IB SMoS 23yo 1982/2006, 60%, cask #2891 - Linlithgow

[TheTross]

Glass used: Tulip nosing glass

Nose: Immediate dry, woody notes. Also very fruity, with melon, pineapple, peaches and other exotic fruits present. Alcoholic sweetness in the form of eucalyptus and menthol. Some honey, vanilla and ground white pepper. Very faint suggestion of Caramac bars and chocolate in the background. Lightly winy upon deeper nosing. Faint grass and freshly-cut flowers. Hints of manure, Deep Heat and antiseptic cream come through after a little while. When water is added, nuts, mint, grass and very faint traces of smoke develop, but only touches of the neat profile remain and the whole becomes quite soapy and dusty.

Palate: Sweet, thick and oily, with grass, a little honey and mint and traces of pepper. Warm and quite drying, but not as hot as might be expected. Good presence but virtually silent flavour-wise at full strength! Water makes it cooler and fruitier (apples), with a honey-like smoothness but not much else.

Finish: Quite winy, grassy and woody at first, with a few yeasty notes coming through after a couple of seconds. Also a little Deep Heat again. Slightly bitter honeyed notes linger. With water, it becomes softer and quite minty.


As I find with most expressions from this distillery, the nose is outstanding and becomes very complex when allowed to breathe. The palate is quite quiet in comparison, with water not really doing much to bring it out either, but it's very thick and has good presence when neat - you know you've had a dram afterwards! The finish is decent on both counts. Overall I really like this one and find it hard putting the bottle down...