G&M have kind of relaunched these bottlings under the ‘the wood makes the whisky’ banner. Well, so far these whiskies have proven that they’re rather the distillates AND the bottler that make the whisky. Both excellent. Love G&M anyway, they could launch a new ‘the underback makes the whisky’ campaign and we would still follow them… Haha… Colour: deep amber. Nose: indeed, this is very G&M, it’s not (only) about the wood. Smoking beedies, puréed chestnuts, pine needles, a box of puros, soft ham, acorns, fir smoke, dried kelp on a beach, burnt caramel, garden peat… Need I add more to tell you how brilliant this nose is? (no frankly, if it were all about the wood, where are the Speyburns and the Glenkinchies of similar quality?) Mouth: the exact antithesis of the Rare Malts. Old herbal liqueurs, cocoa, more pine-y things, mocha, tarry liquorice, overbaked brownies, prunes, old armagnac, a drop of pastis, burnt wood… Okay, okay, there is some wood, but still… And does the distillate shine through? Yes it does, with these chestnutty notes, the very faint sulphur, the very discreet meatiness (the tiniest bit of Spanish ham), the oranges… Finish: sadly, yes. On chocolate and hundreds of tinier flavours. Old oloroso in the aftertaste. Comments: you made the whisky. Emphasis on ‘you’.

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