Isle of Jura 23 Year Old 1998 for MMM

Mark and Manny will also be bottling 4 beautiful single casks for a completely new series in 2022: The Mythical Series! This year, the artworks for the labels are created by the unparalleled Ansgar Speller, who is also manager – together with her lesser half Thomas – of the 1923 Creative Agency. And they are also whisky lovers, as evidenced by their site speller.nl. The first release is already a belter, even if we say so ourselves. We found a beautiful hogshead filled with whisky from the Isle of Jura distillery, filled in 1998 and bottled for MMM after 23 long hibernations. Feast on it!

The nose is blissfully fruity, almost tropical so to speak. I get pineapple, greengages, mandarins, physalis, rhubarb and pear. Not necessarily in that order. In addition, a hint of vanilla pudding. There is not a single dirty side to this, which normally typifies the whisky of this house. Ah, can it be an atypical one if it’s that good? Absolutely!

The start is nice and soft. The angels may have been greedy – completely understandable! – fortunately they left enough to caress the tongue. Creamy on vanilla custard and then again that cartload of fruit, supplemented with some peach sweets (the superman logos, you know?). The whole is supported by a soft spiciness. A pinch of white pepper and a twig of mint. In the background a hint of lime, which betrays the DNA of the house. Very tasty.

On the long finish that slowly becomes dry, another beautiful, slightly bitter note appears.

I know, self praise stinks, but damn, we've found another beautiful cask. We started our 7th year very well!

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