Not too sure this one was bottled in 2020 but if it wasn’t, that would be late 2019. Utterly loved the 10 last time I tried it three or four years ago, that’s why we’re having this one now, in this unusual context ;-). Colour: light gold. Nose: A fireplace the next morning, full of ashes, tar and soot, before it would gear towards manzanilla-y aromas, that is to say mustard, green walnuts and seawater. Would please pass the langoustines? The oak was not inert either, as we’re also finding touches of yellow curry, vanilla, and a wee blend of caraway and anise seeds. Mouth: wonderfully salty, coastal, ashy, sooty and waxy. It’s a rough style, as always, one from the countryside. Lemon and bitter orange, tar, liquorice, mustard, ink and plasticine, and a whole bag of fresh walnuts on your tongue. Quite some cinchona too, tonic water, bitters… It’s not impossible that these newer batches would display a little more active oak than before, not too sure. Finish: rather long, dry, still sooty, salty and ashy, rather with walnut skins and green peppercorn in the aftertaste. Comments: lovely lovely lovely, perhaps just a notch less ‘blade-y and vertical’ as previous batches (circa 2015).
Words of Whisky (88)
Sniff:
A whiff of smoke, with a lot of harbor scents. Tar, rope, salinity, basalt. Some straw and hessian, a bit of iron too.
Sip:
The palate is dry, with a bit of straw-like bite. Oak, iron, apple, sate, salinity, grass. A lot is happening.
Swallow:
The finish is a bit more sweet, but still dry. Quite long with hessisn and cracked leather. Straw, grass, oak, apple
It’s always a bit challenging to properly score this. Technically you cannot taste the price of a bottle of whisky. On the other hand, having to pay for booze generally is part of the experience.
If you take in account I got this for little under € 50, this is a 90 point whisky for sure. As is Benromach 10, Lagavulin 16, and some others that shouldn’t technically score that high either.
If you just look at the liquid it still sits comfortably at 88 points, since it is just a very good, complex and interesting whisky. It’s easily quaffable, but also offers room for exploration. There’s layers of flavors, with just enough of everything to be very, very good.
BOW (90)
Picked up an World Whisky Award In the consecutive years 2010, 2013, 2014:
Best Campbeltown Single Malt 12 Years and Under!
