Allt-a-Bhainne 23 Year 1997 52.4% for WhiskyNerds
Nose: Smells a bit like Rosh Hashanah. A crisp green apple drizzled with honey to express our hopes for a sweet and fruitful year. Walnuts and a cheese danish with a dash of sea salt. Rhubarb crisp. Mascarpone / sweet cream frosting. Sweet elegance.
Palate: Intricate layers upon layers. Graham cracker crust and crystallized ginger. Bitter. Dandelions and black peach tea. Spicy yet sweet, black peppercorn married with madagascar vanilla. A musty country kitchen on the finish and a helping of bee pollen.
Rating: 6 / 10 – a true classic, throwback to old vintage juice. I have two scores and don’t know how to reconcile this. Appreciation for the craft: this is excellent; subtle and complex, wonderful depth of flavor. A solid 7 all day. But when it comes to what I reach for right now, this isn’t where my palate is at in my journey this year, and I wouldn’t buy a bottle. For me today, it’s a 6. But I could see a different me going apeshit. Rating is hard.