剛剛逛了一下whisky fun.突然出現以前那瓶G & M的格蘭路思1969.Glenrothes 1969/2008 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail, MacPhail’s Collection) WF上評 SGP:561 – 89 points. ~Colour: reddish amber. Nose: we are extremely close to the Adelphi, this one being just a notch less aromatic – I might be dreaming, in fact. Very similar profile, with tobacco, chocolate, polish, a little smoke… Maybe just a tad less balsamic vinegar but I’m not even sure. The more you wait, the more both Glenrothes becdome similar. In truth, they’re more or less the same whiskies. Mouth: even more so, it’s extremely difficult to spot differences. Finish: same. Maybe this one is a tad fruitier? Comments: almost identical. High quality. SGP:561 – 89 points.
Ardbeg 'Uigeadail' (54.2%, OB, 2010) Five stars I won’t elaborate on this bottling, there are some much better exegetes of Ardbeg than yours truly. What’s sure is that recent batches have proven much more polarising than the smashing 2003/2004 editions – but not here. Not sure they still make them in the same way as they originally did (with quite a few casks from the 1970s thrown in). Colour: full gold. Nose: no peat blast, rather whiffs of Demerara rum and other sweet notes. Vanilla fudge, light toffee, caramel and then quite a lot of leather and mushrooms. Humus and compost. Really unfolds over time, even without water. With water: brilliant. Rubber boots, tarmac and heating oil. Mouth (neat): rich, candied attack, all on Seville oranges and barley sugar, coated with tar and liquorice plus a dash of Himalayan salt (please drop the Himalyan part, it doesn’t make any sense – or not much). This is big whisky. With water: perfect. Salty, peaty, rooty, tarry… Rougher and ‘younger’ than on the nose for sure but still wonderful. Finish: long, with now notes of figs and dates, probably from sherry. Quite some cough syrup too. Comments: I don’t know how they do this. Originally, they DID add quite a lot of old sherry casks but do they really still do that? Do they have a secret trick? What’s sure is that it does taste like some rich ‘old style’ Ardbeg, and that it’s probably just as exhilarating as the first batches. SGP:468 - 92 points.