Spica 40 Year Old 1980 North Star Spirits

North Star Spirit won the title 'Independent Bottler of the Year' in both 2020 and 2021. That's pretty clever. I can only imagine that this Spica 40 Year Old 1980 contributed to that. All components in this blend were distilled in 1980 and a bottle is on sale for 250 EUR. For a 40-year-old whisky, that's actually dirt cheap.

Succulent nose on red fruit and vanilla, hard candy and marzipan, as well as some pencil savings (grain!) and pineapple cubes. Fresh and lively. Blind I had never estimated it to be 40 years old, but much younger. Not a problem in itself, of course.

The body is a bit on the light side, but still softly creamy. The grain component is now obvious with corn on the barbecue, vanilla, popcorn and a soft hint of wood glue. But that is nicely complemented by notes of red fruit and leather. Slightly drying towards the end. Comes across as rich and mouth-filling, despite the soft start. It’s a tiny bit spicy, which makes it feel like it’s more alcohol-containing than just 44.8%.

On the medium finish, the red fruit – which briefly evolves into red lace candy – has to give way to the wood, which provides a bitterness and a drying effect.

Very different from the 29-year-old, but still I prefer the younger version (and although I know I gave them the same score, the difference is less than a point!). Thx, Manny!