Mannochmore 11 Year Old 2007 The Ultimate Cask Strength

Mannochmore is one of the youngest distilleries in Speyside, founded in 1971. Just like the nearby Glenlossie it foms an important part in the Haig blend. It is also the distillery that produced the infamous black whisky Loch Dhu. But today I’ll try a recent bottling by the Dutch company van Wees. This young Mannochmore matured for 11 years on a hogshead and was bottled at cask strength. It looks like white wine. It even smells like white wine, if you ask me. All young, playful and fresh. Spring in your glass: apples, pears, flowers, green grapes, rosehip and gooseberries. Some wood shavings. A hint of vanilla. But it has to be said: it’s all rather simply and therefor – excuse the word – boring. Ha! It even tastes like wine. Dessert wine, to be sure, on steroids. The ABV even makes it somewhat sharp. Again apples, pears something floral, but with a lot of white pepper and just a tad too much oak to my taste.

The finish is sweeter than expected, but it remains sharp throughout.

In the end, this was better than the nose promised, but that still doesn’t change the fact that it is a simply run-of-the-mill Mannochmore. Only 50 EUR, but still too much for what you get. Thx, Benny!

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