Master of Malt is presenting quite a tour de force with a 60 years old single malt distilled and matured at an undisclosed Speyside distillery. They already had a line-up of 30yo, 40yo and 50yo expressions.
It costs £ 1000, which seems fair in a climate of premium whiskies of this age being sold for anything from £ 8000 to £ 100.000. It’s still expensive, but at least here you don’t pay for crystal bottles, wooden cases or fancy marketing (besides a sample for a couple of bloggers). They don’t even stress how limited it is, how cool is that?
Undisclosed Speyside distillery 60 yo
(42,5%, Master of Malt 2014, 1st Edition)
Undisclosed Speyside distillery 60 yoNose: quite beautiful, mellow, with a gentle profile of sweet apple, oranges and white grape. Nice waxy touches of old candles. A mint and lemon combo. There’s also a buttery quality to it, like soft vanilla cake. Behind this there is a floral note and refined oak. Delicate but surprisingly complex, after a while I picked up apricot jam, musty books and a soft toasted note / roasted nuts.
Mouth: again very smooth and subtly fruity at first. Coconut oils, a bit of the candle wax again. Tobacco leaves and cinnamon. Then it becomes herbal, with a funny note keeping the middle between balloons and marihuana (someone told me how this tastes *cough*). Master of Malt calls it tomato stems in their notes. Slightly potpourri-ish, with a sour oaky edge, but well within limits.
Finish: not too long, which is understandable, but totally graceful. Herbs (mint) and tobacco juice.
This is a class of malt on its own, and few of us will be able to compare. It’s pleasantly fruity and waxy, remarkably elegant and nicely oaky without being tannic. Around € 1200, available from Master of Malt (samples as well).
Score: 91/100