Inchgower 35 yo (1975/2011)

Another one from the Diageo stall, an important ingredient of both Johnnie Walker and Bell's blends, but still fairly obscure as a single malt. Today I'm trying a festival bottling from the well known German whisky festival in Limburg: The Whisky Fair. This 35yo was the festival bottling of 2011 and matured in a bourbon hogshead.

Nose: Three layered goodness. First fruity notes: passion fruit and Mango, then some flowery notes: violets and underneath a salty layer of coastal notes: sea spray and ocean sand to finish of fresh oak wood, (with water added: fresher fruity notes develop, like the sweet aromas of a mango sponge cake, the salty notes all but disappear and some nutty flavours develop in the background: a touch of walnut)

Mouth: waxy, creamy, bitter, fresh and a bit salty. Not as fruity as I expected, but there is still some fruitiness left down there: bitter oranges, a puff of smoke, and notes of roses (with water added: It all falls apart, nothing left on the palate, that drop of water may have opened up the nose, but broke the palate and turned it into tap water)

Finish: fairly long, some hay, soft liquorice, vanilla notes with a peppery edge. (with water added: notes of orange reappear after the watery palate, with a spicy edge of white pepper)

Not too impressive, but still a complex and stable whisky. Some research on other reviews teaches me that this particular whisky generally scores high. But I must admit that I wasn't blown away by this one, a beautiful nose, but the mouth is not up to the challenge to meet the expectations created by the nose.

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