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Fahrenheit 173 - Aged Spirits

"If it's not good enough to drink slowly, then it's not worth drinking"

The "Whisky Ship" in Zürich

 22 Dec 2007  

The annual whisky fair in Zürich took place early December and I was there as usual. I didn't attend any master classes but I did try many nice malts. Here are the highlights, in alphabetical order:

Benriach "Importanticus Fumosus" (port finish) 12 y.o. 46%:
Very nice nose with fruit and wood smoke; rich palate with fruit and smoke in a very nice bal­ance; delicious, smoky finish (89 p)

Benriach 1978 28 y.o. 54%:
Quiet, fruity and a little peaty nose; fruity and fairly sweet palate with a very nice, mild peatiness (87 p)

Benriach 1972 33 y.o. 45%:
Peaty, musty, fruity nose; complex, rich, dry palate, also oaky and spicy; rather nice but a little too oaky (87 p)

Bowmore 1994 b. 2006 (James MacArthur) 57.8%:
Peaty, malty nose with faint but nice fruity notes; light, very peaty palate (87 p)

Caol Ila 1982 25 y.o. (James MacArthur) 55.5%:
Very nice, very unusual nose with iodine and a note of Trinidad rum; sweet, very nice palate, also peaty with notes of fruit and arrack; quite peaty finish (90 p)

Glendronach 8 y.o. (old dumpy bottle) 43%:
Wonderful fruity notes on the nose, also slightly peaty; mild, sweet and a little spicy palate with notes of citrus fruits and banana (90 p)

Glen Ord 1974 23 y.o. (Rare Malts) 60.8%:
Nice nose with the typical fruity character (banana, pear among other fruits); nice, sweet, fruity palate, also a hint of peat (87 p)

Glenury Royal 1971 23 y.o. (Rare Malts) 61.3%:
Very nice sherry on the nose with dried fruit, gin­ger­bread and prunes; very nice, complex palate with plums, gin­ger­bread and wisps of smoke in the background; de­velops a note of mustard (90 p)

Macallan 1969 (Murray McDavid "Mission") 41%:
Wonderful, intensely fruity nose with notes of melon and peach; fruity palate with oranges and a chemical note like a good Armagnac, sweet but drying; dry, oaky, dis­ap­point­ing finish (89 p)

Port Ellen 1983 22 y.o. (Douglas Laing) 50%:
Sweet palate with fresh fruity notes, also peaty with a very peaty finish (88-89 p)

Springbank 1997 b. 2007 55.2%:
Very nice, very unusual nose; complex, sweet, fairly rich palate with vanilla and tropical fruits, also peaty with quite a peaty finish (87 p)

—   o   —

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