Three great whiskies standing on a wall... Quite spontaneously Sergii and me decided to make tough contest among the malts that really impressed us this year. They are the champions already, but which one is the best?..
Tobermory 32 yo 1972/2005 49.5% - this is what Sergii malt affair started with. Previous tasting is here.
Nose: that is well-bred malt! The bottle has been opened for half a year, last 2 drams left on bottom, but its smoked pear is still powerful. The smoke is more obvious here than in HP 25.
Taste: a bit muted, but it might have oxidized already. All shades of sherry cask, rounded and mellow.
Finish: long, smoky, powerful sherry and nice old oak influence.
Overall: very monolithic malt made by the cask.
Score: 23.5 22.5 23.5 23.5, 93/100!
Nose: that is well-bred malt! The bottle has been opened for half a year, last 2 drams left on bottom, but its smoked pear is still powerful. The smoke is more obvious here than in HP 25.
Taste: a bit muted, but it might have oxidized already. All shades of sherry cask, rounded and mellow.
Finish: long, smoky, powerful sherry and nice old oak influence.
Overall: very monolithic malt made by the cask.
Score: 23.5 22.5 23.5 23.5, 93/100!
Highland Park 25 yo 48.1% - as you might have noticed that distillery just drives me crazy. Previous tasting is here.
Nose: grapes, apple, honey, vanilla and salt. Changing and developing every minute.
Taste: silky smooth and honeyed. I like it a bit more than Tobermory 32.
Finish: long, totally drying your mouth and bringing after 1-2 min smoky and salty coup de grace.
Overall: wonderful balance and complexity, perhaps the taste isn't that powerful, but nose, finish and balance push it just a bit higher than Tobermory 32.
Score: 23.5 23 23.5 24, 94/100!
Fettercairn 35 yo 1978 vintage bottled for Ukrainian Whisky Connoisseurs Club 53.5% - tasted that one for 2 times already, previous tasting is here.
Nose: very-very fresh. Less sherry notes, more grass and flowers, distinct honey, apples, green juicy leaves and berries of currants smashed in fingers, aroma intensity and complexity goes off-scale, beats both HP 25 and Tobermory 32.
Taste: fruity bitterness, wax, currants, mango, cherry-plum and I don't know how that happens but salt (!).
Finish: lo-o-ong, creamy with wax and salt nuances. Just superb.
Overall: very successfull cask it was indeed. One more proof that the cask makes the whisky. Definitely the best one today.
Score: 24 23.5 24 24, 95.5/100!
Conclusions: Fettercairn 35 took the 1-st place by storm... Impudent parvenu from a distillery you usually see once a year made a splash. 2-nd and 3-rd place divided between HP 25 and Tobermory 32 which was just a few inches behind. All of them are brilliant.
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