Tuesday 30 October 2012

A Dignified and Unusual Speyside

 

Whisky: Mannochmore SMWS 64.34 Lively fruits and old leather Jackets

 

Distiller:

Mannochmore

 

Bottle:

Mannochmore SMWS 64.34 Lively fruits and old leather Jackets

 

ABV:

56%

 

Colour:

Sunlight

 

Review:

A while back I'd become a member of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Australia. I'd heard many good things about the Society for a long time and their unusual bottlings and I had finally felt that I couldn't keep passing up the chance to try their bottlings.

God I was thrilled with all of the samples I'd tried!

An Islay whisky with ice cream cones.

A Speyside whisky that smelled of chicken with onions.

Cool!!

I'd finally got around to trying the last sample bottle in the collection.

This was a Mannochmore, a Speyside distillery that I'd never tried before.

I decided to crack open this bottle after cleaning the house all day, just as I was sitting down to watch some Sopranos.

A perfect ending to the day!

The nose is unusual in my experience of the Speyside region with an initial hit of salty fudge, then leather jackets wrapped in seaweed and as the glencairn sits there the aromas become liquorice, fruits and then spicy caramel.

Wow!

But that's not all!

Spicy grapefruit then shifts into slightly burnt coffee.

How cool is this nose!

God I love cask strength whiskies!!

Time to taste, although I almost don't want to, the nose is so cool.

Yee haaa!

Awesome weird flavors!

Chocolate mouuse covering pineapples ending with roasty pine nuts.

Long intense chocolatey finish with hints of fruit.

This is awesome!

Weird and awesome!

I'm loving the Society's bottles.

You normally think of Speyside as pear, honey, vanilla, apples, etc etc etc. Easy going, rarely intense.

But then you try their bottles and you sit there and go WHOA!

Mind you I'd guess that the price on a 21 yr old Speyside would probably go for about $200 AUS, but for something that will make you sit there and think, you'll enjoy a bottle like this!


Nose:        23/25
Taste:      22/25
Finish:      20/25
Balance:    20/25

Overall:     85/100

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