WhiskyNerds Secret Speyside 26 Years Old Cask 30 48.1% 1994

Professional reviews

Serge Valentin (88)

I have a good feeling yet again… Colour: gold. Nose: more active wood in this one, more spicy breads, ginger cookies, rye… You would almost believe this is American. Having said that, it tends to calm down, with rather more overripe apples, pumpernickel, pipe tobacco, then rather some kind of citrusy waxes. Scented candles. A little earth too, curious about this cask's former content. Mouth: yeah well this is excellent too. Rather on jams and liqueurs this time, with a metallic touch and quite some earthiness yet again. Some mead and some tobacco – I remember some whisky-flavoured pipe tobacco in the old days, but the name escapes me. Macallan Classic Cut? (don't bother, just another silly joke). Finish: long, rather sweet – not sickly sweet - and more on honeys and sweet-spiced marmalades. Comments: not a light drop, but everything was pretty perfect, if a little jammy? Now let's talk about the cask…

Words of Whisky (89)

The discrepancy between the nose/initial taste and what follows is rather large
Nose
Sweet, fresh and fruity, this Speyside single malt is rather honeyed with touches of beeswax, burlap, ozone and an assortment of stone fruits, such as nectarines and peach. A touch of sugared breakfast cereals, but the sweetness is balanced by some vibrant lemon zest.
Taste
Extremely fruity and quite waxy, it's remarkable how much this initially reminds me of some of those undisclosed 1973 Speysiders. Honey but also more citrus (grapefruit) and stone fruits. More spicy. However, it quickly becomes apparent this is not of the same high quality. There's a leafy bitterness here and it doesn't match the depth and richness of those modern classics.
Finish
Tannic, spicy and short to medium in length.

BOW (91)

Little over a week ago the newest releases by WhiskyNerds were released. This time it’s a secret speyside and a Ledaig. Secret Speyside if often Glenfarclas, but as with most of these releases, a lot is based on assumption.

In this case it has the respectable age of 26 years old, and it was 1994 when it came out. The same year Kurt Cobain died, and since that’s over a quarter century old, I realize I am fucking old.

As with most (not all) WhiskyNerds bottlings, it immediately sold out and is now only to be found in the secondary market with almost a hundred bucks on top of the initial price.

Let’s just see what’s what and decide whether it’s likely this is Glenfarclas. But keep in mind, my skills at recognizing distilleries is hilariously bad.

Sniff:
A warm and bitter old scent, with stewed fruits, baking spices and smoldering embers in a hearth. Some shoe polish, moldy apples, wet corks, dunnage warehouses. Beeswax, honey and a whiff of pine needles.

Sip:
The palate is very gentle, but quite dry. After a few seconds there’s a bit of oaky warmth. There’s stewed orchard fruits with hints of cinnamon. Corks, dunnage warehouses again. Nice and warming, very old fashioned with old oak. Warm apple compote, hints of vanilla.

Swallow:
The finish is a lot more waxy than it was before. Beeswax, candle wax, honey. Very gentle, with some oak, stewed apples again. A little less funky, and a little less ‘old fashioned’.

Well, honestly, this is just great. It’s got great complexity and the combination of the waxiness, with the honey and stewed apples is great. I love the old fashioned scents of a dunnage warehouse with these old, moldy casks and wet soil.

That Glenfarclas question then: It could very well be. I think I’ve had whiskies from there that tastes somewhat like this, but not a lot. There might have been other distilleries that produce stuff that can rise to this level too. So, as always, not a clue.