Here to kick off the month in whisky reviews is a rather old and rather good Strathisla. This 30 year old was one of those licensed bottlings by Gordon & MacPhail but I can’t get a fix on year of release. Whiskybase does not have a listing for this 750 ml bottle at 43% abv. We can cautiously assume it was released at the same time as the 700 ml bottle at 40% but there’s no release date on the listing for that bottle either. My spreadsheet tells me I acquired it in 2013 from Binny’s in Chicago but I am pretty sure it was released in the previous decade. If I’m right about that, this is distillate from the 1970s, possibly even the early-mid 1970s. That’s generally a good thing when it comes single malty whisky from Scotland and especially when it’s older Speyside whiskies bottled by Gordon & MacPhail. Anyway, if you know more about the release year etc. please do write in below. In the meantime, here are my notes taken from the fourth pour from my bottle (which I am very sorry to be separated from here in Delhi).
Strathisla 30 (43%; Gordon & MacPhail; from my own bottle)
Nose: Apples, apple juice, apple pie. On the second sniff there’s brown butter, wood glue, lemon peel and a metallic/glassy note. Just lovely. Continues in this vein. A couple of drops of water knock the metallic/glassy note back
Palate: Comes in pretty much as indicated by the nose and in that order. Very good depth and texture at 43%. Sweeter on the second sip, even as the lemon expands. With time some polished oak emerges along with a bit of toffee. More acid with water and a touch more oak; a papery note too now and also a peppery note. The last few sips feature some bitter oak extract but somehow it works with the rest.
Finish: Long. A big fruity burst on the finish with nectarine and plum joining the apple. As on the palate at first with water. The pepper expands here and there’s some cold, over-brewed black tea (a little tannic and leafy).
Comments: Dilution to 43% probably dialed the exuberant fruit back a couple of notches but this is still rather excellent. Like many older whiskies of this era, this has much greater power/bite and texture at 43% than current whiskies bottled at the same strength; blind you might think this was closer to 50%. I’m very glad I finally opened this bottle: it reminded me of the very unique pleasures of high quality single malt whisky.
Rating: 90 points.