Strathmill 37 Year Old 1976 The Whisky Agency

Strathmill from the 1970s can be quite good. I was able to ascertain that with the Strathmill 1974 from Archives and the Strathmill 1975 from Malts of Scotland. Now let me try a Strathmill 1976, released in 2013 by the German bottler The Whisky Agency.

Wonderfully sweet nose on all kinds of fruit. Mango, pineapple, apricots, melon – yes, this is tropical. Coconut, apricot pastry, butter cake and yoghurt. Creamy and full. I also get some dried flowers in a supporting role. Expressive. I quite like it.

The tropical fruit reappears on the palate, joined by spices such as ginger, anise and cinnamon. A mildly astringent touch though. Grapefruit? Most be from the oak. The coconut returns. Midpalate it becomes quite creamy, but the oak slowly but surely makes it too bitter to my taste.

De finish is fairly long, spicy and somewhat drying. The oak does become quite loud.

Stunning nose, but on the palate the oak takes over – and not in a good way.

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