Behind the eight window of That Boutique-y Whisky Company’s 2019 Advent Calendar we will be reviewing each day until the 24th of December was hidden a Blend #1 18-year-old batch 3, bottled at 47.3% abv bottled by that Boutique-y Whisky Company. The funny label represents a congregation of people on a hill, praying to a giant floating teaspoon with an aureole, and cleric people at its errr… feet? This seems to be a not-so-subtle hint to tell you this “blended malt” is in fact a single malt that has been teaspooned. When an independent bottler buys a cask from a distillery that does not want its name to be known, the distillery can add a teaspoon of a any other single malt to the cask, making it by definition a blended malt. Yep, even with a teaspoon worth in a full cask, it cannot be called a single malt anymore, and thus the name of the original distillery cannot be used. Anyway, it’s available on Master of Malt for a mere £64.95 which is I think very good value. But let’s dive on and let us explain what we think of this teaspooned malt.
Color:
Pale straw. After a swirl, legs quickly form and go down the glass.
Nose:
Coldorak: Very fruity initial nose, with apricot, peach and pineapple in syrup. Vanilla is very present too, as well as cinnamon, floral notes, honey and wax.
Ainulindalë: Vanilla and apricot on the nose. Quite low key yet very well integrated to me. There’s a beeswax smell to it too! Reminds me of shoe shine. At the very end, a small grassy whiff.
Palate:
Coldorak: Sweet and fruity, then ginger and chili pepper, with a strong pepperish alcohol bite for quite a moment. After a while it calms down, revealing oak, dark chocolate, cigar box and a slight sourness.
Ainulindalë: Starts with vanilla and butter crackers in the mouth, takes a swirl on the apricot side and then becomes very waxy, coating the mouth overall, building up to the alcohol which stays present but not overpowering, adding some sort of complexity on top of the vanilla. It gets even vanilla-er!
Finish:
Coldorak: A bit spicy with honey and fruits, medium long.
Ainulindalë: The finish is veeeery smooth, mixing stone fruits like apricot and peach with a very pleasing vanilla custard, for a good length, quite appropriate.
Rating:
Coldorak: 87/100
Ainulindalë: 86/100
