Carsebridge 44 Year; Hunter Laing’s The Sovereign
Whisky : Carsebridge 44 Year; Hunter Laing’s The Sovereign (thewhiskybarrel.com 10th Anniv. Cask Selection)
Country/Region : Lowland (Single Grain)
ABV : 50.9%
Cask : Refill Hogshead (Distilled May 1973, Bottled Sept. 2017)
Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ Home
Nose : Summer breakfast in a flower garden. Waves of sweet honey and golden syrup dominate the nose, while hints of cream, yogurt, and whole wheat toast linger in the back. Musty florals and sun baked oak beams give some complexity to the dominant sweet notes.
Palate : Lovely smooth and mellow body, the flavors all fall neatly within a pleasant, though limited, range. The oak influence after forty-four long years is readily apparent with creamy (or a bit starchy) spices: cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and a tease of black pepper. Honey trickles throughout the palate, sometimes joined by a bit of dried parchment, sometimes a perfumed vanilla.
Finish : Medium length, a spoonful of honey hangs out on the back of the palate while some spice and bit of vanilla fade.
Score : 4
Mental Image : Summer breakfast in a flower garden.
Something Better : Port Dundas 28 Year; Old Particular (more fruit, longer finish, more complex)
Something Similar : Suntory Royal (similar starch/cream/spice profile, more complex, weaker finish)
Something Similar : Nikka Tailored (similar parchment/spice, more complex, less body)
Notes : Nothing like a Scotch old enough to be your dad. Well maybe not quite, that would mean old Carsebridge here was a teenage father and that is certainly not a curveball most teens are prepared to hit out of the park.
There is something intensely fun about drinking a whisky that predates oneself— it is almost like time traveling to a simpler time. No smart phones? No internet? No Starwars? No Starbucks? Well I suppose that last one is not entirely true, the first one opened in 1971, but it was hardly the coffee behemoth it is today.
This whisky was fun to drink for the time trip, but the flavor profile was simplistic and a bit sweet. The only flavor description my wife was willing to offer was “intensely sweet.” She tasted it blind and thought it was actually a much younger whisky— she was quite surprised to hear it was 44 years old, but she still shoved the glass back at me, unimpressed with the age and not willing to try one last sip.
There is nothing wrong with an elderly singe grain whisky. This was certainly tasty, though I think it would probably linger in my cabinet for years. I suspect every whisky enthusiast should have an old grain whisky somewhere in their sipping collection.
