SPEYSIDE SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
DISTILLED IN 2009
FROM ALLT-A-BHAINNE DISTILLERY
BOTTLED IN SCOTLAND IN 2023
SELECTEO CASK No. 900196

Let’s try to imagine a certain kind of Scotland. One with peat bogs and columns of fog as thick as wax that only the sharp call of a bagpipe can cut through, if persistent enough.

That of clans and the men descending to the lowlands to talk, and maybe fight. Now it might be easier to imagine this malt with the most Gaelic of names which seems to emerge out of a Codex from a mediaeval Abbey. One of those treasures on which an amanuensis (ora et labora…) was called to toil for an entire lifetime. Take a step beyond if you like, and invoke the Lord of the Rings with all his Dragons, Orcs and Elves, . . We have now paused in front of the monk who is at the Incipit of a classic, one never copied before. The first gloss we note is that of a very rhythmic nose with peaks made up of alternates. Immediately after we see a quality pertaining to Speyside classics: bread, yeast, fruit, and damp prairie grass. Then we turn over the page to discover balsamic tones of rosemary, oregano and lavender. The palate is well defined with a dry, savoury, tasteful flavour, and featuring rich characteristics. The finish is only just fruity and very balsamic and mineral. A whiskey uniting the diverse qualities of Speyside and Highlands in order to marry them up (fortunately) into a single original whole.  As often - or always - is the case, our objective is that of doing. No more.

“The beauty of the universe consists not only of unity in variety, but also of variety in unity.”

Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose