Whisky : Loch Lomond Inchmurrin 22 Year, Lady of the Glen

Country/Region : Scotland/Highland

ABV : 52.8%

Cask : Hogshead 18Y, Oloroso Sherry 4Y

Age : 22 Year (Distilled 28 April 1998, Bottled 19 Mar. 2021)

Nose : Fruit, caramel, and spice. Exotic fruit ice creams and sherbets came to mind right away— creamy cherimoya, soursop, annatto, and persimmons. Hints of tobacco and spice followed with ribbons of dark caramel, molasses, and brown sugar. The slightly gravely brown sugar flesh of chico fruit appeared with more time to breathe.

Palate : Medium-bodied with bold rich notes of dried tobacco, candied fruits, and molasses. Sweetness faded to bitterness as the candied fruits— strawberries and peaches— left behind tobacco spice and cigar boxes. The faint nuttiness of raw walnuts and almonds complimented notes of baking spices— cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and nutmeg— without the sugar, the spices were almost bitter by the end, stale tobacco and bitter oak took hold. Faint notes of cola and bitter chocolate in the background.

Finish :  Lingering astringency with notes of bitter dark chocolate and cola.

Score : 4

Mental Image : Antique Spice Box

Notes : Do you ever really want to love a dram, but cannot quite get there— you think you should like it, but you cannot find a reason? Well, that was how I felt with this one.

I wanted to like this— it sounded perfect. A twenty-something Inchmurrin with an oloroso finish? I pictured loads of fruits and tropical vibes coming out of this— yet this was far more bitter than I expected, especially on the finish.  

While the nose promised exotic tropical fruits with a sweet caramel ice cream in the background, the palate moved in a different direction. Initial hits of sweet fruit faded quickly to bitter oak and dark chocolate. The profile had a unique nuttiness, but the baking spices were not all that enjoyable without a sugary-pastry compliment. This  did not go in the direction I hoped it would, and I have no idea if the initial cask or the finishing cask left this feeling tannic and ultimately a bit bitter.

Overall, this had an excellent nose, but it just did not go where I hoped that it would. I gave this maybe five or six months to open up in the bottle after sharing most of it with friends. I thought it improved some, and I wonder if some of those tannic notes might mellow out further, though that is a long wait to get the whisky to a place I can enjoy it. I suspect fans of dry sherry finished single malts will find more to love than I did, especially those with a higher tolerance for that tannic finish. Not a bad whisky at all— I would happily accept a pour of this, but it was not for me.