Whisky : Cambus 26 Year 1991, Signatory Vintage Cask Strength Collection

Country/Region : Scotland/Lowland (Grain)

ABV : 55.3%

Cask : Refill Sherry Butt

Age : 26 Years (Distilled 24 July 1991, Bottled 20 July 2018)

Nose : Rich dried fruit, cream, and varnished wood.  Sweet impressions of milky caramel, sugary strawberry shortcake, raspberry coulis, and a molten chocolate cake with raspberries.  Cinnamon sticks joined with dark chocolate powder to give the impression of dryness which was accentuated by notes of varnished wood and old leather.

Palate :  Medium bodied with rich syrupy notes of dried fruits and refined sugar.  Notes of nougat, mocha, and dried berries gave this a winey feeling right away.  Oily dried vanilla beans contrasted with notes of old wooden pews which accentuated the rich wine-like quality of the dram for me.  On the back end were notes of chocolate and dried cherries.

Finish :  Lingering fruits with mild cream and mocha powder.

Score : 5

Mental Image : Dating a Chocolatier

Notes :  The first time I tried this I thought my tasting notes were utter nonsense and that something must have been a bit off with my palate.  I decided to look up reviews, something I usually refrain from doing until I have already written and posted my own.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that u/throwboats on reddit and I actually hit on a lot of the same notes— sure, we describe them a bit different, we have our own styles and our own slightly different bank of flavors notes and memories— but the core of the notes matched up almost perfectly.  I did not quite like this dram as much as dear throwboats (they gave it a 91!), but they typically lean more into sweets than I.  So if you love sweet, you may rate this a bit higher than myself and more in line with them.

Overall, this was intense.  I have never had a dram strike me as being quite so ‘winey’ in its mouthfeel and flavor profile.  This was absolutely brimming with notes of mocha and dried fruits.  At turns I did find it to be a little hot, but a few drops of water smoothed things out and brought more of the cherry and berry notes to the fore.

Image Credit : thewhiskyexchange