Glenesks are seriously becoming rarer and rarer, and yet it seems to never grasp any interest in whisky circles. A shame.. Now lets try this one, but don't let the color fool you, it's only a sherry "finish". The color is dark brown, chocolate/thin coffee. It smells mustard, grainy, coffee bitterness, orange peel zest, fresh thyme, lime, coriander, mint, hazelnut, caramel, wax, peat, engine oil, sweet sulphury notes, gasoline. I'm amazed, never had a finished whisky quite like this. It literally reeks of sensational sherry, but let's first have a taste. The taste is sweet at first, some camphor and caramel, honey and nutmeg, then it turns all on peat and peppery notes, some wax and sharp vinegar notes as well, hard to pin down. Please remember, 59%abv. after 26 years, I'm only saying.. Let's add some water. With a teaspoon of added water it turns sweeter, cinnamon, chillies, grape soda, coffee bitterness, herbal tea, spices, linseeds, turmeric, garam masala, earthy notes of indian spices, cumin. If there's any Glenesk casks left, please finish them in... no. But this is quite a powerful Glenesk, it has the distillate-driven sharp edges and yet a lot of characters from the casks. The taste is powerful, yet the flavours are always distinguishable. The finish is herbal, grassy, longlasting, again with this bitterness I find in very strong coffees, peppery at the end.
I just know I'll have to crush my piggybank now, to go look for more Glenesks: 9
Next tasting: I think that's it, thanks for now, perhaps I'll be back here someday...