Springbank 13 Local Barley 54,1% 23/257 2023, WB: 244883

EN

Colour: Gold, getting in mood avec Adrien Chicot et Stéphane Tsapis
Springbank now joins the ranks of El Dorado, the Holy Grail, Atlantis, Camelot, Shambhala, Kamar-Taj, Lyoness - difficult, almost impossible to find (at affordable prices). Will you enter eternal bliss?
Nose: 3h Smells indeed very mystical, bookshelves, old library, maybe Biblioteca Marciana or Anna Amalia, maybe even Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, paired with a lot of cellar mustiness. A very old wine, red, forest floor, dirt, old dump, an antique shop, but it's not running, the things are rotting away, lost places everywhere. In between, citrus notes and tropical fruits flash through. Extinguished campfire, 4 inches away, 3 hours old. Candyshop - some douchebag has forgotten his pipe, tobacco smoke everywhere. Bothy in the Highlands, very clammy, dunnage warehouse. Mocha and cocoa powder, waves of coconut and icing sugar wafting around, a honeydew melon blissfully exuding its flavours into the ether. Mouth: Sharbat, sage, soya and balsamic vinegar, sweet and sour, chop suey and gravy. Oak pellets in black tea, dirt, but delicious, with curry and saté. Finish: Slightly tickling cinnamon spiciness, oily mouth-filling flowing down leaving dull teeth behind. A few grains of salt, somewhat maritime - surf of Brittany, thyme and calvados. A bitter almond is annoying af, slight astringency makes you restless. After 5 minutes, you are left with the flavour of an old book that you have bitten into. No holy grail, just whisky as it should be. "If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher."
90/100

DE

Colour: Gold, getting in mood avec Adrien Chicot et Stéphane Tsapis 

Springbank reiht sich inzwischen zu den Namen El Dorado, der heilige Gral, Atlantis, Camelot,

Shambhala, Kamar-Taj, Lyoness – schwer, fast unmöglich zu finden (zu bezahlbaren Preisen). Erlangt man dann ewige Glückseligkeit? Nose: 3h Riecht indeed sehr mystische, bookshelves, alte Bibliothek, vielleicht Biblioteca Marciana oder Anna Amalia, vielleicht sogar Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, gepaart mit viel Kellermuff. Ein sehr alter Wein, rot, Waldboden, Dreck, alte Bruchbude, ein Antiquitätenladen, läuft aber nicht, die Dinger rotten vor sich hin, lost places everywhere. Zwischendurch blitzen Zitrusnoten und Südfrüchte durch. Erloschenes Lagerfeuer, 2 m entfernt, 3h alt. Candyshop – irgendeine Pfeife hat seine Pfeife vergessen, Tabakrauch überall. Bothy in den Highlands, sehr klamm, dunnage warehouse. Mocca und Kakaopulver, Wellen von Kokos und Puderzucker wabern um die Wette, eine Honigmelone verströmt selig ihre Aromen in den Äther. Mouth: Sharbat, Salbei, Soja und Balsamico, süßsauer, chop suey und Bratensauce. Eichenpellets in schwarzem Tee, Dreeeeeeck, aber lecker, mit Curry und Saté. Finish: Leicht kitzelnde Zimtschärfe, ölig mundraumfüllend runterfließend stumpfe Zähne hinterlassend. Einige Salzkörner, etwas maritim – Küste vor Bretagne, Thymian und Calvados. Eine Bittermandel strengt an, leichte Adstringenz macht unruhig. Nach 5 min bleibt der Geschmack eines alten Buchs zurück, in die man reingebissen hat. Kein heiliger Gral, einfach nur Whisky, wie er sein sollte. „If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.”

90/100

Four Roses Limited Edition - Small Batch 2023 54% Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 135th Anniversary Edition, WB: 241867

EN 

Three-Body Problem, Colour: Rose, getting in mood with Aziza Mustafa Zadeh.
More of a three-rating problem, mouth, nose, finish. I'm not afraid of it! "Your lack of fear is based on your ignorance." The recipe reads incredible. Very promising.
Nose: Oh my Allah, so beguiling, almost hypnotising, in a cloud of cinnamon and cloves, rye, sourdough, dill, herbal meadow in the Swiss Alps. Greek yoghurt with honey and nuts. Sawmill, pencil and pavement. A street in Tuscany in summer after a summer rain. A shower in maple syrup. Marzipan, crumble cake, ginger bread. Liquorice. After 2 hours A candy bath, all kinds of sweets, caramel sweets, candy canes, lollipops, Turkish delight, halvah, wrapped in candy floss, bedded on baklava, a pillow of kadayif and pismaniye, the blanket of knafeh, a few drops of rose water, of four roses lol. I only smell what I am. "Every era puts invisible shackles on those who have lived through it, and I can only dance in my chains."
Mouth: 2h Spices fire like a meteor shower on the palate. Still dazed in the nose, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves wake you up. Gingerbread spice tickles, star anise... does something too. Oaky, vanilla, pudding, crème brûlée, canelé - more like pastéis de nata. Rice pudding like Sütlac. Honey and a lot of cream sweets. Herbs.
Finish: Enormous Kentucky Hug, rye, oily finish. Mushroom pan, allspice, rocket - oh yes lots of rocket and black pepper. Added to the oil: turmeric, dandelion, calcium. Particularly mineral and chalky. "From time to time, I would gaze up at the stars after a night shift and think that they looked like a glowing desert, and I myself was a poor child abandoned in the desert... I thought that life was truly an accident among accidents in the universe."
93/100

DE

Eher ein Dreiwertungsproblem, mouth, nose, finish. Ich hab keine Angst davor! “Your lack of fear is

based on your ignorance.” Das Rezept liest sich unglaublich. Sehr vielversprechend.
Nose: Oh mein Allah, so betörend, fast hypnotisierend, in einer Wolke aus Zimt und Nelken, Rye, Sauerteig, Dill, Kräuterwiese in den Schweizer Alpen. Griechischer Joghurt mit Honig und Nüssen. Sägewerk, Pencil und Pavement. Eine Straße in der Toskana im Sommer nach einem Sommerregen. Eine Dusche in Ahornsirup. Marzipan, Streuselkuchen, Magenbrot. Süßholz. Nach 2h Ein Bobonbad, Allerlei Süßigkeiten, Karamellbonbons, Zuckerstangen, Lollis, Lokum, Helva, umhüllt in Zuckerwatte, gebettet auf Baklava, ein Kissen aus Kadayif und Pismaniye, die Decke aus Knafeh, einige Tropfen Rosenwasser, von vier Rosen lol. Ich rieche nur, was ich bin. “Every era puts invisible shackles on those who have lived through it, and I can only dance in my chains.”
Mouth: 2h Gewürze feuern wie ein Meteoritenschauer auf den Gaumen. Immer noch benommen in der Nase, wecken Zimt, Muskatnuss, Nelken wach. Lebkuchengewürz kitzelt, Sternanis… macht auch was. Oaky, Vanille, Pudding, Creme Brûlée, Canelé – eher Pastéis de Nata. Reispudding wie Sütlac. Honig und a lot Sahnebonbons. Kräuter.

Finish: Enormer Kentucky Hug, Rye, öliger Abgang. Pilzpfanne, Piment, Rucola – oh ja viel Rucola und schwarzer Pfeffer. Im Öl beigemischt: Gelbwurz, Löwenzahn, Calcium. Überhaupt mineralisch und an Kreide erinnernd. “From time to time, I would gaze up at the stars after a night shift and think that they looked like a glowing desert, and I myself was a poor child abandoned in the desert... I thought that life was truly an accident among accidents in the universe.” 

93/100

Blended Malt Old School 31 SV 2024 Batch 1 43,5%, WB: 249066

Colour: Copper

Great expectations and great fears of being disappointed accompany this malt. Only 43.5 % and an endless list of distilleries that were "brewed" together (?). Either this will be a disaster, or this malt will completely overwhelm me, or I will reach seventh heaven.
Nose: 30min: forest floor, truffles, seaweed, maritime, Atlantic surf and candy shop. Pipes of tobacco and fruit curd. Sweet and sour.
60min: Cigar coking in the distance, cinnamon nutmeg, figs, grape must, new wine (Federweißer), rather Riesling. Fermented apples with bananas and coconut. Subtle eucalyptus in the background, lends a light freshness, underlined by mandarin and grapefruit peel.

90min: Date dip, heather, brandy, lemonade with lots of herbs. Very multi-faceted, constantly changing flavours. Now even leather, sweat with lots of testosterone, a breeze from the fair, cotton candy, candied apple, mixed nuts, marzipan, baby vomit, ripe melons - Gaia. Mouth: phewww a gibberish of flavours, Tower of Babylon, different languages. Attempting to communicate: juices of various dark fruit varieties, mainly overripe apples. Calvados and warming rum flavours, some thin coffee, herbal sweets, a few grains of salt. Christmas biscuits, marzipan stollen, buttery, over-aged white wine, sweet and sour, honey-sugar-gaia-melon sorbet.

Finish: Eternally long, somewhat buttery and becoming dry. Speaking of, dry Pinot Gris, blunt teeth. Sahara dust, we get this a lot these days. Old library, if you stay for a long enough time. Iron, blood, sandalwood, pavement, oxidised, a bit cat pee tbh, herbal decoction, perfume. Despite the low ABV, I am somewhat overwhelmed. I didn't dare to try it with water. I tell myself I recognise a well-known distillery here and there. However, I feel more like a blind chicken. I don't recommend btw doing a blind tasting or a comparison to other whiskies. Compared to other whiskies, the alcohol strength do may underrepresent the beverage. In a blind tasting, you might not give the whisky the attention and time it needs. The complexity and multifaceted nature of this particular one is best enjoyed mindfully solo. The key to wisdom and whisky is proper aging.

94/100