Notable age statements. Not the kind of NAS we’ve become used to over the past decade or so. The Blended Malt 30 Years ‘Notable Age Statements’ is a twist on what many would perceive to be inferior whisky. That sounds harsh, but the truth sometimes is. And leave it to Angus Macraild and Decadent Drinks to come up with a creative way of putting a positive spin on NAS whisky – this one is 30 years old.
A single sherry butt filled with a bunch of leftovers. Retrieved somewhere from the warehouses of Signatory Vintage. Not just any leftovers though, but cask samples and bottling run ends that were married and put into fresh sherry wood with a minimum age of 16 years old. I’ll let an excerpt from Decadent Drinks’ website fill you in further:
“The composition is by now at least 30 years old, but contains within it many much, much older whiskies, many of which hail from closed distilleries and date back to the 1960s. We’ve bottled this butt at natural cask strength and the result is a wonderfully aromatic and old style sherried malt.”
That sounds like an insane Frankenwhisky, but we all know insanity can border on genius.
Blended Malt 30 Years ‘Notable Age Statements’ (45.1%, Decadent Drinks, 2022)
Nose: Very gentle and subtle. Opens up with hints of bung cloth, strawberries and orange peel, but also very waxy, touches of furniture polish, damp oak and dried tobacco leaves. Also old leather-bound books and a touch of smoke. Beautiful, balanced composition.
Taste: It’s all here again. Mouthfeel maybe isn’t quite as rich, but otherwise this is all I could hope for. Subtle fruits and candied peels, with soft tannic notes, hints of crushed mint leaves, latte and tobacco. Bung cloth, sandalwood, and a pinch of pepper. Herbacious too. And a touch of smoke again.
Finish: Medium length, somewhat dry at times, but with eucalyptus, red berries and more tobacco.
