Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Gradation: 52.6%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex bourbon barrel
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Dream Whisky
Price: € 225.00 on Dream Whisky
Official website: dreamwhisky.com
Vote: 89/100
We conclude the tasting of the triptych presented under the name Sfumature (Shades) with the third of Dream Whisky’s most recent bottlings, dedicated to the colours of Scotland as they have been evoked by this wonderful land in the souls of those who have chosen them.
After the gold of the barley and the blue of the ocean, here is the green of the Speyside hills enclosed in a whisky from Allt A Bhainne, an almost 50-year-old distillery that doesn’t produce its own bottlings.
Twenty-four years in a single ex-Bourbon barrel that encapsulates, in the intentions of those who chose it, the unique colour of the Speyside forests.
Tasting notes
Perhaps it is by suggestion, but when you approach the nose you really do seem to be walking along a forest path: herbaceous and fresh, with balsamic veins like certain mountain pine candies, green tea, aromatic herbs (thyme, marjoram), a hint of bark. A sweeter base of acacia honey and resin emerges, with touches of aniseed and a slight warm spicy note. Evocative.
Warm and fresh at the same time on the palate, the balsamic impressions are reinforced in a full and snappy body, hints of pepper and ginger that enhance an almost sparkling spirit despite its not exactly agile age. Green apple, lime, unripe Williams pear, anise and almonds traversed by a relentless bitter and astringent saber that almost gives you the shivers. A distant promise of honey and liquorice appears among the darts of rhubarb and eucalyptus.
The finish is long and still balsamic, penetrating, with nuts, anise, green apple and a floral background.
Green is welcoming and fresh, but it can also be impassable and severe, a sensory experience that isn’t easy and may not appeal to many. Difficult and rich, it requires attention and open-mindedness to avoid getting lost in the tangle of trees and sensations.
Beautiful.