Inchgower 21, The Old Malt Cask, 1995-2017, Sherry Butt ref. HL14253, 708 bottles, 50% abv.

Indepedent bottlings of Inchgower are relatively rare as most of its juice goes into blends, in particular Bell's way back when, and Johnnie Walker since the distillery is owned by Diageo now. I also heard it was used in White Horse blends as well.

Nose: grapes, dried orange peel, and red and green apples.

Palate: initial taste is chocolate and a back palate of oranges and some other citrus-like flavors. Much better than expected.

Finish: short, smokey and toasty, french pastry wafers as well as the bottom of a french tart crust (mille-feuille?). Abv numbness comes up.

So much better than other Inchogowers I've tried! Flavors are much more concentrated, not too much flavor or aromatic diversity, but delivers quite well. The balance of chocolate and oranges is quite nice. Somehow I have a feeling all this goodness is because it's a newly opened bottle, might need to revisit. Had this at @wood_side_bar in Seomyeon, Busan, South Korea.

Grade: C

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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