Glenlossie 12 Year SMWS 46.103 “Mutiny on the Bounty”
Whisky : Glenlossie 12 Year SMWS 46.103 “Mutiny on the Bounty”
Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside
ABV : 58.7%
Cask : First Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel
Age : 12 Year (Distilled 25 June 2008)
Nose : Citrus, salt, and musty wood. Ocean water, driftwood, malty biscuits, and refined sugar left the impression of a castaway, or maybe a beach bake-off competition. Subtle tropical fruit notes of dried mango, banana chips, and macerated coconut.
Palate : Medium bodied and oily with a bright, almost effervescent profile of saltwater and green tropical fruits. Salt and mineral notes fronted a fruity profile of green papaya, custardy tropical fruits, sour sop, and dried coconut. On the backend were beach-day impressions of earth, sand, and sunscreen.
Finish : Lingering salt and a subtle creamy fruit.
Score : 5
Mental Image : Beachcomber Hideaway
Notes : This was the saltiest Glenlossie I have ever had— SMWS promised this was a diversion from the distillery’s usual profile and they were not wrong… though it might even have been more a wrong turn than a detour. I really wanted to like this, in fact, I did like some of the tropical fruit notes and the maritime profile, but this was just too young and slightly wild. The profile had a definite youthful heat and the flavors were not terribly complex after a strong start. This was hardly a bad bottle and I would not feel bad if I had it, though I was left really curious how it would have turned out with more time in the cask. Hopefully, SMWS has some similar sister casks tucked away.
Overall, this was a unique Glenlossie with a brilliant name. The name may have been a reference to the film— the 1962 Marlon Brando version I assume— however, I immediately thought of the historical event. It is one of my favorites to cover with students as the story itself has taken on a lot of mythological baggage as it has been retold and retold. Perhaps the most striking element is the way in which the story became a struggle for freedom from oppression and the capricious brutality of Captain Bligh— elements that do not bear out so much in the historical record and become even stranger when one considers that the point of the voyage was to bring ʻuru (breadfruit— a symbol of abundance and freedom from toil in the eyes of Europeans) from Tahiti to the Caribbean to feed the enslaved. This Lossie sadly did not quite have the same depth and complexity, but it was certainly an interesting bottle.
