Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Morisco Spirits
Official website: moriscospirits.com
At the last Whisky Week at the beginning of October, Andrea Morisco previewed the new bottlings of the Marble Collection, single casks whose labels are inspired by the many medieval churches dotted around Italy and the magnificent marble floors that can be found there.
A choice that ‘betrays’ the Italian bottler’s artistic training, because Man does not feed on whisky alone!
But then again, whisky is also art, right?
With these three new additions to the Speyburn and the Glentauchers, the collection comes to five.
And that’s not all…
Morisco Spirits Benrinnes 11yo
Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Strength: 53.1%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Bourbon
Price: € 90.00 on Morisco Spirits
Vote: 87/100
312 bottles of single cask hogshead ex-Bourbon, lightly diluted, with a detail of the floor of the basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome on the label, some information on which can be found here.
Tasting notes
The nose is proudly Benrinnes, a fresh, floral compote of delicate, caressing notes without slipping into the cloying, a classic but full aromatic profile. Heather and freshly cut grass pave the way for sweet and slightly sour impressions, a plum cake with yoghurt icing joined by walnut kernels, vanilla, pear, unripe banana, a drop of propolis and a mineral vein running through the aromas. Tantalizing.
The white pepper entrance on the palate is not misleading, however; the profile remains the delicate one on the nose, resuming the bucolic path between the vegetal notes and the softer ones from the cask, in a chase of evocations in which the former (fennel, celery) win in length, with nutty and fruity hints punctuating the flavours. Pushed minerality and dryness propel the dram, whose apparent simplicity proves somewhat dangerous.
The finish is long and dry, obviously vegetal with fruity edges, nuts and a slight saline touch.
A delightful Benrinnes, very spring-like and I would say almost aperitif-like, were it not that behind this apparent lightness lies layering and complexity. Well made.
Morisco Spirits Glenlossie 11yo
Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Strength: 52.8%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Bourbon
Price: € 90.00 on Morisco Spirits
Vote: 87/100
287 bottles from a single barrel ex-Bourbon, the other speysider in the series (again, not cask strength) and again from a distillery neglected by its owners, fortunately not by independent bottlers.
On the label, a detail of the floors of the cathedral of Santa Maria Nuova in Monreale.
Tasting notes
The nose presents itself as an interweaving of fruity and vegetal evocations, in which pear in syrup, pineapple and lychee go hand in hand with cucumber and cereal, a sometimes pungent mixture of white pepper with a vein of yeast and propolis. The warmer, cosier tones of vanilla, nuts and honey start quietly but gain volume over time, softening a profile that appears younger than the years it claims.
Rounder and warmer on the palate, yet without renouncing its edgy inflections, it begins with a generous injection of pepper and ginger that introduces pastry with custard, aniseed, apple, almond and a hint of coffee and cocoa. As time passes it becomes richer and more multifaceted, the vegetal vein takes on body without overwhelming the flavours that become a seesaw of freshness and warmth, a chameleon that also manages to thread a savoury note along with the balsamic one.
The finish is quite long in which the salty tip returns over the vegetal and fruity notes, with a slight and pleasant dryness that would lead you to refill your glass again.
Almost surprising on the palate, especially with a somewhat subdued nose, it reveals an unexpected and engaging complexity, obviously without digging deep into the tasting palette but with an alternation that amuses.
Morisco Spirits Ben Nevis 9yo
Origin: Highlands (Scotland)
Strength: 52.4%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Bourbon
Price: € 90.00 on Morisco Spirits
Vote: 83/100
Ben Nevis is one of those distilleries that many carry in their hearts (including yours truly), and that given the meagre (and questionable) bottlings produced in-house, in the independent’s editions offers quite a few satisfactions.
260 bottles from a single cask hogshead ex-Bourbon, not at cask strength, is the second made by Morisco Spirits after last year’s eight year old, also from the same type of cask.
On the label, detail of the floor of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.
Tasting notes
An explosion of grain and fruit on the nose, with a good deal of hay intertwined with wet malt, unripe banana, pear juice, plum and a touch of almond. Giving it time, a warmer, less sharp side of butterscotch and honey emerges, somewhat elusive but counterbalancing a rather bare profile. Mineral note in the background. Naughty.
A warmth that you find on the palate in the alcoholic version, with a vinous and dry attack rather sharp and driven by ginger and white pepper, which carry forward pronounced mineral and vegetal notes where fruit takes a back seat, with more room for nuts. Coffee, marzipan and wood are the leitmotif, with even salty tips.
The finish is quite long and very dry, of marzipan, nuts, plum liqueur and wood.
An unresolved, restless whisky, not so much because of its age as perhaps because of the search for stability in the bottle: it might yield more after a few months’ rest, as is often the case with ‘fresh’ bottlings. But the basic quality remains unquestionable.