Secret Islay 1989 5th Anniversary, The Whisky Jury

Nose: plenty of dried herbs, rapeseed oil, linoleum and creosote. Then seashells, bandages and a lovely muddy / farmy kind of peat smoke. Slightly sharper iodine and lemon peel in the background. Smoked almond and engine oil too.

Mouth: half fruity, half coastal. Seawater, smoked lemons and pink grapefruit. Vegetal peat, with tobacco and a hint of roasted coffee beans. Oysters with pepper, along with green olives, green herbs and leathery notes. Then some umami notes mixed with grilled pineapple – a beautiful mix.

Finish: fairly long, with liquorice, mentholated fruits and medicinal notes.

Admittedly not a big surprise, this one. It reaches the same heights as the Islay Malt 1989 bottled for the third anniversary. We’ve already praised the complexity and refined Islay profile: excellent stuff. Score: 92/100

 

 A very distinguished label. Colour: pale gold. Nose: bonkers stuff, on chalk, fresh paint, bread dough, sourdough, and above all a fat, mentholated peat wrapped in virgin wool. You’re virtually on Islay. Secret Islay 34 yo 1989/2024 (51.8%, The Whisky Jury, Fifth Anniversary, refill bourbon, cask ref #LP89-2, 248 bottles) The 34 years don’t show in the slightest. With water: the exotic fruits rise up, particularly mango and guava, with a noseful of fruity Swiss cheese, like summer Gruyère. Absolutely beautiful. Mouth (neat): still bonkers, with, let’s say, lemony coffee dusted with ashes, then green pepper and bitter vegetables, something like aubergine. With water: once again the exotic fruits emerge post-dilution, though this time leaning more towards zesty citrus, grapefruit and the like. Also a note of lemon balm water. Finish: long, veering more towards a western orchard, particularly on green apple. The medicinal and saline character of Laphroaig asserts itself more clearly in the aftertaste. Comments: well, we were expecting as much. It’s a fairly dry old Laphroaig of frankly interstellar quality. SGP:466 - 92 points.