If we took a bit long to offer you Brora tasting notes, we still try to make up for it and to share our feelings with you on these bottlings from the mythical distillery, closed in 1983. Today, it is the 25 years old bottled in 2008 (7th official « release ») that we honor.
Nose : We start on light spices (a bit of ginger and clove), sat on a haystack in the back of the barn. Polish notes give substance to this nose which also proves to be fruity (well riped banana and apple), quite vegetal and subtly smoky. The alcohol is well integrated, even if we surmise a power that only asks to be unleashed. The general impression doesn’t tends towards a crazy complexity, but the pleasure given by the first scents is undeniable. Water takes us out of the barn to bring us a bit closer to the farm and its animals, without making this typical marker too present either. Still, it’s more about subtlety and delicateness, without falling into austerity, all despite the horses sleeping under the hood.
Mouth : No real surprise, we’re straightly aligned with the nose. A light sourness and some bitterness welcome us on the attack in mouth. Power is here, and well here, but at the disposal of the aromatic profile. A few drops of water make it a bit easier to decrypt though. A useful dilution that isn’t really compulsory given how balanced this whisky is. The fruits lightly evolve to get more candied while the ground remains covered with hay, near a veil of smoke. It is very good and particularly easy to drink (the second half of the sample is indeed eying me up as I write this lines…)
Finish : A very good length, which allies plants (fresh mint) and spices, with a very beautifully made bitterness and an acid sensation that allows it to keep a certain vividness until the end.
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