Strathisla 40 Year Old 1970 Alambic Classique

Alambic Classique is a German bottler (could have fooled me) that has quite some spirits in its range. Rum, Armagnac, Calvados, Cognac, liqueur, gin and – of course – whisky. They have bottled two Strathisla so far, both distilled in 1970 (my year of birth!). The first cask, 10421, was bottled in 2010 at the age of 40, while the second cask, 12306, was left for two more years. I will try the 40 Year Old, of which only 149 bottles were released. It is very dark, thanks to the sherry cask on which it matured.

Wonderful nose on plums, mirabelles and melon. Sweet as a liqueur, in fact. Walnuts and some coffee and even some beef jerky. Some eucalyptus. Touch herbal as well, like Ricola cough candy. I quite like this. Adding water makes it honeysweet.

It is mouthcoating with loads of spices. Again the cough candy, spiced with anise and liquorice, but also strawberries and raisins. The nose is quite different from the palate, I must say. Having said that, it is very, very good. The sherry cask was obviously a rather active one. After adding a few drops of water, it becomes syrupy sweet.

The finish is very, very long. It reminds me of cough candy once more. Well, it that is the case, get me a cold stat!

Wonderful Strathisla from a very active cask.

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