Phil & Simon Thompson 19 Years Old Sutherland 20th Anniversary Dornoch Castle Whisky Bar 53.2% 2000

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Serge Valentin (87)

Well, last time I checked Tain was not quite in Sutherland, and neither was Wick. Which leaves us with Dornoch indeed or, alternatively, Brora. Right. Colour: white wine. Nose: relatively hot at first, both slightly ethanoly and acetic (pinot grigio – I know), but other aromas are soon to enter the dance, with first a wee touch of vanilla and coconut, then new Wellies, new inflatable dinghy (that’s the same, S.), paraffin, beeswax, fresh almonds, tangerines, inner tube, touches of sage and tarragon, barley, pumpernickel… How ‘idiosyncratic’ is all that? In truth and in my opinion, not much. With water: toasted bread, gingerbread, black tea, nutmeg. Mouth (neat): starts unusually bready and spicy, that’s the cask. What was it actually? Caraway, cumin, cloves, ginger… It’s not that that would overwhelm the spirit, not at all, but there… Then black olives, wax, roasted tea (ho-chi-cha or something like that), salt, ginger... I’d be curious to learn about what was in the cask before it was filled with the latest make. With water: even breadier, with more gingerbread, cinnamon rolls, focaccia… Finish: long, bready and spicy. Salty and peppery aftertaste. Comments: alright, we shall call this excellent baby Mr. Enigmatic. There should be no doubts, but… Hey isn’t there a Sutherland county in Australia too?

BOW (90)