Mannochmore 18 Years Diageo Special Releases 2009 54,9% 1990

Distillery	Mannochmore
Bottler	OB
Serie	Natural Cask Strength
Bottled for	X
Distilled date	1990
Bottling date	2009
Country	Scotland
Region	Speyside
Age	18
Cask Type	American & European Casks
Cask Number	X
Alcohol percentage	54.9
Volume	0,70
Condition	In original container
Label	Perfect
Stock	0

Professional reviews

Serge Valentin (88)

Colour: full gold.

Nose: this new one is a tad less expressive than the 1992 but also rather cleaner even if it is a little estery. Big notes of café latte and nougat, then gooseberries and freshly cut apples, more apple peelings, a little vanilla and then more straight malt. With water: huge whiffs of eucalyptus and fresh sawdust. Pine wood, mint liqueur.

Mouth (neat): powerful, round, creamy, oaky (nutmeg, pepper and ginger) and rather citrusy but not as acetic as the 1992. Notes of straight wood, like when we were sucking our pencil at school, remember? More and more crystallised ginger. With water: really excellent now. Lots of wood extracts, probably quite ‘modern-style’ but the end result is pretty perfect. Vanilla, ginger, caramel cream and hints of marshmallows.

Finish: long, rounded, all on sweet nutmeg and marzipan.

Comments: whether one could recognise the distillery in this excellent malt or not is to be seen (I certainly couldn’t!) but what’s sure is that it’s a high quality bottling, less estery than other Mannochmores I could try. Very drinkable with water.

Gal Granov (91)

Words Of Whisky:

Nose
Sweet sherry with incredible balance. Lots of vanilla and sweet malt. Some fruity notes with cranberry and raisins followed by a whiff of coffee, cocoa and tobacco. Also a hint of aniseed. The nose is simply great.

Taste
Super sweet and syrupy, incredibly smooth. For this Mannochmore they used a mixture of European and American casks. Dates, apricots and oranges shine. With just the right amount of oak. The mint is here too, and also some peanuts.

Finish
Chocolate-y and minty. Very long.

Comments
I've had this bottle open now for a couple of months. And every time I pour myself a dram, I'm still surprised by how good it is.

BOW (90)

Whiskynotes.be:
Nose: very expressive with sweet sherry notes, fruit gums and tons of vanilla. Very warm and highly sensual. Fruit cake with candied orange bits. Raspberries. Hints of nougat and tobacco. Just enough oak polish. A whole range of spices and mint. Very complex, lots of different elements, but they join up perfectly. Mouth: smooth with dried fruits again and added nutty flavours. Apricots. Toffee. Toast with orange marmalade. The spices are still here: pepper, ginger, cinnamon. Quite herbal after a while. Finish: quite long. Spicy with some drying oak. Wonderful chocolate.

This Mannochmore 18yo made my day. Very attractive with big spicy notes and subtle sherry. The insider’s choice of this year’s special releases. I’m buying.