Secret Islay 30yo, The Whisky Jury | Exclusive for Nanyang Whisky

Nose: slightly more mineral and clean at first. Hints of seaweed and ginger, spearmint, beach pebbles and grassy / herbal smoke. Hints of iodine. Orange, grapefruit, lime. Salty sea breeze and wet fabrics. Slightly more chiseled – I was going to write that this one lacks the warm waxy touch and subtle vanilla that I found in its sister cask, but after a while they seemed to grow towards each other and became hard to discern.

Mouth: same evolution from herbal and coastal notes to juicy fruits and back. Slightly more hints of white pepper now, maybe slightly more peat as well. Some other Laphroaigs from this vintage are even more fruity, but it’s nice to have nice leftovers of this tarry smoke as well. Barley notes, seawater, grapefruit zest and the lightest hint of mustard.

Finish: long, still fairly peppery, with oily touches, lemons and medicinal notes.

What a great combo, these are really excellent drams. The other one gets one extra point for having a brighter fruitiness and balancing the austerity with rounder notes just a little more. Both great though.

Score: 90/100

Color: Golden hue.

Nose: Elegant medical smoke, nutty (roasted almonds, macadamia…) but with fruity undertones – we get a touch of jackfruit, champada, green mangoes, unripe pineapples … tropical South East Asian fruits galore behind the veil of a more austere and elegant iteration of ‘older’ peat bottlings. We like this game of hide and seek! With time, some wet ashes, pebbles, but kissed by some stewed pears at the back too. But the full plethora of flavours are really let loose using the Blenders’ Glass (as recommended by @thewhiskyjury himself), we concur fully! Trial and error tell us that 10ml to 15ml works best – this air to whisky ratio in the glass is ideal.

Mouth: Extremely complex. Comfortable, soothing medicinal peat emerges. Zesty with some hints of black tea (maybe, lapsang souchong?). Ends off with a round, fruity, oily characteristic enveloping the warm peat.

Finish: Medium to a long finish, but longer with a couple droplets of water. Hit by a medicinal peat but tapers off with a touch of pepper – pure elegance and finesse. This is really a sipping whisky fit for a comfy armchair!

A bottle true to its age statement and vintage – you know you are not drinking a teenage bottling.

A dear friend of ours @wetdrams describes this pair of sister casks as the dance between the beauty (Nanyang Whisky exclusive) and the beast (the global release). We feel that the beast in the beauty truly emerges when you be patient with this lovely treat and give it time to breathe and swim in the Blenders’ Glass. Can’t get enough of this - bravo to The Whisky Jury!

Colour: straw. Nose: oh, sunflower oil, peanut oil, sesame, fresh butter, wee hints of nail polish, pecans and Brazil nuts, a drop of cachaça while we're there, fresh oil paint, lime and maracuja (moderately), the expected wool, wee olives, wakame this time again, salads, teak oil, that old fisherman's boat everyone's using in tasting notes… Well, the 'peat' started to decompose into many many aromas, which is always thrilling. Even notes of Comté or Gruyère cheeses. Mouth: just splendid. Perfect strength and body, saltiness, citrus, coastal elements, medicinal ones, oils, embrocations, all that remaining kind or aerial all along. I mean, never heavy and never stuffy. High drinkability ratio. Finish: rather long, saltier, perfect, lemony, briny and undebatable (we've decided to go the dictator way too). Comments: a stunning yet dangerous drop. Ticks all the boxes in my book, even if I'm sure some friends may have preferred more powah. Not me. 30 is a perfect age. Oh and let's sow further confusion, I wouldn't cry wolf if you said this was actually a 30-y-o CI.
SGP:566 - 91 points.