Whisky: Timorous Beastie 40 Year Blended Malt, Douglas Laing

Country/Region: Scotland/Highland

ABV: 54.7%

Cask: Oak

Age: 40 Years

Nose: Shortbread, orange, lemon tea, grass, antique linens, peppercorns, honey-roasted almonds, olive oil, honey, polished wood.

Palate: Medium-bodied, dropping with honey and waxy honeycomb, shortbread cookies, citrus, hints of tobacco, creamy-butter vanilla and honey, old wood with hints of white pepper and patchouli, malty biscuits and honey linger at the end.

Finish: Long and lingering with honey and a touch of pepper

Score: 9

Mental Image: Queen Bee’s Private Reserve.

Narrative & Notes: The aroma was mellow and mild with a clarity of flavor as shortbread and citrus wafted out of the glass, eventually followed by oaky elements of cinnamon and brown sugar. A mild grassiness linked orange, bergamot, and antique linens with a spice box of peppercorns and honey-roasted almonds together. The palate was medium-bodied but intensely flavored— an explosion of honey rained down as sticky clover honey, honeycomb, and wax flooded the palate. Herbal tobacco, orange citrus, and malty shortbread cookies stood out as the honey receded. The oak gradually asserted itself with white pepper and patchouli as a long and lingering creamy finish of vanilla and honey with a touch of pepper set in.

I expected something a bit reserved and skittish— not least because of Douglas Laing’s image of Burn’s timid mouse. Yet this was anything but timid, the aroma was mellow, but the flavor profile was overflowing with bright waxy honeycomb. The recipe for this blended malt included Glengoyne, Dalmore, Glen Garioch, and Blair Athol, all aged at least 40 years as of 2016, meaning the youngest component was born sometime around the US Bicentennial in 1976.

You expect a dram to mellow out at forty years, but this was pure concentrated honey, straight from the royal Queen’s private reserves. An absolutely stellar blended malt that left me searching to see whether it was still available (nope, I missed that train by a few years).

Overall, a beautiful blended malt.

Image Credit: Somerset Whisky Blog