...popped the cork in my wee bottle to pour a measure, and immediately I relaxed. Wafting from the neck came soft notes of fresh pine needles, falling through a highlands forest against spiritedly winter greens, river mint, and dropping onto a cradle of crushed fragrant lavender...
...tendrils of cherry tree wood smoke, slow hands and smouldering leather and dank, wet wood move around to caress the senses with this whisky, and we find ourselves transported to a wee hut surrounded by ancient forest. Taking a walk, the whisky gives wet wood, forest floor and dew wet grass before we find ourselves in front of a set of cherry and plum trees...
...rock melon before tingles of chili dark chocolate hitting the tongue. The peat manifests itself again, coming through with wet earth, damp from the aforementioned fruit juice. We start to see some vanilla come through, and the wood rises a touch once more and sets off lovely spice of cinnamon, chili...
...a large slobbering dog of sugared, candied flowers and lemons sherbets riding a wave of Turkish delight and orange blossom marzipan. Dried apricots, sultanas, apples and vanilla custard give a pool for that big beast to swim about in...
...wizened apples drip with juice, and lead into lemon, oak, honey, hay and young green grapes with a touch of tartness, sherbet sweetness coming through the back as the nose rounds out. If we delve further then the sweetness of these fruits drop off and cooked sugars start to comes through, with demerara sugar melted over baked apples and juicy roast figs...
...treacle, damp sugar, honey, and up the back of a shelf we found a packet of hard marshmallows, long gone past their used by date but shining with sugar and dripping in honey. There’s a bowl of fruit sitting solitary in the midst of all this, with a singular red apple, a grapefruit...
...pouring Manuka honey over the tongue as I ate a spoonful of orange marmalade. Fried mushrooms shone through, dancing over the torn remains of the white roses, now lightly charred by a fire that was roasting the pears. Gooseberries, apples, almonds, vanilla yogurt with spice and berries...
...melting blue cheese that oozes decadence and flavour. Astride the cheese we get diced chorizo with strips of salami and pancetta, the bread toasting, the cheese melting, and the meat curling above a bonfire of damp morning driftwood and kelp on the beach, burning down to sweaty earth that gives off copper and iron...
...green apples soon shine through, with candied oranges, mango compote, rock melon, grapes and a light leather strap and spice opening when the whisky is left to breathe. Touches of smoked rosemary and mint shine through, and the apples becomes roasted when we leave it...
...tannic stone fruit hearts, mango, sour grapes, unripe banana with an orange studded with nutmeg and cloves. As it breathes it continues to develop, holding out pipe smoke, rye bread with marmalade, cane sugar, rusty ammunition cartridges...
...it followed to vanilla, with dark green dewy ferns, pine needles under foot, menthol, copper and an oddly floral end to the nose. There was a touch of a sour note about it, not unpleasant, rather the scent of pulled sourgrass flowers. Somewhat earthy...
...Herbs arise all around us, and I found an Alaska Cocktail (two-parts Green Chartreuse, one-part Gin), before spotting some mistletoe floating down softly. So, I leant forward and kissed one of the trees, and a dryad made of liquorice, ferns and mint kissed me back before she dumped a load of vanilla on my head...
...touches of striking flint, burning iron and corrugated sheets, but then brings in a delectable burnt marshmallow with sugars that sweeten the dram immediately. Shortly after, we’re dropped into an array of base metals; copper, zinc, tin, all sweltering in a workshop as we fit a solid steel band around a cask filled with lemon juice, honey and coconut...
...Aniseed still throws its weight around before we feast on rye bread, slather in honey and caramel. I took another sip and suddenly I could have sworn I was drinking vodka that had been left to soak in cardamom, chilli, chai and vanilla pods before suddenly biting into an Anzac biscuit topped with golden syrup and macadamia nuts...
...a rolling mouthfeel that runs spicy, oily, viscous, flavours of lemon sherberts, burnt cherries, toasted grapefruit flesh, hot strawberries, rich earthy soil, and the cooked rye returns. There’s tinges of smoke, a few pieces of burnt raisin toast, with very hot caramel and sugar and some sliced banana...
...Marzipan, creamy soda, raspberry cough drops, the apples come back and are joined by some roasted carrots, although the mouthfeel is less cool and smooth and more hot and spicy, and soon that taste becomes more apparent, while our opening was sweet it is overcome by salt water taffy, Chinese 5 spice and clove rocks...
...opens on a beautiful spring day, with a good heaping of fruit salad laying front of us and a glass of chardonnay on the side; there’s pineapple slices, good green apple, heavy on the skin, while also bringing in rambutans, lychees, nashi, peaches and pears and a good bit of canned jackfruit...
...if you threw this into either a Blood and Sand or a Boulevardier it would bust the cocktail into space, however you could just skip the middle man and have the whisky neat. After the cocktail experience there is more singed orange peel, with strip wood and some burning incense in the background...
...old cake, spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, Chinese 5 spice and cumin running away with the butterscotch that was left carelessly in the open. It goes through to dark chocolate, butter and honey, buttered toast and candle wax...
...hard boiled plum sweets next to toffee apples, raisins and a touch of prunes. Shortly after a bitter note sweeps through and gives away the base of dark chocolate, building nice and firm with a touch of chili. It follows into an oily mouthfeel...
... The sherry comes through exceptionally on the palate, with coffee grinds, burnt orange and a full box of sultanas under the hot sun. I am a small child again, in the midst of toffee, pink sponge fingers, vinegar and roast pumpkin. Sipping the whisky again and again brings back my grandparents, one last time...
... a confectionary treat when opening, full of Hubba Bubba bubblegum, good old fruit tingles, star burst cherry and strawberry chews and grapefruit jelly. It turns a touch after that, to a distinctly different fungus, sous bois appeal...
...we have a slow build of fruit salad and vanilla ice-cream, with passionfruit, pineapple, apple, watermelon, strawberries, and grated chocolate and a drizzle of spiced honey over the top, a few dashes of grapefruit and lemon juice thrown in...
...boiled sweets, wine grapes, heavy plums, and orange toffee my way. I was struggling to hold onto everything when some rhubarb candy waddled over and sat on my tongue, and invited some maraschino cherries to hop on as well...
...Apera Sherry, a well-made Melbourne Espresso, burnt grapefruit rind, orange bitters, Madeira and a light sulphur and bitterness that runs incredibly easy...
...lovely toffee and macadamia is still there, the honey ready at the front but the spice is more prevalent, with nutmeg coming through, a cinnamon stick floating somewhere out of sight, a layer of chocolate that we missed all astounding the senses...
...to find I was in the France, with a pile of chocolate eclairs, small tarts of strawberry, passion fruit and guava, sipping on a small coffee as I relaxed for the first time in a long time and watched the world go by...
...nectarine stones and the cherry pips now coming back. The wood follows similarly, and we get a large amount of oak followed by red fruits and plums...
...dark chocolate with dustings of chilli and coffee grinds, a rich cake of orange peel, almonds and apricots sitting in front of me. Another whiff and suddenly that barista has put down a beautifully made ristretto, along with a small bowl of goji berries and red currants...
Somewhiskybloke has had to leave Scotland. And all were saddened.
...smoky remains of an old driftwood built beach shack, burnt up long ago but still clinging to that charcoal. We broke down what burnable wood remained and used it to light a fire in our bellies, the salt licked, colourful flames running through our mouths and down our throats...
...melted curly wurlys with light fudge bobbing down as driftwood. Vanilla essence rain sprinkled over me, and I lay back onto a bed of marshmallows and Victorian sponge cake, before sampling nougat studded with chips of crème brulee...
...musty leather bound books and the interior of an old Aston Martin DB5, regal yet rugged, built for purpose but with a design that screams classic and sophisticated (a whisky any Bond would drink)...
...more sweet liquorice now being thrown at us by a cheeky snowman wearing a pineapple for a hat, lychees for eyes and coconut lamingtons for hands...
...layers of flavours stacked like rocks; spices of cayenne pepper and aniseed, beef stock cubes, smoky gum tree bark...
...a merry wee fire of cherry wood shavings smouldering away in the corner, and the heat of a furnace billowing merrily about the dram...
Closed distillery, port cask, and new comer come together in this review of three of the latest SMWS Outturn. Grab a drop while you can.
...found ourselves in grand ma's pantry, raiding boxes of old musk sticks, soft ginger nut biscuits, and the always welcome surprise of a Terrys Chocolate Orange...
