Shh… ecret Islay 21 yo 1999/2021 (59.8%, The Whisky Jury, refill barrel, cask #TWJ-L-1999, 250 bottles)
Colour: pale white wine. Nose: ziiing! Deep-smoked wool and grist, a kilny side, then French beans and a whole wakame salad. Narrow, simple, millimetric and perfect, as far as I'm concerned. With water: raw wool, hessian, grist, porridge, working kiln… Mouth (neat): feels fifteen years younger now. Some horseradish and rucola, some acetone-y varnish, some concentrated lemon juice, and this time again, some troubling Lagavulin traits. As if our lives hadn't become complicated enough within the last few months and years. Some esters too, Jamaica-style. Monymusk-on-Islay? With water: it loves water and it became even more varnishy and estery. Much more sweetness too, ala Lagavulin. The plot thickens. Finish: very long, vegetal, still rather acetone-y, sweet, with lemon drops, mezcal, agave syrup… Comments: I say this is a blend of Lagavulin and Laphroaig. I know that's impossible since it is a single malt, but this is my place and I write what I want. There.
SGP:566 – 88 points.
