April Fool’s Whisky 2021 (The Whisky Exchange)
The Whisky Exchange has been teasing an April’s Fools Whisky for the past few days, tightly keeping exact details of this bottling under wraps. I mean, we already knew it to be a single malt from the Speyside region bottled at 51.7 percent. But it’s the age that they were being coy about.
The only thing The Whisky Exchange shared about this whisky’s age was a statement on the label declaring ‘Extremely young, I wish I were older’. Which, you know, suggests this Speysider might just be not much older than 3 years. And 150 quid is quite a lot of money for such a young whisky. But what about a 30-year-old single malt? Now that price seems a lot more reasonable.
The picture above might suggest I’ll be reviewing two whiskies in today’s post, but it’s actually one and the same bottling. Point a UV light at the label and that previous statement all of a sudden becomes much more comprehensive.
‘We fooled you into believing this was extremely young’
‘I wish I were older’
Voila! Your wish is granted’
‘Thirty years old’
I mean, that’s just a need little trick from The Whisky Exchange’s marketing people, no? It’s from an undisclosed distillery, but one final bit of information on this release: it matured in first-fill bourbon casks.
April Fool’s Speyside Whisky 30 Years (51.7%, The Whisky Exchange, 869 bts.)
Nose: Somewhat shy, but overall plenty of beeswax and honey but also notes of melted butter, meringue and vanilla custard. Whispers of apple parts and ripe banana too, with just a touch of marzipan and preserved lemons.
Taste: Partly a continuation of the nose as the waxy and sweet honey notes are back for an encore, but it’s much fruitier with citrus in a starring role. Gentle spices with just a whiff of resin and star anise. At 30 years of age the oak is quite prominent. Water brings out more herbal notes, like mint.
Finish: Somewhat dry and lingering notes of oak, but also vanilla sugar and Werther’s Original. Sweet lemon is here throughout.
Score: 88
Really good and maybe almost over the top. This for sure shouldn’t have been bottled any later. It’s a lovely drop of whisky and at 150 quid quite a steal for a 30-year-old Speysider. It neatly fits into The Whisky Exchange’s other limited releases like their Black Friday Whisky’s and A Fine Christmas Malts, all of which have offered value for money. Check The Whisky Exchange’s website for availability of their April Fool’s Whisky.
Thijs is a spirits writer and accredited liquorist from The Netherlands. He runs the blog Words of Whisky and contributes to a number of Dutch and international publications.
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