtle and elegant, speaking of some age.

Sipping: On the dry side, with flavours of sooty candlewax, loads of tropical fruits (coconut, pineapple), vanilla and oak. Descent length finish.

💭 Comments

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This is a stellar dram. Up there with a good old Clynelish or Ben Nevis.

Do I want a bottle? Oh boy, yes. And to my great fortune, it’s available from two retailers. One has a single bottle at €119, the other has two at €145. For €119 this is an absolute steal, especially given the 2024 general price situation. … There we go. I’ve placed the order now for the cheaper one. It even came with free shipping! I think this is the first time on the blog that I immediately bought a bottle after tasting a sample. It’s not the best dram I’ve had on the blog (with over 200 reviews, and some quite luxurious drams), but usually this level of experience commands a price I’m reluctant to pay.

I don’t think I recognize the bottler, “Spirits and Cask Range” by Whiskymax. The latter seems to be a German spirits importer, with a handful of lesser known IBs, and Tullibardine as only the only Scotch single malt in their distributor portfolio. Well, they happened here on a very good cask from a splendid distillery that is often overlooked. All to my benefit today.

Note: it’s distilled 17.11.1997 and bottled in 2017, so it’s probably 19yo rather than 20yo, but the label does not say.

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