Description
53.432 Take a step back in time (Vaults Collection)
This Vaults Collection 31yo is one of two cask experiments from our Whisky Manager Euan Campbell, with one finished in an ex-bourbon cask, and one finished in an ex-Rye cask. 31 years of absolutely stunning maturation in a single ex-sherry butt before into ex-rye, this is one of the rarest Islay single casks ever offered up not just at the SMWS, but ever in Australia for members. Notes of waxed old wooden floors, bowling alleys, chamois leather, old tea leaves and the tiniest hint of old cellar rancio. An absolute masterclass.
We imagined spring cleaning a manor house the old-fashioned way. We rejuvenated the waxed timber floor with a mixture of beeswax and turpentine, using soft chamois leathers, and sprinkled the carpet with damp tea leaves before sweeping. On the palate, it was bursting with fruity sweetness before a salty, lightly ashy aftertaste. Following reduction the age was much more apparent, with centuries of cigar smoke in carpets and curtains, plus an elusive rancio note appeared at times. The taste was an absolute delight – elegant yet bold. At 27 years of age, we split the content of one sherry butt into two barrels. In addition to this first fill ex-rye barrel we also filled an ex-bourbon barrel to create an intriguing duo of releases.
There are not many single casks that leave the expert tasting panel completely speechless. This is one of those. The panel found this to be almost hallucinatory. A taste impossible to describe. A moment in distilling history in Islay back in the mid-90’s. Within whisky circles a single cask of distinction, presented in our Vaults Collection. A representation of how incredible Islay whisky can be, especially when presented unadulterated in this form. A truly remarkable moment in whisky history, and a collector’s item to savour and enjoy with friends. Expect notes of smokey sardines, tempura, vintage cigar smoke, expensive perfumes, and tropical fruit. Remarkable.
Elegant perfumed smoke met juicy ripe tropical fruits in a near-perfect balance. The effect was almost one of hallucination. The taste was almost impossible to describe; some sort of delicate food fusion, so we tried. A sushi grain bowl with smoked sardines, spicy mayo, furikake and tempura crunchies … we do hope you get the idea. A drop of water and miraculously we were transported to Havana, Cuba, in the 1920s, and the Sevilla Havane hotel, haunt of the rich and famous; the air heavy with sweet cigar smoke, the allure of the most expensive perfumes and the tropical heat – truly extravagant.
Cask 53.340 Loud raves the torrent an’ the rain (Vaults Collection)
There was an initial youthfulness that led us astray. An immediate blast of petrol, peat and sheep wool. In time though, things softened out and the complexity of age shone through with smoked olive oil, sardines in sea salt, squid ink, anchovy paste and sooty waxes. Citric notes of preserved lemons, canvas, graphite oil, seawater and beach pebbles strewn with mineral salts. Water gave us peppered mackerel, smoked white fish, salt baked cod, lighter fluid, black olives, limestone, soy sauce and lanolin. The mouth was hugely medical and drenched in mercurochrome before revealing smoked mead, putties, gentian eau de vie, diesel and anthracite embers. After reduction there was a palpably greasy pettiness, creel nets, iodine drops, eucalyptus tea, pinecones, smoked paprika, grapefruit juice and Atlantic bluster.
