Puni Alba 3 Year Old

In 2010 Albrecht Ebensperger built the very first whisky distillery in Italy. She can be found in the Alps near Glorenza in the Venosta Valley, just beneath the point where Italy, Switerzland and Austria meet. It is named after the nearby river Puni. The first spirit came off the Rothes built stills in 2012. The first release was presented in 2015: Puni Nova and Puni Alba. The first, as the name suggests, whas finished on new American oak (after a regular bourbon cask maturation), while the second – of which I’ll try batch 02/2016 today – first matured for two years on Marsala casks, before getting a finish on a former Islay cask. Soft, sweet nose on yellow fruit, hay, toffee, pineapple marmalade and some floral notes. The smoke is present, but very subtle. Vanilla and wood shavings in the background. Buttermilk and stable scent after about five minutes. I am pleasantly surprised (or maybe it was a mistake on my part to except little). The body is fine. Oily. It all starts very sweet – yellow fruit with mirabelles and lemon in the lead, followed by sultanas and pineapple – but soon turns spicy on cinnamon, saffron and liquorice. The smoke is much bigger now and gives it some extra weight. Midpalate more woodspices kick in, as does some leather and sniffing tobacco. It even turns a bit umami. Roast beef? Very pleasant and well-balanced, although a tad alcoholic despite the modest 43%. The finish is medium long, sweet and spicy with quite some oak at the death, but I take it in stride. Lovely discovery, I must admit. Can hold its own next to its Scottish brothers. Thanks, Johan, for the generous sample of this buonissimo (= good) whisky.