Strathmill is one of the smallest distilleries I will try in these 10 sessions of unlikely single malts. It has a capacity of 1.7m a year and produces a 12yo single malt. It has no older official bottlings and is rarely seen bottled by independent bottlers. Most of its produce is used in the J&B blend, which is a light-colored and easy-drinking blend. I must say that this might be one of the distilleries that I have the least reference to what taste is concerned as I've had about one or two tastings so far. But there is still one distillery left in these tastings that I have never ever tasted single malt from yet. This tasting will mainly revolve around young whiskies that could be very similar to the 12yo OB, but since there's some single casks here, perhaps I'll be able to spot some small differences, and similarities that will form more of a narrowed opinion for what I could expect to find in future Strathmills.
Strathmill 11yo 1985-1997 43% James MacArthur's
Let's start off by saying this, all 3 whiskies in this tasting shares the almost exact same color, light golden. Two of them even shares the same vintage. The nose in this one is burnt and sweet, honey, dark chocolate, minty and floral, waxy, buttermilk cookies and glue. The taste is not bad, nice coconut and vanilla initially, then some blood oranges and bitter herbs, rhubarb and lime peel, but it's all very pleasant, I'm surprised how rustic and old style this is at such low strength. Could this come from some old and exexex-fino wood? The faftertaste certainly isn't the longest or the most complex, but a nice reek of pepper and honey is what I'm left with. It has a sort of Talisker-honey going on, not as prominent as the one you'll find in many Highland Parks, but a bit more subtle. Wow, surely the best Strathmill I've had so far, perhaps the best I'll ever have? We'll see.
One to surprise your friends with a blind taste of: 7
Strathmill 11yo 1985-1997 43% Signatory Vintage cask#2342 btl.1407/2460
So, same color, same vintage, same distillery (of course), as the JMcA. Could it be from one of those shared casks that I had some months ago with Glen Moray, I think it was..? Well, if so, I wouldn't be disappointed.. We'll this one is also subtle, not as sweet as the prior one, more on musty notes, root fruits, radishes, red onions, green bullet chilies, cigars, barbecue sauce, is there something wrong with me today? These Strathmills have blown my expectations out of the water so far, just shows once again that each whisky carries its own footprint on which it's travelled from malted barley to drinkable spirit. The taste is more on red onions, radishes, parsley, basil and other soft-tasting herbs. Honey, cumin, chicken stock, vanilla, coconut juice, blueberries, stearic, lots of different, and unusual flavors, but so good! The only letdown on this is the aftertaste which is a bit burnt and bitter, other than that it'd been the same score, or, yes, I think it's worth the same score.
Another one that surprises me in a good way: 7
Strathmill 16yo 1992-2008 43% Signatory Vintage cask#40709
Okay, this one was matured in a refill butt, which usually mean a pre-used sherry cask of some sort. This is however a younger, yet older whisky, so I think this one is going to show me a bit more of what I think I could be expecting from recent young Strathmills. A more dusty and chalky expression on the nose, and a better one for that matter, rustic is what I would go for, has some of the tendencies that the JMcA had, and I suggested that one to be an ex-fino, this one might be as well. It let's go after a while and turns into some fruit gums and freshly baked buns. But initially it was amazing. The taste is bitter and sweet, rhubarb, oakiness, struck matches, dry meatballs, over-cooked meat, more spirity, all in all far less rounded and gentle spirit. That wouldn't necessarily been a bad thing if the palate delievered something that I'd wanna enhance, but all in all this seems to be a more "processed and soulless" whisky, even if that isn't necessarily through what production is concerned.
All in all I'd say it's the prototype of a modern day middle-of-the-road malt: 5
Next tasting: Off the Beaten Path#8
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