A friend of mine Sergii visited Maltbarn tasting in Belgium and brought quite a selection of Maltbarn samples that are difficult to get nowadays...
So let's the party begin:
Ireland 14 yo 2001/2016 Mba #49 48.3% - bourbon cask, 167 bottles released.
Nose: tropical fruitiness (pineapples, bananas, ripe pears) mixed with cereals.
Taste: not that sophisticated, but pleasantly sweet and fruity.
Finish: medium-long with grassy tinge.
Overall: quite pleasant and sippable Irish malt. Recommended.
Score = 22 21 21 21, 85/100! (Sergii score = 85/100)
Linkwood 16 yo 1998/2015 Mba #37 49.3% - bourbon cask, 205 bottles released.
Nose: fresh and floral, typical light varnish, plenty of oranges and cucumbers, which is funny.
Taste: clean and sharp citrus, spicy oak.
Finish: medim-long on oak, spices and citrus.
Overall: not for everyone's palate, though I liked it, nicely chiseled Linkwood it is.
Score = 22 21.5 21.5 22, 87/100! (Sergii score = 86/100)
Dailuaine 18 yo 1996/2014 Mba #33 48.7% - bourbon cask, 159 bottles released.
Braes of Glenlivet 19 yo 1994/2014 Mba #28 52.7% - bourbon barrel, 74 bottles released.
Nose: starts on fruit basket (pears, limes, grapes), then you get some grass and cream with touch of sulphur, which is not excessive.
Taste: dense, oily and fruity, citrus sourness + honey sweetness + barley thickness combo.
Finish: long and tad drying on citrus and grass.
Overall: thick and fat Speyside malt, enjoyable.
Score = 22 22 21 22, 87/100! (Sergii score = 87/100)
Nose: fruity start (mango, strawberry, banana) fresh grass and bitter citrus. Lovely nose.
Taste: dense attack on same fruits, more oak and herbal bitterness here, some sagebrush as well.
Finish: long on pears and oranges with hint of pharmacy herbs.
Overall: I do like this distillery and this profile, so don't take me too serious.
Score = 22 22.5 22.5 22, 89/100! (Sergii score = 89/100).
Ben Nevis 19 yo 1996/2015 Mba #45 50.9% - bourbon cask, 121 bottles released.
Nose: some sulphur, apples, wet wood and salt. Strange one.
Taste: mineral, citrusy, some oak and bitter herbs.
Finish: long, tad salty, hints of oak and metal.
Overall: too much sulphur and strange metallic tinge, perhaps not the best example of Ben Nevis profile.
Score = 21 20 21 21, 83/100! (Sergii score = 84/100)
Invergordon 27 yo 1988/2015 Mba #48 51.3% - bourbon cask, 132 bottles released.
Nose: lots of grain and cereals (which is logical, huh), vanilla cream, some citrus and varnish.
Taste: sweet one with herbal tinge.
Finish: medium-long, burnt sugar and perhaps some spices.
Overall: not my favourite style, you'd better pick some decent rum instead. Though 40+ yo grain whiskies are usually good.
Score = 21 20 20 20, 81/100! (Sergii score = 82/100)
Glenburgie 23 yo 1989/2012 Mba #07 52.6% - bourbon cask, 115 bottles released.
Nose: sophisticated one, fresh strawberries, barley notes, citrus fruits, oak and grass.
Taste: dense, minerals and oak, citrus and barley.
Finish: long one on oak, spices and lemon. Touch of salt.
Overall: well composed malt to be deciphered.
Score = 22 22 22 22, 88/100! (Sergii score = 88/100)
Tobermory 22 yo 1994/2016 Mba #71 53.4% - ex-bourbon cask, 153 bottles released.
Nose: typical industrial notes (traffic fumes, hot asphalt), sea salt, some lemons and apples.
Taste: bursting, mineral and salty, very powerful one. Oak, grass, pepper, herbs, lemon and menthol mixed together.
Finish: long, salty and warming with hints of lemon, mint and oak.
Nose: typical industrial notes (traffic fumes, hot asphalt), sea salt, some lemons and apples.
Taste: bursting, mineral and salty, very powerful one. Oak, grass, pepper, herbs, lemon and menthol mixed together.
Finish: long, salty and warming with hints of lemon, mint and oak.
Overall: great explosive taste that holds you firm.
Score = 21.5 22.5 22 22, 88/100! (Sergii score = 88/100)
Fettercairn 29 yo 1988/2017 Mba #75 48.9% - ex-bourbon cask, 154 bottles released.
Nose: dry one with lots of mash and alcohol. The cask should have been very tired I guess.
Taste: some lemons and vanilla.
Finish: medium-long, cereals and oak.
Overall: very contradictory malt, this time the nose is bad, last time I scored it 83/100, this time let's abstain from scoring, might have oxidized too much in a sample bottle.
Score = no score this time.
Blair Athol 28 yo 1998/2016 Mba #66 49.6% - ex-bourbon cask, 111 bottles released.
Nose: complex one on apples, red and black berries. Citrus fruits and sweet barley.
Taste: creamy, fruity with hints of malted barley, coal and citrus.
Finish: long and fresh developing on citrus, cream, barley and spices.
Overall: balanced malt showing distillery typical notes.
Nose: complex one on apples, red and black berries. Citrus fruits and sweet barley.
Taste: creamy, fruity with hints of malted barley, coal and citrus.
Finish: long and fresh developing on citrus, cream, barley and spices.
Overall: balanced malt showing distillery typical notes.
Score = 22 22 22 22, 88/100! (Sergii score = 88/100)
Invergordon 44 yo 1972/2016 Mba #56 49.0% - ex-bourbon cask, 121 bottles released.
Nose: borbon/vanilla on one hand and rum/sweetness on the other. Boiled fruits. Light varnish. Very rounded one.
Taste: oily, grain, vanilla, tropical fruits, leather and oak, pinesap and menthol.
Finish: long, sweet and oaky.
Overall: very nice and complex aged grain whisky, recommended as a dessert.
Score = 22.5 22.5 22 22, 89/100! (Sergii score = 87/100)
Inchgower 38 yo 1975/2013 Mba #34 47.3% - bourbon cask, 54 bottles released.
Nose: very complex one, pine resin, wax, lemon peel, honey and mint, raw wood.
Taste: spicy and fruity, apple, vanilla and honey
Finish: long, warm, soft spices and grapefruits.
Overall: quite a task for Maltbarn collectors, the best malt so far, though stay tuned, even more malt porn to come :)
Score = 23 22 22.5 22.5, 90/100! (Sergii score = 90/100)
Bunnahabhain 40 yo 1974/2014 Mba #40 47.2% - bourbon cask, 66 bottles released.
Nose: subtle grassiness, pharmacy and confectionery, flowers, lollipops, yellow fruits. Stunning elegancy!
Taste: fresh and elegant, honey and herbs, citrus, apples.
Finish: quite long, fruity and mineral, pinch of sea salt, refined and complex.
Overall: very elegant and refined Bunna, 40 years spent in a cask didn't make it too oaky and that's great.
Score = 23.5 22.5 23 23, 92/100! (Sergii score = 93/100)
Glen Grant 40 yo 1972/2012 Mba #17 51.6% - bourbon cask, 49 bottles released.
Nose: fruits, honey pollen, oranges, warm oak, resins and mint.
Taste: utterly rich and dense (age and cask strength rule), oranges, honey, beeswax, ginger. Stunning power!
Finish: long, fresh, oranges, long lasting soft oak, ginger and mint.
Overall: that is just fantastic malt, my dear malt mates, on par with Highland Park 40 yo!
Score = 23 24 24 24, 95/100! (Sergii score = 95/100)
Macduff 32 yo 1980/2012 UD for Laida Weg Experience Hotel cask #6910 48.3% - 100 bottles released, dessert dram from me.
Nose: mild and sweet, wet grass, floral honey, ripe yellow fruits
Taste: refined but dense, sweet citrus and grass liquer.
Finish: long, grassy and umami.
Overall: quite similar to best Littlemills I've tried.
Score = 22.5 23.5 23.5 22.5, 92/100! (Sergii score = 92-93/100).
P.S. Grats to Sergii for such a selection to be shared :)
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