84
score
whiskyfun.com
January 21, 2008
Not sure this one was for Italy. Colour: deep amber with reddish hues. Nose: this time the sherry really has the upper hand. A lot of old walnuts, old wines, furniture polish, strawberry jam and the pepper, but rather little peat. Gets more medicinal after a moment, though, with whiffs of antiseptic but also quite some old leather, dried mushrooms, old papers, smoked meat, dried meat, oyster sauce and nutmeg. All that is maybe a tad ‘dirty’ and dusty but it is a very good whisky – provided you like sherry that dominates the whisky (even untameable Ardbeg). Anyway, I liked the sherried OMC better so far. Mouth: closer to the ‘342’ but a little weaker, drier, more on bitter chocolate and sourish herbal teas (rosehip, hawthorn). Big cinnamon and cloves, a little cough syrup again, thyme, Parma ham, a little balsamico (goes well with it)... Alas, the whole is a little tired and, again, drying. The finish is quite nice in style, though, but it’s a bit weakish and tannic. Certainly not a whisky worth several hundred pounds if you ask me, whether it’s a rare one or not.
