70
score
whiskyfun.com
September 23, 2022
AIT. First, it's Côte-Rôtie, not Cote Rotie. I know it's tricky to handle foreign letterings on a 1995 Macintosh, but come on. And second, Côte-Rôtie is one of the most distinctive and aromatic red wines, while red wine and peat, well that's like that famous Hawaiian pizza we keep mentioning. Or there, bananas al chorizo. But I am joking, you never know, and after all, some traditional Côte-Rôtie do harbour a few percent white wine. So like 95% syrah, 5% viognier. Let us proceed (with caution)… Colour: full gold. Nose: what is this? Rye, cedarwood, rose petals and hibiscus, ginger, pomegranates, peonies, blackcurrant buds (big time), tomato leaves, litchee syrup, mustard, rosewater, Lebanese bread… What's sure is that we're extremely far from the south shore of Islay, but there is some kind of fun to this, they should just find another name for this kind of winesky. With water: smoked ham and pineapple. There, Hawaiian pizza. Mouth (neat): so bizarre! You would believe it was made by a start-up distillery, somewhere in the Rhône Valley or there, in Schwarzwald. Sour, dissonant, sweet and spicy, with the smoke generating notes of plastic or, well, burnt pomegranates, burnt juniper wood… Phew! With water: it's better, but it is not Ardbeg. At least water brought a little coherence; oh and black olives. Finish: long, not obligatorily a good thing. Comments: too much own product, probably. No indie bottlers would have dared making, let alone bottling this very bizarre mixture. Almost impossible to score, but since we've come this far…
