Brora 35, 1977, 0717/2,944 bottles, 49.9% abv.

A part of Diageo's 12th annual release, or Diageo's 2013 Special Releases. Actually, Diageo has been releasing special bottles prior to 2001. In the 1980s, United Distillers released a series of bottles: Glenkinchie, Dalwhinnie, Cragganmore, Oban, Talisker, and Lagavulin, to showcase the distilleries across Scotland. This series would further expand and be known as the "Classic Malts of Scotland" and "The Classic Malts Selection". Emboldened by the success of the Classic Malts, UD released another collection called the Rare Malts, showcasing more lesser-known distilleries in their wide portfolio. Over the years, the Rare Malts not only became famous for its high quality, but also for its representation of Scotch history. UD became Diageo around 1997 to 2002 (complicated) and were looking to more or less replace the Rare Malts. Diageo started by releasing 100 bottles of a 1973 28-year old Talisker exclusive to Oddbins. That would be Diageo's 2001 Special Release. The rest is history.

Nose: intense peat, some smoke. A little bit of dried mushrooms. The intense peat/smoke seems to hide many aromas that are potentially there, but it's pretty straightforward.

Palate: slightly dry, light wood, a little smokey, light hints of fruit for flavor but nothing too sweet, light hints of vegetation as well. Quite the variety, but very light.

Finish: moderate to short, dry wood aromas, Nothing complex.

My tasting was strong on the aromas but weak in flavor. A lighter version of most other Scotches, easy to drink, nothing complex. It was well balanced, but unfortunately there isn't much going on in the sense of flavor... which makes me a little disappointed with all the hype. The body and texture were very good though. Perhaps my tongue is coated with scars. Or perhaps I should revisit this at another bar after some more legendary bottles under my belt? Had this at Bar Listen, Seoul, South Korea.

Grade: C+

Whiskyanalysis.com, 9.43 ± 0.32 on 12 reviews
Whisky advocate, Gavin Smith, 95 points
Whiskynotes, Ruben Luyten, 93/100
Lawhiskeysociety, Ries, A-

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

🇭🇰 🇺🇸(LA, SF) -> 🇯🇵 (京都, 東京) -> 🇰🇷 (서울, 부산)