Adelphi – drikkelig.no

Macallan 1996 13 years Adelphi 58.8%

Nose: Toffee with a hint of mint. Dry oak and vanilla. With water it develops raisins and baked apples, but the vanilla gets a somewhat rotten side note.

Palate: Too much oak? After only 13 years that’s actually kind of impressive. Oak, varnish, slightly rotten wood. With water it develops some bitterness, which for once is a good thing as it kills off the note of decay.

Comments: I’m ambivalent, but land on “No”. Too much cask and it’s also all over the place and tastes different for every sip.

Aberlour 2000 11 years Adelphi 55.8%

Nose: Toffee and fudge, vanilla, cream and burnt sugar. Some raisins. With water herbs, coriander maybe, appear.

Palate: Cheap milk chocolate with a proper caramel filling. Like a cross between Cadbury’s Caramel and a pound shop Christmas calendar chocolate. With water the caramel develops a burnt edge.

Comments: I’d have liked more, mostly because it was hard to get a grip on it and 2 cl didn’t seem like enough. Nice, though not overly complex.

Balmenach 1988 23 years Adelphi 54.2%

Nose: A little sickly and “chemical”, malt and yeasty dough. Water helps by bringing out citrus, mostly lemon, a light oaky perfume. Still a lot of malt and bun dough.

Palate: Malt, yellow apples and sweetish glue. With a drop of water it’s much better, as the glue disappears and it tastes of apple pie with custard. More water adds a vague taste of vomit.

Comments: A drop of water was good, more a bit of a disaster. Once the water was added it was almost undrinkable.

Bunnahabhain Liddesdale Batch #6 21 years Adelphi 46%

Nose: Newly struck matches, dried red berries. Water adds tartness to the nose, I get lemon but also a little sulfur and a hint of liquorice.

Palate: The malt is obvious, even through the fairly heavy cask influence. Newly struck matches, oak and dry sherry. Water opens for bitter chocolate and dry forest. Dry cocoa and barley dust on the finish.

Comments: I’m rather more impressed this evening than when I had it as part of a tasting the other day, I found it a bit too bitter then. I still miss a compensating sweet note, or at least I think I do. There is something not entirely “complete” about the sherry character. Still, a nice dram, I’ll have another if you’re offering.

Bunnahabhain Liddesdale Batch #4 21 år Adelphi 46%

Nose: Plum in madeira, green herbs, burnt wood and a hint of burnt rubber, orange marmelade. With water I get mint and aniseed, but still a lot of marmelade and burnt wood.

Palate: Warm wood, hints of burnt rubber, candied orange peel. A little more bitterness with water, otherwise much the same.

Comments: The nose is nice, the palate a little boring, but it’s a nice enough dram overall.