Uncharted Whisky released the second bottling in its Rumours series not so long ago. It’s an undisclosed Islay single malt distilled in 1990 and bottled after 30 years of ageing in a single bourbon cask. You can find three hints on their website, and I think the word elbowroom is the key to solving the mystery.
Rumours – Islay Single Malt 30 yo 1990 (51,3%, Uncharted Whisky 2021, bourbon barrel, UC005, 250 btl.)
Nose: a subtle mix of minerals and salts, with whiffs of dried leaves and gentle smoke. It’s quite high-pitched with a bright fruitiness underneath. Nectarine and pineapple. Floral honey. Candied ginger. Just a hint of coffee beans in the distance. Really nice.
Mouth: goes in different directions. Plenty of citrus notes at first, quite zesty but gradually showing tropical flashes (passion fruits, pink grapefruits) while bringing in some ashy smoke and coastal notes. There’s also a violety touch – luckily not the perfumy kind that we found in this distillery in the 1980s, but still quite floral though. Subtle (lemon)grassy notes.
Finish: long and slightly thin, with ginger, citrus peels and resinous smoke.
A bit of an uncommon elbowroom perhaps, as if it was painted by cubists, trying to express different angles and profiles simultaneously (does that make sense?). We know the fruity style, the mineral style, the fragrant style… and here you get a bit of everything. Almost excellent. Available from DeinWhisky.de for instance.