Lately I often get e-mails from bars, retailers and even non-public individuals asking me to evaluate their bottlings. Nice after all, regardless that I generally don’t know who they’re.
As we speak I’m three bottlings from Hong Kong based mostly whisky bar Abyss within the basement of the Charterhouse Lodge. Test their Instagram feed for some mouthwatering footage.
Ben Nevis 24 yo 1997 (52%, Abyss Whisky Bar ‘Noah’s Backyard’ 2022, hogshead #590, 274 btl.)
Nostril: barely slim, with some austerity. There’s chalk and wool, in addition to some flour and grassy notes. Then good fruits begin to seem, bitter fruits like lemons and grapefruit, with hints of yellow plums.
Mouth: comparable ideas. There are good fruits certainly (mirabelles and lemons) however these are inclined to get overtaken by grapefruit peels and grassy notes. Hints of white pepper and nutmeg. A touch of uncooked alcohol too. Then some inexperienced banana, aniseed and a few resinous notes.
End: lengthy, grassy, with inexperienced touches and zesty lemons.
The 1997 classic is usually much less seductive than 1996 (or 1995) for my part. Barely prickly. Nonetheless whisky with a pleasant minerality, however not the highflyer I hoped for. The identify and age units excessive expectations, after all.
Subsequent up: a Glen Elgin launch bottled by Alistair Walker in his Rare Flyers vary.
Glen Elgin 12 yo 2010 (53,5%, Rare Flyers for Whiskylovers HK & Abyss 2023, bourbon hogshead #801000, 146 btl.)
Nostril: reasonably recent and impartial. Lemons, apples and delicate orchard fruits, with vanilla roundness. Then some candy cereals, in addition to drops of sunshine honey. A delicate waxy contact and hints of ale. Fruitier than the Ben Nevis however once more not a spontaneous chatter, if you understand what I imply.
Mouth: barley sweetness, lemon sweet, perhaps even a imprecise trace of tropical fruits (pineapple, unripe banana). The alcohol makes it a little bit eau-de-vie-ish. Grassy notes and lemon zest, with tart orange and hints of vegetal oil. Oak spice is effectively balanced.
End: medium, on oily notes and wooden spice. Constant but additionally a little bit generic.
An honest middle-of-the-road whisky, though the brilliant fruitiness makes it a pleasant sipper. An ideal each day dram, for my part. Rating: 85/100
Undecided we’ve had a secret Island distillery earlier than, however we’ve had loads of undisclosed 2007 Highland Parks. Possibly Secret Orkney is already turning into too particular nowadays? Or is that this coming from Tobermory as a substitute?
A Secret Island Distillery 15 yo 2007 (53,5%, Abyss Whisky Bar 2023, 115 btl.)
Nostril: much more weighty and rustic than the others. Rapeseed oil and really delicate smoke, with heather honey, pink apple peelings and hints of lemon peels. Then some dried wildflowers or gorse and perhaps a touch of paraffin. Whiffs of salted caramel within the distance.
Mouth: rustic certainly. Hints of seaweed and dying embers, in addition to some metallic notes. Salty notes but additionally a bloated creamy facet and a considerably soiled word. Muddy whisky, so to talk. Large malty notes, in addition to some dried herbs, earlier than oak spice units in.
End: lengthy and muddy. White pepper and seaweed.
I’m not too positive concerning the Highland Park guess. It’s actually an Island whisky although, with a worn character. Not a traditional magnificence, however an attention-grabbing alternative. General a reasonably good bar choice, by the way in which. Rating: 84/100
