Serge from Whiskyfun: Remember Coleburn Distillery, located near Elgin, was closed for good in 1985 but it's still got a few aficionados who do remember that it could be a stupendous malt whisky. Ripe pink bananas anyone? The buildings are still used for the storage of whisky casks. Colour: gold. Nose: oh yes, crushed ripe bananas, menthol and the subtlest blend of honeys there ever was. Manuka's not too far away, remember Sir Hillary, who conquered Mount Everest, used to be a professional beekeeper in New-Zealand! But why am I telling you this? Mead as well, obviously, beeswax, high-class chardonnay,. Now despite this very old age, this baby was bottled at more than 60% vol., which is just incredible. What I mean is that water should make it more complex… With water: no changes as far as the main aromas are concerned, but each main one literally explodes and gives birth to tiny sub-aromas, such as many honeys, mentholy herbs, white wines and even tropical fruits such as, indeed, bananas, papayas and guavas. Mouth (neat): a wrestler for sure, with some tart spiciness and literally wheelbarrows of peppermint. With water: fantastic fruits, mints, very soft spices and, once again, honeys. Some piney notes might be a little loud but that's often the case with very old whiskies that spent their whole life in a single cask or two. Tend to become a little tea-ish, also. Ginger and cloves, cinnamon tea… Finish: pretty long and rather all on mint, beeswax, and cinnamon. A tad drying but that's absolutely not unseen in such old whiskies, or brandies for that matter. Comments: this one had been much lauded when it came out last year, and I now understand why. Hope we'll still manage to try a few other Coleburns over the years. Forgot to say, Coleburn used to work in tandem with Clynelish for some time, especially in the 1930s.
Words of Whisky (93)
Nose: wow, coming right at you. Plenty of lemon balm, menthol, beeswax and gorgeous polished oak. Some sweet buttery touches (apple pie, bannoffee) as well as light hints of quinces and guava. A fruitiness that is perhaps closer to cognac than to whisky. Lamp oil, hints of white flowers and worn leather. Citrus peels and ginger. A lovely old profile, much less austere than the other Coleburns I tried. More paraffin if you add a drop of water. Gorgeous.
Mouth: very sweet and spicy. There are oranges, apricots, bananas and grapefruits. Quite some lovely varnish before it goes into peppery notes, ginger and cinnamon. Hints of green tea and rubbed mint leaves. It’s quite hot, by the way, so it’s good to know it does take water well, bringing out more menthol and a bright lemon note. Subtle oak char and liquorice in the end, but no overdose of oak whatsoever.
Finish: long, minty, with sweet lemons and waxy notes, as well as some dried rosemary.
This is quite a huge whisky, I’m sure this is the highest ABV I’ve come accross at such a high age. For a Coleburn, it’s also a surprisingly round and attractive expression . The intensity of the flavours is impressive – quite a unique anniversary dram indeed!
BOW (93)
Whiskyfun (Angus): Needless to say, this is the bottling that has garnered the most attention. And it’s not hard to see why - 47yo closed distillery single malts at over 60% aren’t exactly clogging up the whiskysphere. I’m told that the reason for the rather mental ABV is that the warehouse this cask was stored in just so happens - through reasons of poor ventilation - to be very good at retaining alcohol levels. Not sure about that, but if this is really G&M’s final cask of Coleburn, it’s extremely cool and smart that they saved this one till last. Colour: deep gold. Nose: it’s almost like two whiskies standing side by side. On one hand some high alcohol insanity - on the other: some beautifully honeyed, deftly waxy, incredibly subtle old style, long aged dram. You really have to wait for them to link up; the alcohol behaves almost as if is shedding years from the overall profile. Given blind you could say this was 15 or 25yo. It just really needs time I think. With patience there’s some stunningly complex and thick herbal jellies, wood resins, precious hardwoods, exotic teas, camphor, lanolin, rosewater and long aged dry Gewürztraminer. With water: stunning! Resins, herbs, waxes, medicines, wood oils, crystallised fruits, new world hops, natural tar. Amazing development and a continually building complexity. Mouth: immense, crazy! And yet… it also rather makes sense, beautifully high end, estery, green and waxy fruits. Green banana, cider apple, mango, lime pith, pineapple tinned in its own syrups, hessian, pumpkinseed oil - the kind of whisky you could go on dissecting for literally hours. With water: totally spellbinding development, and the texture is just incredible. Like molten wax mixed with the best olive oil. Tar, herbs, umami paste, honeys, delicate medicinal tones, some kind of ancient mead. Pure, rivetingly complex, ancient highland style malt whisky. The texture is really just immense, you almost feel it dripping from your teeth! Enough of this madness, you know who to call…! Finish: wonderfully long, immensely honeyed and beautifully warming. Flashes and pops of everything that’s gone before. A paean to complexity and time. Comments: Hard to know what to say about this whisky. A dram with many shades and personalities that you could spend literally hours and several stages of dilution picking apart - I suspect you could easily make an open bottle last a decade. We’re really at the crossroads where intellect meets pleasure - exactly where and why I’m into whisky.
