Nose: Tomorrow 4 men with jackhammers show up to remove 10cm of concrete from 180m2 of our apartment floors. Which is terrible for our downstairs neighbors. Julie had me buy 9 bottles of local plantain wine and drop it off with a note of atonement. May the wizzy and ephemeral summer warms of banana fermentation make them forget the rattling in their bones. Banana malabar chewing gum for Shane & banana bread for Ryan. Green plantains. Warm hay. Vanilla and coconut granola in oat milk. Oatmeal cookies. Passion flower in bloom. Poached pears. All held together with a couple strategic dots of Elmer’s glue and wax.
Palate: Very buttery layered over tired wood. The palate starts so quiet and grows as it travels along my tongue. Still on the banana-wagon once the flavor hits, but less pronounced. Closer to an off-season peach, where the fruit is muted and slightly tart. Vanilla. Stale theater popcorn. Bitters herbs on a larger sip. With more time you get melon. This ends on a slightly dusty and waxy mouthfeel with notes of cardboard, wet wood, and subtle notes of shoe leather, black tea, and tobacco.
Rating: 5 (Shane) 6 (Ryan) / 10 – This simply didn’t do it for me the first night. Figuring I was having an off night after all the Bacanora, I came back tonight to have a sip. It reminds me of some of the more nondescript Glenallachie, perfectly acceptable, but already forgotten.
Ryan: I totally appreciate and respect why this bottling is so well rated. It rewards those who give it time in the glass and strikes me as being a lovely and elegant example of what Speyside has to offer. With that being said it is often a flavor profile that tends to not be my personal jam.
