Speyside Region 1973 (Maltbarn vs. Archives)

Three more undisclosed Speyside 1973. I don’t think it’s Farclas though.

 

 

Speyside Region 44 yo 1973
(48,8%, Maltbarn for Shinanoya 2017, sherry cask, 249 btl.)

Nose: the biggest, sexiest fruitiness. Tangerines, apricots, papaya and gooseberries. Muscat grape. A little paraffin. Plenty of honey on the side, pollen, fruit syrups. Meadow flowers. Tiny hints of dried herbs.

Mouth: same level of fruitiness. Orange liqueur, pears, honey, with just a little more grapefruits and unripe pineapple. Now also mixed with green tea, mint, eucalyptus. Hints of green spices. Waxy notes. Just a hint of marzipan and caraway seeds.

Finish: long, on nectar, honey and dried fruits with light resinous touches.

Rather superb, this one. One of the best of the whole wave. Most of the allocation was shipped to Japan but a few bottles were made available in Europe as well. That was in August, mind you. I only got the sample recently. Around € 420.

Score: 93/100

 

 

 

Speyside Region 44 yo 1973 (49,4%, Archives ‘Echinoderms from Australia’ 2017, sherry butt #160000001, 348 btl.)

Nose: probably the most aromatic, with a tad more beeswax and volatile aromas than the first one. A little more (fresh) herbs. Other than that, the same fruit bowl with apricots and papaya to the fore.

Mouth: greener and spicier than the one for Shinanoya. Apple peelings, light bitterness of grasses and olives. Aniseed and peppery notes stand out as well. More of a Fino feeling perhaps although the fruity layer is still there, with the honey and the lightly tropical notes.

Finish: excellent, honeyed, waxy, fruity.

Also excellent, just with a bit more herbal / woody notes. This is the only one you can actually buy at this moment: € 395 from Whiskybase.

Score: 92/100

 

 

 

Speyside Region 44 yo 1973 (50,5%, Maltbarn for Double Whisky Ukraine, sherry cask, 298 btl.)

Nose: just a little more on the mineral side. Linseed oil. Elderberry flowers. A little more plain oak too, or so it seems. Soft minty notes. Green garden fruits, unripe banana. Of course the warmer apricots and beehive notes are also present, just not with the same aromatic ripeness, so to speak.

Mouth: again a bit more oaky notes  than the one for Shinanoya. Bittersweet notes. Honey. Still some traces of Moscatel and fruit jams here. A bit of an up-and-down whisky compared to the other two.

Finish: growing sweetness again. Of course they are all close together, but it just feels a little rougher.

On the nose, this was clearly less expressive. It revived on the palate, with a nice ‘late harvest’ type of sweetness, but still it doesn’t quite catch up with the others. Probably just unavailable anyway: Double Whisky is a bar in Ukraine. Around € 450.

Score: 91/100